UConn Huskies women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma provided an unflinching take on how revenue sharing and name, image, and likeness are impacting the sport.
“The portal and the revenue share, I think that was the death of the mid-majors, the death of high school players coming to play college basketball,” Auriemma said Thursday. “It's never been harder for a high school kid to have the same opportunities that an existing college player already has.”
The evidence strongly backs his concerns. After the 2024-25 season, more than 1,500 players entered the transfer portal. Nearly 600 players have reportedly already indicated plans to transfer ahead of the portal's official April 7 opening. With the NCAA also removing the sit-out rule in 2024, player movement has accelerated tremendously.
“When your choice is, go get a high school senior or go get a college sophomore for your team, a lot of coaches are deciding that getting a college sophomore is way better,” said Auriemma. “The place where they usually go to get them is a mid-major. So you're going to see less and less of those mid-majors competing in the NCAA tournament.”
That trend has directly impacted results. In the 2026 NCAA Tournament, 27 mid-major teams made the field, 26 automatic qualifiers and one at-large bid (Richmond). None advanced past the first round. Historically, mid-major breakthroughs have also been scarce, with no Final Four appearances since Missouri State in 2001 and only Gonzaga reaching the Sweet 16 as recently as 2024.
Auriemma also tied the portal's rise to reduced opportunities for incoming freshmen. UConn added transfers Kayleigh Heckel and Serah Williams, while only Blanca Quinonez has seen considerable action among the team's freshmen.
To address the imbalance, Auriemma proposed a change to tournament selection criteria.
“If you would eliminate all those teams that have a losing record in their league and say, ‘Listen, if you have a losing record in your league, you don't deserve to play for a national championship,'” he said. “Give more opportunities to those mid-majors, you know … like the discussion between Miami of Ohio, when Auburn (in men's basketball) – like in what world are you discussing that, right? That's a big problem.”
Criticism aside, Auriemma recognized that the sport has grown and evolved, with more schools able to compete at the highest level, which makes the games more thrilling and widely watched.
