UConn basketball is viewed as the top dog in the March Madness Tournament this year with Dan Hurley leading the way. Even so, there are plenty of distractions that take place during the big dance. Hurley believes it's time for one of them to go away with the NCAA Tournament in full swing.
For whatever reason, the transfer portal remains open during the tourney. Dan Hurley reportedly believes it should be closed during March Madness, according to John Fanta of FOX. The UConn basketball coach shared his full opinion on the matter.
“Yeah, it shouldn't be open right now. The fact that on Monday of the best week in college basketball that it's open, it's bizarre and it's led to even more chaos. Listen, for us, my perspective changes. If you are doing things the right way and serving your players great, it probably doesn't impact you as much as it impacts others. We have been able to hold on to the players that we've been desperate to keep and build around those core players on a yearly basis. I just think the timeline of the portal, and I know man, it's like I think it's bad for kids if you end up — your college that you go to, the staff that you play for, becomes you network for life. Like that's the group of people that are going to help create opportunities for you the entirety of your life, your support system. If you play in four or five schools in four or five years, like what type of support system [is that]? You're just kind of a mercenary at that point, and you have no base in life.”
The fact it's open is kind of weird, right? We have 64 teams battling it out for a championship right now. It's hard to imagine any of these teams are spending time focusing on the transfer portal. Sure, there are plenty of teams in the nation not competing. But all eyes are on the big dance.
And Dan Hurley nails it on the head with how the transfer portal has created a sort of “mercenary” system for the student athletes. Especially now with NIL in full swing. Despite those challenges, Hurley has built a UConn basketball program that lasts. The kids want to play and stay there. That should be the goal for every program in the nation.
But when it comes to the transfer portal, why not close it during postseason? It would allow every team to simply focus on playing in the tournament or take a short break if they didn't make a tourney bid. Maybe the NCAA will make some changes down the road. They're already pondering expanding the tournament. So why not take a look at the transfer portal window?
At the end of the day UConn basketball will be fully focused on the job at hand. Dan Hurley has proven to be one of the best coaches in the nation. Considering the Huskies won last season, Hurley and his team know what it takes to win a championship. Look for this team to remain red hot through the tournament as it will take a big upset to knock them out.
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