Why retention trumps the transfer portal and how mid-majors can still land tournament bids--The Athletic
If you were a mid-major coach or GM, what would you do (besides robbing a bank) to give your team a fair chance for an NCAA bid in this NIL, Portal and now unfair expanded tourney era? — Hchoops
The hardest thing coaches deal with at this level is building, because elite mid-major players are usually going to be poached. But because there’s such urgency at the high-major level to get older and stay older, there are a lot of really good high school players who will get overlooked. That’s always been the case, but it might be even more so in this era than ever before.
At that level, you have to win with your evaluations and development, and then have a system you can recruit to and win with. Yes, you might lose your best players, but programs with depth continue to win. One great example is Belmont. In the previous three cycles, Belmont lost Even Brauns (Iowa), Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland, then Tennessee), Cade Tyson (North Carolina, then Minnesota), and Isaiah Walker (Xavier).
Even with all those losses, Belmont won the Missouri Valley this past season and sent three more players to the high-major level in Drew Scharnowski (Duke), Tyler Lundblade (Tennessee) and Sam Orme (Nebraska). I recently watched several Belmont games, and I’m convinced Belmont will be good again because it retained freshmen Jabez Jenkins, Jack Smiley and Eoin Dillon. Those are three of the next stars, and I was almost surprised they didn’t enter the portal as well. They’re likely waiting for their turn to put up big numbers and eventually get big deals themselves.
There are also some mid-major portal players who slip through the cracks and remain at that level. One good example is Ty Pence, who transferred to Akron from Illinois State. Pence is a 6-6 wing who is really good in the mid-range but made only 27 3s and averaged 9.4 points this past season. You have to watch his tape to see that he’s pretty good. These decisions have to be made so quickly that there’s only so many guys you can watch, and players with bigger numbers (or who make lots of 3s) usually get chased first.
Another smart strategy: Have really good players with attributes that might keep the high-majors away. Sticking with Illinois State, the program retained two really good players: Chase Walker (an undersized big man) and Johnny Kinziger, a 5-11 combo guard. If you can find undersized players at point guard and center, they can be awesome college players, and they might be less likely to get poached. Again, it’s all about making smart evaluations and taking calculated risks. — Moore
The Basket Under Review Newsletter - May 18, 2026--Basket Under Review
More scheduling news!
UAB and Belmont will begin a home-and-home series on December 8 in Birmingham next season. Both teams have won 20+ games each of the last six seasons.
Georgia Tech and Murray State are meeting for a neutral site game in Nashville. Murray State is coming off their first 20-win season since 2022 and Georgia Tech will be led by former Troy coach Scott Cross who has won 20 games five seasons in a row.
Women’s Basketball Adds Paige Schumann as Assistant Coach--belmontbruins.com
ISU men's basketball finishes recruitment with Weber State transfer--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Men's basketball concludes recruiting with signee Duce Paschal--gosycamores.com
UIC Women’s Basketball Promotes John McCray to Associate Head Coach--uicflames.com
Roger Powell Jr., Valparaiso basketball ink multi-year extension--The Times
Roger Powell Jr. Inks Multi-Year Contract Extension to Continue to Lead Valpo Men’s Basketball Program--valpoathletics.com
