Transfer Portal Reshaping College Sports, and Not for the Better – John Cardullo

by John Cardullo, sportswriter

College basketball ends its 2025–26 season with many questions about the future of the game as it stands today. There is no doubt that the NCAA tournament is a huge hit with fans (and even non-fans). Filling out a bracket, placing a small wager, or jumping into a pool has grown since the days when UCLA was dominating the college basketball scene. Think about what men’s college basketball looked like 50 years ago: UCLA, Indiana, Duke, Marquette, Kansas, St. John’s, Kentucky, Notre Dame, and Providence (yes, our own little PC was a major player back then, pre-Big East).

It seemed things were much simpler in those days. Players would commit to a college or university and stay to play for a program for three years at the varsity level. Players played for the college degree they would earn upon graduation. Few players made it to the professional ranks, so a degree in a chosen field was a career maker. If a player was unhappy with the school he had chosen, he could transfer to another school, but he would have to sit out a year of eligibility and then play perhaps two years for his new team. If they were really lucky, they would get “redshirted,” giving an additional year at the varsity level.

Back then, if you committed to a school, you were obligated to that school. There were no transfer portals and there were no players getting paid to play — wink, wink! Well, not officially, that is! What changed? Well, thanks to television networks wanting to cash in on big-time basketball, revenue from television rights increased over the years, and small schools became major players when it came to financing their sports programs. Conferences began to form, like the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, and Pac-10, and smaller schools jumped into conferences to get their slice of the pie. As all this was happening, the players sat on the sidelines taking notice. They realized they were the product and started to demand their share as well.

Transfer Portal created

All of a sudden, the transfer portal was created, allowing players to go from one college program to another without penalties or ramifications. This gave players an opportunity to leave a program when, for example, their recruiting coach left for another program — a tit-for-tat philosophy. The problem soon reared its ugly head: programs with more revenue began offering “star” players more money to come to their program, ala Rick Pitino and St. John’s. This left schools like Providence College as “also-rans.” Providence would get talented players to commit, develop them, only to watch them leave for brighter pastures. Can you say Bryce Hopkins?

Let’s talk about the newly crowned NCAA basketball national champion, Michigan. Virtually the entire starting five did not begin their careers at Michigan — they were all transfers from the portal. Many of the backup players were transfers as well. Michigan proved that you can build a championship team using the portal in a single season. UConn, on the other hand, was built, not bought. Many of UConn’s players came directly from high schools and were developed through the program. The typical UConn player stayed multiple years and developed under coach Dan Hurley. The players knew the system, and Hurley used the portal rarely.

While both systems work for each of the schools, until changes are made, college sports are going to look like roaming nomads. One college player has played for five different college teams in five years. This mentality may be good for the player’s pocketbook, but it is going to lead to the downfall of many programs across the country.

It hasn’t taken long for a program like Providence College to go from a top-notch program to a lower-end Big East team that coaches use as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Don’t believe me? Let’s go back to Joe Mullaney, who went to the pros before returning to Providence; Rick Pitino, who has been virtually everywhere; Rick Barnes; Ed Cooley — and the list goes on. Dave Gavitt stayed and put Providence College on the national stage, then made sure the school was a founding father of one of the most powerful college basketball conferences in the country, the Big East.

Other programs in Rhode Island have done the same. URI watched Dan Hurley go on to win national championships at UConn, and recently watched the most successful women’s basketball coach it ever had, Tammi Reiss, leave after building the program to head to the University of Florida.

As long as the college game continues the way it’s going, small teams are going to continue to suffer — even if they are playing in big conferences. They will continue to serve as a minor league system for players and coaches, used as stepping stones to bigger and better opportunities.

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See RINewsToday’s story on recent Executive Order

New Executive Order on College Sports, Portal Chaos — Impact for Providence College and Others

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John Cardullo, sportswriter. John is a lifelong Rhode Islander. His sports experience is extensive, as a player, coach and sponsor of youth and high school sports. He has been the Public Address Announcer for the CCRI Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams. Both the Cranston East and Cranston West football, Cranston East Boys and Girls basketball for 12 years before moving onto the Central, Juanita Sanchez and Mt. Pleasant football teams. Also, Central HS Boys and Girls Basketball, Scituate High School Boys and Girls Basketball, Johnston High School Girls Basketball, Boys Volleyball, Girls Softball, Boys and Girls Soccer teams, and CLCF football.

John has been involved in Men’s softball for 61 years, starting as a batboy for his father’s team in 1964. He moved to the teams scorekeeper then became a player in 1975, and created the men’s team, Players Corner Pub, that went on to win 20 State Championships in their 35 year history. In the 1990’s he published the statewide softball magazine “The Fielders Choice”which was dedicated to all topics related to adult softball. As a feature writer, John and the publication won several media awards. In 2019 he was elected and inducted into the Rhode Island Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame which he also helped create. John is a softball umpire in Warwick, Rhode Island.

In his spare time John golfs with his life long friends in season. After retiring from the printing Industry after a 45-year career, he now writes specialty sports columns for  RINewsToday.com, and is still actively engaged in the high school sports scene.