NORTH AUGUSTA, SC — It’s never been easier for college basketball coaches to rebuild to win now thanks to immediate eligibility in the transfer portal.
Louisville and Kentucky basketball fans had front-row seats to how Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope respectively flipped entire rosters and had breakthrough debuts. But recruiting high school players has never lasted so long. Coaches aren’t just trying to establish a rapport out of high school; they’re trying to keep it going in case of transfer.
It’s been said since name, image and likeness became legal that relationships no longer matter, or at least don’t factor into the decision to commit as heavily as they once did.
Money matters, and the highest amounts packaged together from NIL and the revenue-sharing created by the House v. NCAA settlement can be life-changing for some recruits and their families. The financial package is generally going to sway where a recruit goes. Coaches know and accept that part.
The challenge has come not only identifying which of the few players will get offers from power conference schools but also in trying to anticipate two and three moves down the line.
Coaches are not only recruiting for now, they are setting up for the future. The relationship that didn’t matter when another school bid higher? Well, they matter as soon as that same player finished their season and entered the transfer portal.
Travis Perry initially chose to stay in-state and play for the Wildcats. He stayed true to that commitment even when John Calipari left to take the Arkansas job and Pope was hired.
But guess where Perry took an official visit the month before he committed to UK? Ole Miss and coach Chris Beard welcomed Perry to Oxford and was one of several other schools he considered.
So it was no surprise when Perry announced he was entering the transfer portal…
Source link : https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/columnists/c-l-brown/2025/07/30/louisville-basketball-kentucky-recruiting-transfer-portal-pat-kelsey-mark-pope/84783035007/
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Publish date : 2025-07-30 09:11:00
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