By: Fred Gallatin
Over the last few years, the landscape of college basketball has completely shifted when it comes to NIL and the transfer portal. As recently as 2018, there were harsh restrictions on players looking to get paid or transfer schools.
Players were banned from receiving any benefits from schools that the league deemed “excessive”. The power of this rule was displayed with the NCAA’s “Cream Cheese Rule” that was repealed in 2014. It stated that schools could provide prospective student-athletes with bagels but not extra spreads like cream cheese or peanut butter.
Before the rule changed, players who accepted even small amounts of assistance, food, or money lost scholarships, eligibility, and professional opportunities. Collegiate athletes struggled to make ends meet. They spent so much time in the classroom and around their sport that working a job was extremely difficult.
After winning the 2014 National Championship, UConn star Shabazz Napier famously told reporters, “Some nights I go to bed starving but still have to play up to my capabilities”. This enraged the general public and resulted in the NCAA providing athletes with access to unlimited meals.
As college sports (specifically football and basketball) shifted into a borderline amateur league, schools began bringing in millions of dollars. Additionally, the NCAA makes more than a billion dollars annually from March Madness alone.
In 2009, UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon was featured in EA’s NCAA Basketball 09 without giving permission or receiving any compensation. In August 2014, after five years of dispute, the O’Bannon vs NCAA case ended with athletes being granted the right to their own name, image, and likeness (NIL).
Still, the NCAA was hesitant to allow players control and money. This was the case until 2021, when the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the NCAA’s restrictions violated antitrust laws. Additionally, states began passing laws that made it illegal for schools to punish athletes for accepting NIL benefits. This forced the NCAA to change their stance on player revenue.
Also in 2021, the one-time transfer rule was added, which meant players could transfer schools for the first time and immediately play without sitting out a season like in previous years. This rule was soon replaced with the modern transfer portal, which essentially allows players to become free agents within the NCAA.
Since these changes were implemented, college basketball is a different game than it was five years ago. Poaching culture, roster instability, and locker room disparities now run rampant.
When players at mid-major schools have a breakout season, they are almost immediately poached by a larger, wealthier school. A prime example of this is Kansas State’s Nigel Pack, who, in 2023, entered the transfer portal and headed to Miami for $400,000 and a luxury car. He and the Hurricanes immediately made it to the Final Four in their first season together.
The Michigan Wolverines won the National Championship in 2026, and have been heavily criticized for their usage of the transfer portal and NIL. After their head coach, Dusty May, left Florida Atlantic in 2024, he began assembling a formidable roster that leaned heavily on the transfer portal.
The team’s entire starting lineup was poached by Michigan from a variety of schools. These starters and their former schools are listed below.
F Morez Johnson, Illinois
F Yaxel Lendeborg, UAB
C Aday Mara, UCLA
G Elliot Cadeau, North Carolina
G Nimari Burnett, Alabama and Texas Tech
All these players were given massive, but undisclosed amounts of money to transfer.
With the new fluidity of college sports, building a long-standing roster that shares values and relationships is difficult. Coaches like Michigan State’s Tom Izzo have spent decades developing their school’s expectations and culture. Senior night and other traditions have lost value due to the disappearance of the four-year player archetype.
Since 2021, roster turnover has doubled, meaning coaches have to work twice as hard to get their players to come back and assist in growing a well-cultured and strong program.
Rivalries do not cut as deep, players lack connection to their peers and campus, and money controls the decisions of many players in the NCAA.
Locker room disparity has also become a major concern in modern college basketball. For example, BYU star AJ Dybantsa made over 5 million dollars in NIL money this season, while some of his teammates only made a few thousand.
This damages team chemistry and sparks internal competitions between players. When combined with the impact of the transfer portal, tensions are higher than ever on many teams across the country.
Overall, a large majority of people believe that the transfer portal and NIL earnings are a good thing for the NCAA, but that it needs to be controlled more.
The Emory Wheel said that “The transfer portal overshot the sweet spot of giving players deserved freedom and crossed the threshold of giving players too much authority on a team”.
Players are able to live comfortably and capitalize on their hard work, but roster-building grows more difficult and team chemistry continues to dwindle.
Smaller schools struggle to compete due to roster poaching, which results in less March Madness Cinderella runs and upsets. Small mid-major schools have one shot at doing damage before the players they built up are stolen by larger schools.
Finally, what makes college basketball so special is slowly being phased out of the game. Rivalries, school pride, and tradition are becoming less prominent with each season that passes. It is important for players to make money and make decisions for the future, but something must be done to maintain the integrity and tradition of college basketball and other sports.
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