The 2026 Transfer Portal

[Patriotsince81]

Have we EVER had a player enter the portal only to return? I honestly don't know but would love to be educated.

 

[The Great PATSby]

Have we EVER had a player enter the portal only to return? I honestly don't know but would love to be educated.

Josh Oduro entered when Paulson left. Kim brought him back out. A rare KE W.

 

[mkaufman1]

Are we going to do the same depression discussion every April guys?? Like players are going to come and go, that’s what it is now.

Don’t know what happened with Jahari. Thought he was coming back. Things change. But I’m a bit confused by this one to say the least.

Terrance hill from vcu is hitting the portal. See they lose guys too (and don’t hit me with that “well they will get some other stud), lol.

 

[NewPatriot]

Are we going to do the same depression discussion every April guys?? Like players are going to come and go, that’s what it is now.

H#LL NO! Time to upgrade

 

[mkaufman1]

H#LL NO! Time to upgrade

lol to be fair Jahari was and is an awesome player. He was a Tony guy for many years.

Not sure why the hell he would leave but I wish him well.

 

[GMU79]

Are we going to do the same depression discussion every April guys?? Like players are going to come and go, that’s what it is now.

Don’t know what happened with Jahari. Thought he was coming back. Things change. But I’m a bit confused by this one to say the least.

Terrance hill from vcu is hitting the portal. See they lose guys too (and don’t hit me with that “well they will get some other stud), lol.

In answer to your question...Maybe. If I still care enough to care, the answer is yes. If I don't care enough to care, the answer is no. TBD

 

[NewPatriot]

lol to be fair Jahari was and is an awesome player. He was a Tony guy for many years.

Not sure why the hell he would leave but I wish him well.

I love Jahari. I was speaking to depression..this favorite part of the off season.

 

[mkaufman1]

I love Jahari. I was speaking to depression..this favorite part of the off season.

All good

 

[gmujim92]

Jahari hitting the portal after they used him in the Giving Day social media graphic is quintessential Mason.

Five days ago we had three veteran point guards. Now it feels like we’ll be lucky to keep one.

Eff this.

 

[Jack Strop]

I can't fault Long for testing the waters, but am hopeful he returns.

I'd guess most of us would be willing to have a conversation with a new employer if there's potential for a big raise.

Hopefully we get the right of refusal from Long.

'zactly. They're not gone until they sign on the dotted line elsewhere.

If I were a player in my upper teens and lower 20's I'd go for the $$$. If I was handed $250k from when I was 18 to 22 and invested it even conservatively, like the S&P 500 index, and did not touch it for 30 years I would have had $3.65M+... that's a nice early retirement opportunity that's hard to give up. These guys are likely to make much more than $250K in their college basketball careers to possibly invest in the same way. My point is that that load of dough will make for a rather comfortable life if one doesn't blow it all foolishly.

 

[GSII]

Either Tony is bringing in some major studs and telling these other guys sorry, yall gotta go .....or there's major problems inside of our nil.Rev share department.

 

[JimP]

Are we going to do the same depression discussion every April guys?? Like players are going to come and go, that’s what it is now.

Don’t know what happened with Jahari. Thought he was coming back. Things change. But I’m a bit confused by this one to say the least.

Terrance hill from vcu is hitting the portal. See they lose guys too (and don’t hit me with that “well they will get some other stud), lol.

Mild depression here. Ugh. So long as the coaching staff doesn't get depressed. Less time to be depressed with each dude that leaves.

 

[TweederGMU]

Either Tony is bringing in some major studs and telling these other guys sorry, yall gotta go .....or there's major problems inside of our nil.Rev share department.

It's not the first statement.

Our top 3 guys scoring wise are in the portal.... it's 1. they personally think they can make more money elsewhere since they put up good numbers. 2. they have all types of people in their ears telling them they can make more money somewhere else. 3. Mixture of all

 

[gmujim92]

It's not the first statement.

Our top 3 guys scoring wise are in the portal.... it's 1. they personally think they can make more money elsewhere since they put up good numbers. 2. they have all types of people in their ears telling them they can make more money somewhere else. 3. Mixture of all

I keep hearing Mason is significantly increasing the rev share budget, but clearly not enough to retain our best players. This is not a recipe for success on the level we all want, which is an NCAA bid.

 

[mkaufman1]

There’s no denying that we need to up our budget significantly and that’s also what I’m hearing.

It’s also early in the market where prices are going to be more inflated. When kids start signing then prices have to come down. There can only be so many 3m kids.

Then again, if you have teams building 20m or 15m rosters maybe I’m the crazy one.

I’m not going to panic though. When I start hearing we can’t compete and things of that nature after kids start signing then I will be sharpening pitchforks. We also have the right staff in place to figure this shit out, and pay them handsomely to figure this shit out.

 

[mshin5]

Tony has shown that, although our budget is not outstanding in the A10, he can get kids that can compete at the A10 level. I’ll start worrying if Tony starts to not be able to produce all of a sudden.

 

[Where's the party?]

Philosophical question - When the NCAA inevitably splits into the "Pay the Players" and "Scholarships or nothing" groups, which way should Mason go?

I personally am fine with us being in the lower tier as I think we could be a dominant school and compete for championships in every sport. I don't see that ever happening if we try to keep up with the "pay the players" schools in the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and even the Big East. Hell, we can't even compete with the money paid by the private schools and vcu in the A10.

If we just offer scholarships, I will continue to make my donations to the school, and attend every game, and root just as hard for them in the conference and post-season tournaments.

OK - fire away at me.

 

[gmujim92]

There’s no denying that we need to up our budget significantly and that’s also what I’m hearing.

It’s also early in the market where prices are going to be more inflated. When kids start signing then prices have to come down. There can only be so many 3m kids.

Then again, if you have teams building 20m or 15m rosters maybe I’m the crazy one.

I’m not going to panic though. When I start hearing we can’t compete and things of that nature after kids start signing then I will be sharpening pitchforks. We also have the right staff in place to figure this shit out, and pay them handsomely to figure this shit out.

Tony has shown that, although our budget is not outstanding in the A10, he can get kids that can compete at the A10 level. I’ll start worrying if Tony starts to not be able to produce all of a sudden.

Agree completely with both of you. But can’t help feeling that Tony and the staff are being left to fight with one arm tied behind their backs b/c of the annual roster turnover — after losing your core players, cobbling together a cohesive team that’s ready to succeed against an at-large caliber OOC schedule is extremely difficult to borderline impossible. The whole thing just feels so self-defeating.

 

[NewPatriot]

Tony is bringing in some major studs

It's not the first statement.

Its most definitely the first part of the first statement

The portal is brimming even now with undervalued high major talent at every position, more coming over this weekend and the food gates don't open until Tuesday.


As @mshin5 stated above, Skinn and his staff are great evaluators. Their track record speaks for itself.

 

[TweederGMU]

Its most definitely the first part of the first statement

The portal is brimming even now with undervalued high major talent at every position, more coming over this weekend and the food gates don't open until Tuesday.


As @mshin5 stated above, Skinn and his staff are great evaluators. Their track record speaks for itself.

Haha... the same major studs to get us to a NCAA Tournament? Seems our major studs since Tony has been here has gotten us a share of the regular season title once.... which is great. But we need sustained success and getting into the NCAA Tournament.

Mincy, Maddox, and Haynes I would put in our studs category and helped single handedly win us games. The other guys.... they are a dime a dozen in the portal.

Hitting 3 straight years on "Major studs" or proven players to be able to play at a high level in the A-10 is tough to do. Hope you are right.