2026 Portal

[greenyellow]

Now it sounds like Demond Williams is leaning towards returning to UW. Safe to say he didn't want to be dragged into a lawsuit. It's going to be rather awkward in Seattle now. UW fans are going to have to take back a lot of tweets and social media comments about him.

[StevensTechU]

USC has taken some hits. Their underclassman 5* QB Husan Longstreet just hit the portal. They also long a starter in their secondary to transfer.

[StevensTechU]

Husan Longstreet, QB from USC, is in the Portal.

Uneducated guess here, but I think USC blew their wad (of cash) on their high school class this year and took for granted that their existing roster would stay put. Now that it seems everyone in the country is testing the market this year, USC put themselves in a bind by committing too much capital.

I think this is smart by Longstreet, and really, any quarterback. In college, I think more can be gained from starting and taking lumps than lost (this is a debatable point, though, I admit). Monetarily, far more can be gained. Lets say it's like this.

Longstreet stays at USC:
$500k (year 1 - practice squad)
$550k (year 2 - 2nd string QB)
$600k (year 3 - starter)
$4.5M (year 4 - high end of market in second year as a starter)

But what if Longstreet started at, lets say, South Florida:
$200k (year 1 - USF starter)
$800k (year 2 - USF starter, year 2 assuming he played well in year 1)
$2.0M (year 3 - 3rd year starter at USF or goes to a Big 12-level program)
$4.5M (year 4 - 4th year starter, transfer to a large program)

Even if you're developing well by practicing with a major program, you're limiting your market value by not being seen by more than just your own coaching staff. Hell, I think going to Portland State, dominating (if you're good), mistakes ending in hits from 205 pound linebackers, and increasing your market value seems pretty smart.

[StevensTechU]

How hard is it to build a mid-major program? Oregon State was atrocious this year with a talent level at/below Appalachian State and Sam Houston State (whom they lost to each). And yet, 2025 Oregon State Beavers will be playing for Auburn, Iowa State, UCF, Houston, Nebraska, Wake Forest, Arkansas, Texas, Texas Tech, Mississippi State and others in 2026. It has to feel like you're strictly a feeder program.

[StevensTechU]

BYU picked up Cade Uluave in the portal, who is one of the best linebackers in the country. They also added Paki Finau, washington's best young offensive lineman, and Walker Lyons, a so-so tight end from USC who is still very young.

[StevensTechU]

"11,700 kids currently in the portal."
Its a complete sh*t show. Something is going to have to change, this is totally out of control.

I can't remember which podcast I was listening to - maybe Split Zone Duo - where they talked about how this could potentially get regulated, and I thought they were intelligent about it. In summary, it ends when there's a super league.

Right now, the student-athletes are not employees. They aren't employees because employees get workers comp, retirement, and so on. Additionally, if you start making them employees, you run into collective bargaining issues because many southern states simply bar the ability to unionize for state employees, like those at public universities. So for as long as they remain student-athletes, you can't tell them where they can enroll in school and where they can/cannot make money. The conclusion is that there are a lot of headaches between where we are and where regulation could happen (conference differences of opinion, state law differences, and much more) to ultimately get to a place where the school and coaches make less money because even more gets allocated to the players. The institutions and coaches will complain but this system still serves them better than a professional sports model.

[bellsduck]

Sort of interesting right now to watch where Miami goes for QB.
They struck out on the Alabama QB with him going pro. Apparently started targeting Longstreet and he committed to LSU.
Looking at who's left in the portal, Novosad? Beaver?
For a team that was willing to pay $6.5 million last week to a QB, this seems like a potential fail.

[alxtw]

Its pretty insane how much the game has changed in a short few years. Bowl games used to be when high schoolers would announce their college decision. Now you've got kids who will announce their transfer portal school of choice during their HS bowl game.

[StevensTechU]

Increasingly looking like Miami will tamper Darian Mensah off of Duke's roster.

[bellsduck]

Increasingly looking like Miami will tamper Darian Mensah off of Duke's roster.

Scumballs

[squintsdd]

Increasingly looking like Miami will tamper Darian Mensah off of Duke's roster.

Their recruiting tactics aren't shocking when one takes the Cristobal exit into account

[duckpoint]

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[StevensTechU]

Dozens out of 6 thousand or however many portal players is pretty statistically insignificant.

[Duck07]

Dozens out of 6 thousand or however many portal players is pretty statistically insignificant.

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[rockthief]

Gosh, who imagined this would be such a mess?