There’s a growing consensus that the NCAA transfer portal needs significant reform. While college sports fans and coaches often have various complaints about the NCAA, one issue that most agree is problematic is the transfer portal. In college basketball, the portal opened on Monday before the Sweet 16, leaving teams to focus on retaining their players, scouting upcoming opponents, and recruiting new players—all at the same time. It’s a lot to manage.
On Tuesday, Maryland men’s basketball head coach Kevin Willard voiced his frustration with the portal. Last season, he brought in three key starters via the portal: Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, and Selton Miguel.
“The transfer portal is out of control. Kids are asking for $2-3 million right now,” Willard said. “The money has blown up. There are no rules or guardrails. It’s one of the most poorly executed rules in any sport. Agents are exploiting it. Every player has an agent, and agents are calling schools saying, ‘I’ve got $1.2 million here—give me $1.4 and we’re out.’ If you don’t have the financial backing, you can’t compete.”
He continued, explaining that when the portal opens, his team will be looking for players who fit their culture, not just the highest bidder. “When the portal opens, we’ll be looking at the same range, but we want players who want to be at Maryland, who fit our program and have great work ethics. I don’t want to just throw $2 million at someone who doesn’t align with what we’re trying to build.”
Willard is currently working on a new contract to stay at Maryland but emphasized the need for increased NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals and revenue sharing to help build a strong foundation for the program. With schools in the Big Ten and SEC investing heavily in player acquisition, he wants Maryland to be on equal footing.
“We’re entering a new era of profit sharing—literally schools paying players,” Willard explained. “The Big Ten and SEC are moving toward schools paying players directly, rather than relying on collectives and donors. I don’t want someone else deciding how we do this—I want it in my contract. I want control over my program.”
He concluded, “These are big issues for me. I live it every day. The fan base expects it, but Maryland hasn’t been treated that way for a long time. My goal is to change that.”
Leave a Reply