Since the birth of the NIL and transfer portal era, roster turnover is at an all time high. The transfer portal is essentially open all year round, and it has led to choas in college basketball. The transfer portal is a bloodbath right now, and not every coach knows how to handle it. Off-seasons keep getting shorter and shorter. The modernization of the college game is rapidly approaching. While the NBA and college basketball are two entirely two separate games, the same philosophies help teams win championships at both levels. Let’s look at the 2023 champions and how their rosters were constructed:

The cherry on top of everything is NIL. And while I do believe NIL is good for college basketball and athletes should be getting paid, the way it is constructed right now leads to a lot of shady moves being made. The NCAA was too rushed to put together framework that could cover every facet of this ever evolving situation, and it’s opened up a can of worms. Colleges with big money boosters can skirt the guidelines to lure whatever palyer they want. Collectives have been able to legally collude with players who aren’t even in the portal right now.

So how do those coaches build a roster that will build towards long term success? It depends on the size of the program and the donor base your school has. The traditional “blue bloods” (Duke, UNC, Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas) should be just fine. These programs will look to use their brand and large alumni database to attract highly rated recruits to be the stars of the show. They have had zero problems this year recruited the elite of the elite. Below are the blue bloods’ incoming freshman, per 247 Sports.

Now don’t worry about Kansas and North Carolina, because they pulled in some of the best transfers in the portal. Kansas got the best player in the portal Hunter Dickinson, as well as players like Nick Timberlake and Arterio Morris. Harrison Ingram headlines North Carolina’s transfer class. Even if these big programs do not have a top recruiting class, they will have their pick of the litter when they hit the portal.

But say you coach a program like Miami who possesses a lucrative NIL base wihtout storied team success. NIL opportunities get you in the door for recruits and transfers you would not have had a chance with otherwise. Nijel Pack transferred to Miami in large part because of the massive NIL deal Miami was able to give him. Miami reportedly gave Pack 200,000 dollars to play for them. Now that Colorado and Coach Prime have unlocked their boosters on the football side, maybe Tad Boyle can use some of that money to get recruits and transfers. Oh wait, he already did. Although it has not been confirmed from major media outlets, it is rumored that Top-5 recruit Cody Williams, and TCU transfer Eddie Lampkin were lured to Boulder by NIL.

What if you are a mid-major program or a power five program without NIL money? Follow the San Diego State model of success: preach your system. The other pillar is getting your players to buy in. Teams who correctly identify players who can play in a system will be able to compete with blue bloods consistently. San Diego State and FAU both made the Final Four this year on the backs of this philosophy. Even power five schools like Iowa recruit to their systems, and they have had consistent success for years on end. Teams like SDU, FAU, and Iowa have created sustained success through experience, continuity, and buy in.

Look, there’s no perfect way to build your roster these days in college basketball. It takes a lot of accountability and self-realization. Once coaches know which category their situation fits into, they can better realize how to build their program for consistent success. Through the coming years, teams have to figure out how to use NIL and the transfer portal as tools and not handicaps.