Crackdown on Ghost Transfers is fine but ex-USF coach Bryan Hodgson had a better idea

You may remember now-former USF men's basketball coach Bryan Hodgson made national headlines by threatening retribution for any outsider contacting his players before the season ended.

"We have a good job with our guys and I've got a very close relationship with them. Any of these clowns that think they're gonna reach out to my guys before the season ends and start sending DMs... I will find you. I'm not like the rest of these coaches. We will have a face-to-face conversation ... It may work with other people. It doesn't work with me. I will find you," he said on the Field of 68 podcast.

While Hodgson gave no specifics on that issue, the message was clear: The Transfer Portal in college athletics is as chaotic as many feared it would be. When a big-name player -- or even a medium-name player -- enters the portal, it resembles those mad rushes into stores by shoppers seeking great deals on Black Friday. Rules of civility don't apply.

Something had to change, and the NCAA just offered a potentially seismic one in an effort to regain control of this process.

It enacted serious penalties throughout Division i sports for coaches who add players from another program outside of the allowable dates in the portal.

A head coach who accepts players who transfer without entering the portal could face a half-season suspension and a fine equal to 20 percent of that sport's budget. 

Tough talk.

But it's already against the rules for coaches or their representatives to contact players from other teams unless it's during the portal window. And judging by Hodgson's bravado, we can assume that rule is widely ignored.

The basketball portal window opens April 7, the day after the national championship game. USF's all-conference guard Wes Inis and guard Xavier Brown, who appeared in only three games this season for the Bulls, have already announced their intention to enter the portal.

Those in the portal can make their first official visits on April 10.

The portal closes on April 21, although a player doesn't have to sign with a new school by that date. But if they haven't entered the portal by the deadline, they can't transfer unless the school makes a coaching change.

The new penalties are meant to address so-called "ghost transfers." The issue has been on the NCAA’s radar since former Wisconsin defensive back Xavier Lucks transferred to Miami without entering the portal in January 2025.

If a player wants to transfer, there is a process for that. But when you get agents involved, running back channels to parents and friends of someone they're shopping to other programs, the threat of the NCAA's wrath becomes for many an acceptable risk.

And if the offender is caught, it's no guarantee the penalties will stand. Like most things the NCAA tries to do these days to get control of this willy-nilly process, it likely will face a legal challenge.

"It's going to add legal chaos," an AAC head coach told CBS Sports, "But it will keep rosters mostly intact -- until one player wins a lawsuit."

Yeah, the NCAA is on a losing streak in the courts, so no pop no champagne just yet.

With that in mind, maybe Hodgson had the right idea. Coaches everywhere say they want player-driven locker rooms. They say peer pressure and leadership are essential for winning teams.

It could be the same with coaches.

If they become more willing to blow the whistle on each other when necessary, that might make a dent in this problem. Being called out for cheating by your peers could carry unpleasant implications. The NCAA could even blackball the offender with a 10-year "show cause" tag if another school wants to hire him or her.

At least with these new rules, the NCAA is trying to do something about an increasingly bad problem. But they already need to be thinking three moves ahead, because that's what anyone who wants to get around this is already doing.