The transfer portal has been open for a day, and at first glance, it doesn’t appear to have hurt USF too badly.
Yes, it would be great if Izzy Carter stuck around, but losing players like him is just a fact of life in the NIL/portal era. Depending on which recruiting site you look at, the Bulls had eight or nine players enter the portal. Losing sophomore safety Tawfia Byard is disappointing, and the same goes for nose tackle Doug Blue-Eli.
It could be worse, though.
On3.com lists seven Bulls who have entered the portal, but the list doesn't include Carter. At least USF didn’t experience the mass exodus that is taking place at Charlotte. That’s where 22 players said bye-bye to what looks from the outside like a chaotic operation.
UAB, which is another mess, had 19 players head for the exits.
East Carolina had 13 players sign up to leave, Tulsa had 14, North Texas had 11, and the train wreck that is Temple saw 10 players raise their hands.
Trying to keep up with this stuff is tricky because the official portal is not public. Only administrators and coaches for NCAA schools have access to it. The moment players enter their names on the portal, they become viewable by coaches from different schools.
For the rest of us, it’s hunt-and-peck and can be exasperating.
I feel for my fellow scribes who have to work the phones and refresh their Twitter feeds every 30 seconds in case someone new hops on board the outbound train. They do it because the sites they work for have enormous audiences for this type of information.
Where there is the audience, there are clicks. When there are clicks, you hear the sound of cha-ching resonate loudly.
When it comes to Twitter, all the announcements look basically the same. The player first expresses extreme gratitude for his school, coaches, and teammates. He says he has grown so much during his time there. He’ll always be a (insert team mascot name here) FOR LIFE!
However … you know what comes next. It’s moving time!
Around the state, the portal has had only modest traffic so far, except for FIU (another mess), which has 17 players bidding a not-so-fond farewell. FSU had 12 enter their names, which is fewer than I expected. The Gators have just four players, Miami has six, and UCF has nine.
An interesting name on the Knights’ list: 3-star wide receiver Xavier Townsend of Tampa’s Berkeley Prep High.
I'd be surprised if Alex Golesh hasn’t already reached out to that young man. Meanwhile, stay tuned because it won't be long until many of those entering the portal find new homes. The gate stays open until December 28.