Portal Pandemic

Talking with Lansing and Muller

(St. Louis, MO) – While March Madness rolls on, the portal season of the ‘portal pandemic’ is fully upon us. Since current coaches can’t be openly honest about the state college basketball’s free-agency and pay-for-play system, I reached out to former Missouri Valley Conference coaches Dan Muller and Greg Lansing. I wanted to learn.

Muller spent ten seasons as the head coach at Illinois State, winning one regular season title and 167 career games. Lansing spent eleven seasons leading the Indiana State program, winning 181 and one Arch Madness title.

Lansing now works as a scout for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and Muller has started doing professional, executive coaching. Both have been a good friend to ValleyHoopsInsider.com.

When we conducted the conversation (March 20), there were 611 players in the transfer portal, as I now publish this conversation (March 23) there are 836 (per: verbalcommits.com).

Before we dove in to the subject matter, I wanted to catch up with these long term MVC fixtures. Lansing likes working for the NBA.

 

 

Muller remains in the Bloomington-Normal area but is also building a house near Nashville and has done some TV work for the Valley.

 

 

Their former players are scattered across America, but two in particular had big seasons in the Southeastern Conference.

 

 

(Valley Hoops Insider Podcast has our whole conversation)

 

Portal Pandemic – The Coaches

Lansing and Muller repeatedly say, they are glad players can now make money while playing basketball. The combination of ‘name, image and likeness’ becoming the law of the land, allowing immediate eligibility for transfers and adding a year of eligibility due to covid, created what I’ve called the ‘portal pandemic’.

There are extra players, abundant money and no limitations on transfers. While the NCAA says a player can only transfer once without having to sit out, in practice that is not true. Determining if this pandemic is a long term good or bad for the game isn’t as easy as a yes or no answer. In the short run, it is chaos.

These former coaches don’t see all gloom and doom, like some do, but they do see the chaos. Lansing says current coaches face new and more difficult challenges, and money is driving the sport rather than coach/player relationships. It’s more complicated.

 

 

Muller fears that academics is the largest casualty in this ‘portal pandemic’. While noting either change could be good and reasonable, them occurring at the same time was poor timing.

 

 

The 2017 Valley Coach of the Year says there have always been differences in programs and that will continue or widen. He admits that coaches now have to design a financial strategy to get and keep players in their programs. Muller believes securing returning players rather than promising bigger paydays to new players is the way to succeed.

 

 

Portal Pandemic – Conferences and the Future

For better or worse, the ‘free market’ is in full effect and many believe it will further separate the so-called ‘power conferences’ from the rest of Division 1 teams. By-the-way, there is a down stream ripple effect. Significant numbers of Division 2 players now have more freedom of movement and are heading for D1.

Lansing thinks that separation will grow larger.

 

 

Obviously and for good reason, the ‘power conference’ teams have more money to attract better players. As a ‘free market’ capitalist by nature, I understand and applaud this result. As an advocate for the ‘health of the game’, and what could be best for the individual players, I have concerns. My own research found that a full 26% of the transferring players ended up in a lower division or out of basketball all together. A recent NCAA Study found similar results.

However, Lansing and Muller say there many players that are receiving large sums of money.

 

 

Portal Pandemic – The Fans

While the pandemic rages, who are the fans left to cheer for and embrace? How this affects the fans in the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences is one of my big concerns. Illinois-Chicago joined the Valley last year and had a difficult season, but with good young talent on the roster and the ability to add a few new players you could see upward mobility as distinctly possible for the Flames and head coach Luke Yaklich.

However, all-MVC second-team sophomore Jace Carter and a valuable rotation player, freshman Jalen Jackson have already dipped into the portal and Jackson has signed with IUPUI. Who are Flames fans supposed to be cheering for? Is it the uniform? The coach? It makes it more difficult for fans to care.

Muller sees how the pandemic could effect fan allegiance.

 

 

One trusted source recently told me that a ‘better than average’ Valley player was contemplating the portal (he wasn’t in it at the time) had numerous ‘six-digit offers’ from ‘power conference’ schools. There are rules about approaching players, but they aren’t enforced anymore.

Portal Pandemic – Going Forward

The Covid eligibility ends after next season and one of these components will go away. Both Lansing and Muller say individual coaches and programs will find a way to succeed, like they always have. The adjustments to be made now are more intricate and nuanced.

Some players will actually stay in school longer than before because they can make some significant money while playing college basketball. We heard from several sources that Bradley’s Rienk Mast would ‘turn pro’ at the end of the season. In one sense, he is. Mast has entered the portal and will get paid handsomely at a ‘power conference’ school. We truly celebrate this fact for Rienk and will root for him where ever he happens to play next season.

Alabama coach Nate Oates was just quoted as saying that the portal made it possible for his team to compete for a national championship. Neither Muller or Lansing are predicting doom and gloom for college basketball, but admit warning clouds exist.

MVC and OVC coaches and athletic programs have new and greater challenges. How they navigate this new era of college basketball will be interesting theater and as fans of these two leagues, we’re pulling for their collective health and success during the ‘portal pandemic’.

By-the-way, Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell who scored 27 points during the Wildcats’ recent NCAA Tournament win, transferred from the OVC’s Little Rock Trojan program.

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