Portal blown up today with d1 kids. Not a surprise at all. They waited one week this year so there are only 32 'active' D1 teams now in the tournament. Some chunks of kids here and there of note for sure - St. Francis will be rebuilding for D3 (not a surprise, how many D1 level kids did they have?) Mercyhurst has the opposite problem and has likely 'over recruited' their roster. USC-Upstate- I would argue its smart to be in the portal when you don't have a coach currently. It might give the players some leverage in the choice of new coach but you just have to be willing to leave if that new coach comes in and brings a bunch of transfers and '26 recruits. Some risks. The hotseat/portal correlation is usually there. Interesting at these lower d1 levels, it only takes a few 'special' players to make a big difference in results. There are P4s with groups of players in there. The social media accounts will probably have it covered soon. Frankly, I have always had a bit of concern about transfers. Why are they REALLY leaving? is the magic question. I would talk directly to the coach they just played for...
it is one big clout chase. No surprise at all. Personal brand has overtaken association with established ones. Do not see it changing.
As of 11 hours ago, per @chris_awk on Twitter. 753 D1 players in the portal, and I am sure that number has gone up with compliance people getting into their offices this morning.
We are looking at ~2+ athletes per program. 15 current vacancies 7 filled positions Numbers really aren’t all that bad.
Today it's now 800 total for d1 women's soccer but about 150 are Grad transfers and about 100 were before 11/17, so either not on money or affected by coaching changes. So active D1 undergrads on some scholarship looking for a change is nearly 600. Not at all record breaking but someone can look at historical numbers. I feel like 1K in Fall and nearly 1K in Spring have been typical numbers. But there are 32 teams still playing and plenty of schools still having player meetings...
Looking at some of the players, seeing lots of GK’s…most with 0-100 minutes after 1-2 years. Have seen a couple starters and grad students, only from Mid-majors. What is the market for these D1 GK’s with virtually no to very low minutes…lots of coaches on this board, looking for some perspective. We know a few kids in the portal…all midfielders with 1000-1500 minutes after their first two years. D1 Mid-Major kids looking for more PT.
Six of one and half a dozen of the other, exceptions to every rule, ect ect ... Someone could be a future All-American sitting behind a current All-American or they could play over 1000 mins every year due to lack of viable alternatives. I think it's easier to give goalkeepers the benefit of the doubt due to how infrequently GKs are subbed.
Most of the time, goalkeeper monies is wrapped up in one — the starter. A second may have some money because need at least a solid backup. What are these kids supposed to do? Sit and never play for free?
I get it, I would want to play…I’m just trying to see from a coaches perspective what they are thinking when they see these kids with no minutes, do they usually move laterally or go down a division. As a coach, I would prefer a kid who I have scouted, watched play and have a feel for over a kid I have not seen even if they have been on a college roster and not played. I know there are exceptions. Just seems like a tough spot to be in.
Most typical stat I have heard quoted with GK spending, in the old 14 scholarship model, is to spend 1.5 scholarships on 3 GKs. With the new scholarship model, which likely MOST schools are not funding 28 scholarships, not sure.
There is no "link" to the portal for the public. The only way it will be seen is if someone with access to it decides to list the names in it.
Won't list player names, but here are some numbers from schools...parantheses for graduate students in the total. Kept it to 7 or more, might have missed some. I put asterisks around extenuating circumstances (coach change, program change, etc.) South Florida - 7 (0) Mercyhurst - 7 (0) St. Louis University - 7 (0) Grambling State - 7 (0) Seton Hall - 7 (0) SMU - 7 (0) UTRGV - 7 (0) University of San Francisco - 7 (1) South Alabama 7 (2) Troy - 7 (0) ***Coaching Change Cincinnati - 7 (2) Butler University - 8 (2) Santa Clara - 8 (2) USC-Upstate - 8 (0) ***Coaching Change Cal State Sacramento - 9 (0) Purdue University - 9 (0) St. Peter's - 9 (3) San Jose State University - 9 (0) Northern Iowa - 9 (0) ***Interim tag removed from coach Wofford - 9 (5) Chicago State - 11 (0) Saint Francis University - 11 (0) ***Moving to Division III Mississippi Valley State University - 13 (1) ***Discontinued program Stetson - 14 (4)
Grambling won the SWAC and played in the NCAA tourney and is still losing 7 players to the portal??? Interesting
If the NCAA had a minimum RPI to get into the field of 64 they would not have made it. They looked like a high school team against TCU. Losing 7-0 was a dismantling. SWAC is the worst conference in D1.
Yeah, that'll happen when you've had billions of dollars stolen from you and given to the schools you're competing against. Ignoring context for a moment though, you sound new to the tournament. Word of advice: brace yourself! There are big losses every year and not always by who apparently you would expect. In addition to Stanford losing the Finals by 4, the previous two tournaments saw schools lose by: 5 - Texas (Big 12), UC Santa Barbara (Big West), Morehead St (Ohio Valley), Sacramento St (Big Sky), and Grambling St (SWAC) 6 - Ohio St (Big 10) and East Carolina (American) 7+ - Central Conn St (NEC), Howard (NEC), USC Upstate (Big South), Stony Brook (CAA), Southern (SWAC), and Samford (SoCon). ...and in this year's first round, there were 5-goal losses by Wagner (NEC) and High Point (Big South). It's almost as if high seeds playing at home are consistently, with rare exceptions, better than lower seeds and a lot better than unseeded teams that barely made the tournament. (That right there is what you call hard-hitting investigative journalism.)
my thoughts: Surprised mercyhurst isn’t more with their roster size. Idk much about Grambling, they always seem to have a fair share in the portal but also seem to be near the top of that league. Some places are harder to live and exist as a student athlete than others off the field. The Stetson number is the shock to me. That’s half the team in this era. Wild. they’ll be some more big-ish numbers when programs finish up in the tourney.
What's going on with these two? I guess that I am not totally surprised by Chicago State. Since the women's program started in 2014 there have only been 17 wins total. This past season was the program's winningest with 5. The school struggles in just about all athletics and with less than 1,000 students, that isn't a surprise. In all honesty the program should go back to either D2 or NAIA, both of which it was affiliated in the past.
I think there are players who choose Chicago State so they can go D1, and it's either not a good experience and they go down or they perform well and use it to go D1 somewhere more desirable. No idea what is going on at Stetson...
The portal can be great, or a nightmare. One Midwest team on your list has many xfers. From all of them, only about 4 goals and 3 assists last year, even though some played quite a bit. It doesn't help when former coaches (head or asst) actively encourage transfers, yet girls most end up D2 at best. If ya don't love the school, city, etc you have to find happiness. But if transferring for soccer, only select few find greener pastures. It's a hornets nest.
Also, "5 in 5" is back on the table. The NCAA originally said "no", but of course there is another lawsuit that gets decided here in a couple weeks. This could make the transfer portal go even crazier. There are some caveats to it. It would not apply to anyone who has taken a redshirt year already, and it would not apply to someone who has already graduated in Spring 2025. So basically, it would apply to any current true seniors THIS YEAR who have already used all four years of their eligibility. If the lawsuit goes there way it would allow for another year for these individuals.
For fun, here is the breakdowns by conference as of 9:45 AM CST on 11/20, and some other fun numbers. NEC - 49 Big 12 - 47 WCC - 47 Sun Belt- 45 SWAC - 44 Big 10 - 42 ACC - 40 Big South - 38 Southland - 37 SEC - 35 A-10 - 33 A-Sun - 32 Mountain West - 32 CUSA - 30 American - 29 Big East - 29 MAAC - 29 MAC - 29 Big Sky - 28 Southern - 27 Horizon - 26 Missouri Valley - 22 Big West - 20 Ohio Valley - 19 Costal - 15 Summit - 14 WAC - 10 Patriot - 9 Ivy - 8 America East - 6 Independent - 3 873 D1 players total have entered -3 withdrawn -5 signed -865 still available 1,205 NCAA players total have entered. This does not account for any NJCAA or NAIA players who are transferring. Also, I saw an X post using my post of the school's numbers (which is totally fine) and saying SLU was incorrect? Anyone have any additional info on that, because the portal says 7 and I am not going to dox the players in the portal but want to make sure the info I am seeing/posting is correct.