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Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 10:24 am**

The definition of a program builder has completely changed. Time will tell whether Jerry Stackhouse and Vanderbilt can be competitive in the new world.

I posted this on Saturday in another thread--almost half (19) of the starters on NCAA Elite Eight teams were transfers. K-State didn't have a single starter that began college in Manhattan. Only 1 of the 40 starters on the Elite Eight teams was a true freshman.

A little bit of the new world will disappear after the 2025 season when the extra Covid year largely fades from view. Those players who were freshmen in 2019-20 (like Jordan Wright) will have completed their five years of eligibility unless they took a redshirt year along the way. I can't really put Wright into the larger conversation around NIL or transfers--he gave VU all four years and is graduating. Maybe Vandy didn't have the grad school program he wanted. Maybe he couldn't gain acceptance into the program of his choice. Or maybe he just wants a new environment. Regardless, it's hard to find fault with his choice.

But the portal is now a permanent feature of the college athletics landscape, and Vanderbilt (like every other school) will have to figure out how to build a sustainable program around it. Vandy has now lost four undergraduates to the portal (Stute, Thomas, Shelby, Dia), and we may not be done yet.

Let's admit that it's hard for us as fans. We all grew up watching players who stayed on campus four years, and we enjoyed watching them develop and getting to know them. Even the memorable ones who were only around for a couple of years--Bruce Elder, Billy McCaffrey, Derrick Byars, etc.--seem to fit like a glove into the program, in part because they had a full year to assimilate into the school and the returning players. We like winning games, but we also enjoyed the roster stability that most programs not named Kentucky experienced. It may be best for the student-athlete, but it doesn't mean it doesn't suck for us as fans.

But it is what it is. I don't blame anyone for not liking it and even giving up on college basketball, but the sooner we accept it, the better we can adjust our expectations for coaches and programs.

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 12:50 pm**

The NCAA is not out for the benefit of the college athletes. If so then baseball would have more than 11.7 scholarships! This no penalty transfer portal will systematically destroy basketball as we know it. Attendance has already started to decline and will continue in that direction.

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:13 pm**

I don't like it at all. Having attended a lot of games since the late 60's and felt like I knew something about every player, this is beyond ridiculous. The NCAA has ruined Collegiate athletics. If one commits to a school in any sport, they should have to stay through after their junior season is through and only then can change come around. STOP THE MADNESS!

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:45 pm**

Don't these kids form friendships and get involved in their degree programs to the extent that they would not want to jump ship- especially after 2 or 3 years at the school? I know Stute has a girlfriend in Nashville.

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:59 pm**

I think everyone should be required to say "it is what it is" before every statement they make. That way we'd be sure that everything is what it is. And there are no instances when it isn't-you know- what it is. If i knew who started that, why i'd... to the moon!

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 4:09 pm**

I attended a small college in Louisiana in the early/mid 80's. I will always remember at orientation we were asked to look at the person on our left, and the person on our right. Then they said, only one of the three of you will actually graduate from here if you follow recent classes. Being a super dumb 17 year old, I looked at both and said, I'm sorry you are not going to graduate from here! Ironically, I kept up with those two students who sat on either side of me, and neither graduated from that college.

I mention this because its long been an issue for Universities to have lots of attrition for various reasons, and they are not always for reasons we might understand. To that young adult, it matters lots, and all I can do is respect their choices. I met my wife where I went to college, and some more of the greatest relationships of my life begun while I was in college. I hope that they all find these great relationships at Vanderbilt or wherever they eventually attend/graduate.

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:18 pm**

Go Vandy! wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:59 pm I think everyone should be required to say "it is what it is" before every statement they make. That way we'd be sure that everything is what it is. And there are no instances when it isn't-you know- what it is. If i knew who started that, why i'd... to the moon!

So true. "It is ____ __ __" is a vacuous phrase that cannot reach the ash heap of history too soon.

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:46 pm**

But...at the end of the day

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:48 pm**

Nashmann wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:46 pm But...at the end of the day

. . . . another day begins.

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 6:00 pm**

So it goes.

(That one actually has literary merit.)

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 7:35 pm**

Damnit to hell...it IS what it is, you people.

(I hate the expression, too, but it fits here.)

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 8:24 pm**

Actually, ...

Posted: **Tue Mar 28, 2023 11:55 pm**

Foreverhopeful wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:45 pm Don't these kids form friendships and get involved in their degree programs to the extent that they would not want to jump ship- especially after 2 or 3 years at the school? I know Stute has a girlfriend in Nashville.

True but sometimes we don’t know the circumstances of the departure. It can’t be just the athletes decision.

Posted: **Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:50 am**

nyyankeeDore wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:18 pm
Go Vandy! wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:59 pm I think everyone should be required to say "it is what it is" before every statement they make. That way we'd be sure that everything is what it is. And there are no instances when it isn't-you know- what it is. If i knew who started that, why i'd... to the moon!
So true. "It is ____ __ __" is a vacuous phrase that cannot reach the ash heap of history too soon.
[/quote

For the first 17 years of my career I had a great boss. When he left the company hired a demon MTSU grad who, the minute he heard I'd gone to VU decided to run me off. Ten years later he was fired. Every time you needed to take off, every time you had an opinion he didn't like, every time he was pissed at you he would start his statement with "it is what it is." Had he been on fire I wouldn't have wasted good urine to put him out. I feel the same way about that saying. Oh, I retired from that company six years after his dismissal. :P

Posted: **Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:15 am**

Will be interesting to see these changes go through their next phases.

As a fan I hate it. Will certain programs or schools do a better job of keeping teams together for longer? Will the NIL lead to a real top sphere of schools that have a monopoly on top talent (and result in old Vandy being left out in the cold). How many fans will share the concerns raised by many on these boards and head for the exits both in person and on TV/cable/streaming?

For fairness' sake its ok. Why should coaches and schools get the big bucks and not the kids? Why should coaches move on to greener pastures pretty much whenever they'd like but not the kids?

Then there are the over arching questions: Are there enough jobs in the world of sports to make this a viable road for kids or does a lesser education mean a brighter now and dimer future? Are we killing the goose that laid the golden egg by professionalizing college sports...you can only cheer for a uniform so long.

I'm not optimistic, but to quote the great man himself "it is what it is".

Posted: **Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:42 am**

That being said,....

(I hate that one about as much as starting every sentence with "So.")

So, that being said, I think Auric is the most literary fellow on the board.

Posted: **Wed Mar 29, 2023 12:59 pm**

… if you, like, know what I, like, mean.

Posted: **Wed Mar 29, 2023 2:05 pm**

Versus75 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 12:59 pm … if you, like, know what I, like, mean.

Repetitively saying "like" also is annoying, right?

Posted: **Wed Mar 29, 2023 2:09 pm**

FayetteDore wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:42 am That being said,....

(I hate that one about as much as starting every sentence with "So.")

So, that being said, I think Auric is the most literary fellow on the board.

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

William Shakespeare

Posted: **Wed Mar 29, 2023 3:53 pm**

AuricGoldfinger wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 2:09 pm
FayetteDore wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:42 am That being said,....
No
(I hate that one about as much as starting every sentence with "So.")

So, that being said, I think Auric is the most literary fellow on the board.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

William Shakespeare

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

William Blake

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