Thomas Healy ’28
Staff Writer
On Monday, the transfer portal officially opened in college basketball. Within a span of 18 hours, four Holy Cross men’s basketball players appeared in said portal. That is around ¼ of the current roster. Max Green, the Patriot League Freshman of the Year, was the first to enter his name after signing with Court XIV, an NIL agency for college athletes.
Kahlil Singleton, a guard from Vancouver, Wash., also entered the frenzied portal. Singleton drastically improved his game this season, seeing an increase in playing time. Junior transfer Jaiden Feroah and Sophomore walk-on Declan McIntyre are also testing the portal this offseason.
Put yourself in head coach Dave Paulsen’s shoes for a minute. What should the team do now? In many ways, the team has been delayed a year in the development process. Paulsen rebuilt the program after multiple years of dissatisfactory play, and did so sprucely. Despite the subpar Patriot League performance (partially due to injuries, one might argue), it was apparent that the team had turned a corner.
With only one Senior on the 2024-25 roster, the young squad seemed to outperform the expectations that come with such an inexperienced roster makeup. They played with a certain tact and congeniality that led them to an 8-5 non-conference record. The young but capable crew gave me an outlook of their ceiling. I was confident the team could win the Patriot League within the next 5 years, and make it to the NCAA tournament. Now, the path to glory is harder and there is a vexing question that needs to be addressed. How do schools like Holy Cross compete in a rapidly volatile transfer portal in the world of NIL? It’s not a new question, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve necessarily pinpointed the right answer.
Holy Cross cannot keep up with the big NIL money schools of the mid- to high-majors. Although we do have some NIL cash from donors, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is becoming harder to retain players. Unfortunately, the emphasis on STUDENT-athlete is just not working anymore. Athletes are leaving for the cash rather than staying for the four year degree from an elite institution. However, this is not an isolated issue as every single collegiate athletic program is having difficulty keeping its players for four years.
Some schools have been pushed to the brink and have made the toughest decision an AD could ever make–just this Tuesday, Saint Francis (PA) announced they were moving from Division 1 to Division 3. This came after their men’s basketball team made the NCAA tournament. Not even a March Madness berth can save a program. Additionally, Iona men’s basketball head coach Tobin Anderson was fired after just two years with the program and a conference final appearance. The school announced they were “repositioning their approach” in the face of the NIL world–whatever that means. Schools are making these tough decisions and weighing the cost-benefits of going all in on NIL or not.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for Holy Cross as they just announced the new Mt. Saint James Collective in February. It is a huge step up for Holy Cross’s NIL flow and will hopefully address some of the issues of retention.
“As we continue to innovate within the constantly evolving world of college athletics, the Mount St. James Collective will allow us to provide best-in-class service to our student-athletes as they make an effort to maximize NIL opportunities,” said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Kit Hughes.
At the end of the day, one could say this is all just business. In any facet of life, most people would leave when offered more money from somewhere else. The prospect of how to regulate this type of business is where the issue lies. Is it fair to traditional four year programs to have this pattern of transferring happen every year?
Holy Cross men’s basketball has had 3 of the last 6 Patriot League Freshman of the Year, including Max Green. All three transferred after just one season. The NCAA needs to place restrictions on the portal and NIL if they want college sports to continue thriving as they have for over a century.
Featured image courtesy of @hcrossmbb on Instagram
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