Transfer portal impacting athletic recruiting at AU

By Carlos Rodriguez and Chris Rickerson | Staff sports writers

The NCAA had an odd year.

With Covid-19 impacting NCAA sports, athletes have been given an opportunity to transfer without having to sit out a year. With this rule, the transfer portal has been busier than ever.

 Athletes in many sports were given an extra year of eligibility. This gives athletes, especially ones who are graduating, an opportunity to finish out their collegiate careers elsewhere.

A couple of teams at Augusta University were affected by the portal in different ways. 

In a positive way, AU men’s basketball head coach Dip Metress was able to land two NCAA Division I transfers in David Viti from Georgia Southern and Ja’Queze Kirby from Murray State. 

“The portal kind of always existed at our level in the sense that a kid can transfer from a Division I school to a Division II school and play right away,” said Metress. 

Metress added that the portal received a lot of publicity because the new rules allow athletes to transfer within Division I.

“At the Division I level, you can transfer from Georgia to Mercer and play right away,” Metress said. “There were always appeals for that, but now everybody can do it as long as they’re a one-time transfer.”

On the women’s side, AU women’s basketball head coach Millette Green said she does not want to rely on the transfer portal to recruit players and wants to develop four-year prospects. 

“I will say over the past three years, I have benefited from the portal,” said Green. “However, I have no plans to solely rely on the transfer portal to sustain my roster. We want to recruit and develop four-year prospects.”

Some coaches say they can see both sides when it comes to the transfer portal. The AU assistant volleyball coach Kadija Dickens said the transfer portal can be a positive and negative tool. 

“High school seniors now have less spots on a roster because of the portal and the extra year of eligibility given to athletes because of Covid,” said Dickens. “On the other hand, the transfer portal can put players on our radar who we never would have found otherwise and can certainly help a coach build their roster.”

AU track and cross-country coach Adam Ward said he has gained at least one athlete this year from the transfer portal, but does think there should be a better way of communication within the transfer portal. 

“We do have one woman coming in for cross-country from Anderson University, who I think is going to be a great addition to the team,” said Ward.  “I just wish there was a different way to communicate with the student-athletes in the portal and also for them to be able to communicate directly with coaches.”

On the other sides of things, the AU baseball coach Chris Howell said he has lost some guys to the transfer portal this year, but are recruiting guys in the portal. 

“I have lost one and he is going to take a gap year, and I am not really sure of his destination after that,” said Howell. “We are in the process of recruiting guys in the portal. We stay tuned into the portal a couple times a week to see if there is anybody who can help us.”

While the Jaguar softball team hasn’t lost players to the portal this year, Coach Melissa Brocato is hoping to add some players from the portal. 

“We haven’t lost any players to the portal this year yet,” said Brocato. “We have a couple of positions that we need to fill that we were not planning on having to fill this fall. They didn’t enter the portal, but just decided to pursue other things because of academics.”

The Peach Belt Conference announced the removal of the intra-conference transfer policy on June 11. Brocato stated she would be frustrated if she lost a player to an another PBC program.

“I would be a little frustrated if we lost a player to Peach Belt school,” said Brocato. “I understand if things don’t work out, but I don’t want a player to use us as way to shop for another school in the Peach Belt.” 

Ward said he actually has been a proponent of the move that the PBC decided to make.  

“I think it’s a good idea and have been a big proponent of it for a long time,” said Ward. “In track and cross-country, one athlete is not going to make you a national contender. If you don’t want athletes to leave, you build a good team culture.”

The transfer portal was originally implemented in 2018.

Contact Carlos Rodriguez at CARRODRIGUEZ@augusta.edu and Chris Rickerson at CRICKERSON@augusta.edu.