The NCAA transfer portal doesn’t officially open until March 24, but UConn coach Dan Hurley says more than half of his roster is already considering entering it.
“Fifty percent of my roster or more is at least considering going in the portal, if not already knows what school that they’re going to,” Hurley, the Jersey City native and former Seton Hall guard, told Jon Wertheim on Sunday’s edition of “60 Minutes.”
“Yeah, and in a couple of those cases, they’ve already talked to the coaching staff at future school and have an idea of what their NIL is going to be there,” Hurley added.
Hurley continued: “The level of volatility in college sports, this has now become a year-to-year proposition. The game has changed completely.”
The two-time defending NCAA champions honored Hassan Diarra , Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban for Senior Day, so those players won’t be back.
Freshman wing Liam McNeeley, a favorite for Big East Freshman of the Year, is a projected NBA lottery pick.
That leaves current sophomores Solo Ball, Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross and Yousouff Singare, juniors Tarris Reed Jr. and Aidan Mahanay and freshmen Ahmad Nowell and Isaiah Abraham as potential transfers.
UConn also has a four-man recruiting class coming in ranked No. 3 nationally by 247Sports.com: guards Darius Adams and Braylon Mullins, Tasmanian wing Jacob Furphy and German big man Eric Reibe.
Hurley was also asked if his team, which opens play Thursday in the Big East Tournament, can win a third straight NCAA championship, matching the UCLA teams of John Wooden.
“Yeah, there’s a path to it,” he said.
Still, he said he will experience a “feeling of failure” if UConn doesn’t three-peat.
“Once you’ve done it, anytime that you don’t do it, deep down inside you’re not gonna look at those years the same way,” he said. “There’s going to be a feeling of failure that comes with that
“Fail, fail, I mean it’s fail. I can live with it. It won’t be this offseason of pain and suffering…I’ll be able to live with it but it will still be a failure.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.