The Portal 2026

[TrueBlue82]

1 hour ago, Old Titan said:

Seriously, I give up.

I’ve made myself pretty clear re: where I think things appear to be headed; apologies for not seeing much of a bright side to the current direction… 

Time now for me to give it a rest!

You are correct - there isn't a bright side to what we've seen so far.  However, I think that the biggest issue with comparing this season to prior recruiting efforts is the timing.  The transfer portal has created a huge trickle-down effect where the blue bloods get first pick, and then the high-majors, and then the mid-majors, and then the Summit League teams.  A player is looking to go to as high a program as possible and for the largest payout. Those players watch their "hoped-for" team fill up their roster and then wish for an offer from their next best option. Most of the players that can be picked up early are the P4 conference cast-offs that simply want a chance for some playing time at a lower level (for example, our new Northwestern and Nevada transfers) or a D2 player who is not getting a sniff at the larger schools.  ORU's top recruits are likely to come later in the process when a player realizes that ORU and the Summit are as high as he can go (because all other options have been eliminated). It's excruciating for the fan base and MUCH, MUCH worse for the coaching staff.

And, it's not just ORU.  There are 57 players from the Summit League that entered the portal.  As of today, only ten have been signed.  And, Summit teams have only signed 7 transfers from the portal to replace those 57 players. The "trickle-down" effect has not yet reached the Summit talent level.  Hopefully, the seeds that the coaching staff are planting right now will bear much fruit (big and tall!) down the road. 

 

[Bogus Smith]

18 hours ago, ORU82 said:

Ok Bogus, so we have to spend $50K to educate a student.  To whom or where does that $50K go?  That's right, all that money goes to ORU.  Sorry, but what I am picking up from a lot of the posts and reading between the lines is that the current Administration and Athletic Department have no intention on properly funding any of the programs and instead are looking for the weakest and poorest conference in all of D-I athletics to be a member so that the University can spend as little as possible and be a bottom feeder.  The adds that are run during the broadcasts of our games advertising ORU always contain a line about "we play Division 1" athletics almost as if we are trying to convince the world that the University is relevant.  My question is why were we asked to donate to fund all of the upgrades in our athletic facilities when the powers that be apparently never had any intention of properly funding the programs?  Sorry for the rant but my patience is running a little thin.

@ORU82, I think that we all share the level of frustration that the current collegiate sports environment has created  - especially for those of us at the end of the food chain.  ORU does play Division 1 athletics, just like 300+ other educational institutions do across this country.  The level of D1 competitiveness is just spread across a spectrum of which we are right of center while the blue bloods are at the far left (by the way, this is not a political statement - just a visual aid).  We aren't at the very bottom of the barrel, but we are in Quad 3/Quad 4 except for certain years when we come up for air (i.e., mid-1970's, early 80's, mid-90's, mid-2000's, early 20's).

When we provide a student-athlete with a scholarship, we don't give them money to pay the University for their education.  We discount the cost of that education against the revenues that the student would have paid for their education.  In other words, the university loses money on the attendance of that student in return for their skills/abilities to play a competitive sport for the school.  On top of that, starting in July 2021 and beyond, third-party entities (and later NCAA member schools) have been allowed to compensate their student-athletes name, image, and likeness (NIL), and then schools could make direct payments up to a cap amount for their athletic prowess, on top of the educational scholarship that they receive to gain the college education.

2021 is an important date because it was in 2021 that ORU ascended to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball tournament.  This was before it was legal (although probably already done) to pay players for NIL and their athletic services. At the time, this is why renovating the Mabee Center and building state-of-the-art athletic facilities and strength and conditioning facilities were such a big deal.  Unfortunately, the shift was on in 2022 for paying players and we were completing our facilities upgrades.  At that time, the players that were in schools during 2022 & 2023 were still figuring out what they were able to do and negotiate.  It has only been a short four years that everything has shifted and we are on the lower end of the spectrum.  @TrueBlue82's explanation above is a great understanding of where we stand and the "pecking order".

I do not speak for the athletic department or the university, however, it is not the University that doesn't want to compete for championships at the highest levels.  Whether we can afford to do this at a level other than the low-major level is a different matter.  There are some really crazy wealthy individuals that enjoy seeing their names on things and are willing to use their wealth to create a name for their universities. Many of them don't have a faith-nature about themselves and don't have anything better to do with their money; however, that doesn't mean that ORU doesn't also have some very generous benefactors that could impact the sports that they love.  There is also the obstacle of paying players to play a sport that they are supposed to get an education for.  People still have a problem with giving their money for a reason such as this - and understandably so.  It's not an easy predicament. 

The intercollegiate athletics landscape has changed (and is changing) just like artificial intelligence.  Every day is a new rule or a new gimmick to get students to attend the major universities so that they can push out the smaller schools away from the money available from media sources.  We need to find ways to be nimble and innovative to compete with this and be the best ORU that we can be on and off the court.

[ORU82]

Thanks for your response Bogus.  However I do have a question about “scholarships”.  If the University is not getting the money given by donors for “scholarships”, then where is that money going?  I am asking for a friend who has given to the GEC for “athletic scholarships” on numerous occasions assuming that money was actually going to the University for “athletic scholarships”.  That is what the Athletic Department told the donor the money was earmarked for, “athletic scholarships”.  Perhaps the donor misunderstood.

[Bogus Smith]

7 hours ago, ORU82 said:

Thanks for your response Bogus.  However I do have a question about “scholarships”.  If the University is not getting the money given by donors for “scholarships”, then where is that money going?  I am asking for a friend who has given to the GEC for “athletic scholarships” on numerous occasions assuming that money was actually going to the University for “athletic scholarships”.  That is what the Athletic Department told the donor the money was earmarked for, “athletic scholarships”.  Perhaps the donor misunderstood.

Those dollars ARE going to the university to reimburse them for the scholarships that they have given to our student-athletes.  As a matter of fact, there are many years where the amount given towards scholarships has not been enough to cover "the bill" with the university and the GEC has made up the difference with its other fundraising activities. The university still covers the bulk of the costs when it comes to our student-athletes' education, but many of those costs are "soft costs" which means that student-athletes are sitting in seats of classes that would go empty as we would still be having the class(es) regardless of whether the student-athlete were filling it or not.

In essence, the GEC has become "the backstop" in everything that the athletic program does financially and why our donors are so important to us.  If it weren't for our donors, the athletic department could not have been as nimble and successful as they have been in the last ten years.  Mike Carter's era was a godsend for the athletic department in the mid-90's and we have been fortunate to have Tim Johnson take the reigns of the athletic department when Mike decided to retire (only to find out that he would come out of retirement when Laura Bishop went back home to south Florida).

[eagle88]

Of all of the reasons we are hearing why ORU is struggling to be competitive in the Summit League which reasons are unique to us? Do the 8 other teams have a unique advantage that we don’t? This past season NDSU got to go to the big dance. Next year 1 of the 9 teams will get to go. Unless I am missing something all 9 teams are in the same boat. Does it come down to which  coaching staff can figure out how to win the Summit? Yes there have been many changes to the college basketball landscape but at the end of the day ORU only has to win the Summit for good things to happen. I am open minded to hearing and learning if I am wrong. For the most part ORU cannot get the best players in the nation and other than in the beginning they never have. I imagine the NDSU message board is having different conversations than we are. If there are truly good reasons that ORU uniquely faces versus the other 8 Summit League teams can we overcome them or do we throw in the towel and go NAIA??

[Keenan Henderson]

Now the Summit is down to 8 teams and generally goes through the Dakotas.  The key has been how do you beat the Dakota teams and then ORU can make the tournament.  Not saying I have the answer but Coach Mills did figure it out after 4 seasons.  He mainly did it with small ball lineup/3 point shooting and defense that was average.  Coach had better talent and for the most part he kept the core group together.

The Eagles have recently swung and missed on too many D1 transfers from the portal.  If you look at how NDSU and SDSU usually win the league is by bringing in freshman and developing them.  Yes they sprinkle in a few transfers but sometimes they even redshirt the freshman and keep them for multiple seasons.  ORU has not been able to do that except for maybe with Luke Grey.  

In the end I think the Eagles have to keep the core group together (almost impossible) and develop freshman to win championships again.

 

[Bogus Smith]

Let's also not forget that ORU is not your normal university.  For some student-athletes, it is great; for others it is a destination on a journey.  For others, they will never consider us due to its mission and/or the league that we play in.  For the other Summit League teams, other than UST, there is no religious connotation to its mission.  We are competing at different levels - both financially and culturally.

[theeagleman5]

Then ORU MUST recruit players who answer to a higher calling...yeah I know it's hard to find good athletes who are spiritual but they ARE out there...$$ doesn't buy everything.... 

If we can't do it.....well...then what you see it what you are gonna get.

 

[ORUTerry]

 

[titansforever]

5 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

 

Definitely pretty sickening.   "How to become the most unpopular student at your college."

[oruvoice]

And yet, many people were clamoring for NIL for these poor/mistreated kids. I mean, they only got a free scholarship, free health care, free housing, free food, free gear, and stipend money for playing a game, in the pre-NIL era.

[2014Grad]

37 minutes ago, titansforever said:

Definitely pretty sickening.   "How to become the most unpopular student at your college."

It's a troll account..that Twitter post isn't real although satire and real life can be tricky to decipher today 

[ORUTerry]

Here’s what makes it believable:

 

[2014Grad]

1 hour ago, ORUTerry said:

Here’s what makes it believable:

 

Can someone with more knowledge in economics/college sports educate me?

Will she be making OSU over 1.4 million in revenue? Does women’s basketball make that much?? What motivates people to give that much?

(asking genuinely lol)

[Bogus Smith]

6 minutes ago, 2014Grad said:

Can someone with more knowledge in economics/college sports educate me?

Will she be making OSU over 1.4 million in revenue? Does women’s basketball make that much?? What motivates people to give that much?

(asking genuinely lol)

Crazy people with more money than they know what to do with and no one to leave it to (or don't want to leave it to their family).  Probably paid out of business funds and deducted as a normal course of business deduction (section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code) and you and I as taxpayers reduce their tax burden by $462,000 (assumed 33% tax bracket). 

So, in a nutshell, we are all paying part of this girl's windfall - as well as her education from our taxpayer dollars. 

Crooks must have been a terror for the Cowgirls last season and some benefactor asked Hoyt what she needed to make it onto the national stage.  This was the result of that discussion. 

[2014Grad]

51 minutes ago, Bogus Smith said:

Crazy people with more money than they know what to do with and no one to leave it to (or don't want to leave it to their family).  Probably paid out of business funds and deducted as a normal course of business deduction (section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code) and you and I as taxpayers reduce their tax burden by $462,000 (assumed 33% tax bracket). 

So, in a nutshell, we are all paying part of this girl's windfall - as well as her education from our taxpayer dollars. 

Crooks must have been a terror for the Cowgirls last season and some benefactor asked Hoyt what she needed to make it onto the national stage.  This was the result of that discussion. 

Ahhh thanks for the response Bogus, that makes sense as I did not consider the business tax deduction aspect of it all!!! I guess it may be a “fun” deduction as well because they get to control/influence a sport/school they like!!

[Keenan Henderson]

As the portal is about to close, Lane Sparks enters as the total nears 2500 transfers.  That is an interesting one that I did not see coming.  Sparks is trying to get a waiver for another year after being injuried on opening night last season.

Maybe he is having trouble receiving a 6th year and this is a chance to extend the process.  Not sure but this sort of a head scratcher, since his former NAIA coach is on the Eagles' staff.

[Bogus Smith]

10 hours ago, Keenan Henderson said:

As the portal is about to close, Lane Sparks enters as the total nears 2500 transfers.  That is an interesting one that I did not see coming.  Sparks is trying to get a waiver for another year after being injuried on opening night last season.

Maybe he is having trouble receiving a 6th year and this is a chance to extend the process.  Not sure but this sort of a head scratcher, since his former NAIA coach is on the Eagles' staff.

You may be on to something here, @Keenan Henderson if it helps him to continue the process.  Also being at a NAIA school may/should extend his eligibility.  I know he is committed to playing another year.