Jay Wright Details Why the Blueblood Era in College Basketball Is Over

[BleedGopher]

Per Williams:

Former Villanova coach Jay Wright believes the blueblood era in men’s college basketball is already over.

“I think it is [over], great point,” Wright responded when the question was posted to him on USA Today’s Sports Seriously.

This is quite the statement, as five of the most prestigious blueblood programs—UConn, North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke and Kansas—are all in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. UConn is coming off a season in which it won the national title and hasn’t been ranked outside of the top five since it was No. 6 in the preseason poll.

Wright’s reasoning, though, is based on the transfer portal changing the landscape. Before the transfer portal, he detailed how a player at a blueblood school would likely wait it out at the program so they wouldn’t have to sit out an entire season if they changed schools. But players can now transfer to another program once as an underclassman without having to sit out a year.

“The transfer portal and NIL has really made it possible for anybody to invest enough to be a blueblood,” Wright said.

Jay Wright Details Why the Blueblood Era in College Basketball Is Over

The former Villanova coach believes the transfer portal plays a big part in this shift.

www.si.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[dlnavra]

Per Williams:

Former Villanova coach Jay Wright believes the blueblood era in men’s college basketball is already over.

“I think it is [over], great point,” Wright responded when the question was posted to him on USA Today’s Sports Seriously.

This is quite the statement, as five of the most prestigious blueblood programs—UConn, North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke and Kansas—are all in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. UConn is coming off a season in which it won the national title and hasn’t been ranked outside of the top five since it was No. 6 in the preseason poll.

Wright’s reasoning, though, is based on the transfer portal changing the landscape. Before the transfer portal, he detailed how a player at a blueblood school would likely wait it out at the program so they wouldn’t have to sit out an entire season if they changed schools. But players can now transfer to another program once as an underclassman without having to sit out a year.

“The transfer portal and NIL has really made it possible for anybody to invest enough to be a blueblood,” Wright said.

Jay Wright Details Why the Blueblood Era in College Basketball Is Over

The former Villanova coach believes the transfer portal plays a big part in this shift.

www.si.com

Go Gophers!!

100% agree with this and I also think the notion of “mid-major” is a tired term. There will be lots of good teams, as there are now,

There will still be a few that have an easier path based on brand, etc but we are seeing it already as some other schools start to elevate.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Didn’t we have this discussion years ago when Butler made the title game?

 

[leib0039]

Jay Wright is an elite basketball mind, very smart guy. However i think this is incorrect. As we sit today Uconn/UK/Duke/UNC are all in the top 11, KU is 16th and has a "terrible" year. All are likely to be 4 seeds or higher, Duke has the #1 recruiting class coming in (possibly a historic one), UK just said yesterday they started a new NIL group essentially to take over college bball recruiting, Uconn is the favorite going into the tourney after winning last year and UNC has been very good this year and went to the finals 2 years ago. They arent going anywhere and will always be there. Sure it looks different than it did, but the results are basically the same. Tell me what school can keep a kid like Bacot for 4-5 years, only those level teams, if hes at say the U or Cal he never stays his whole career. Outside of Duke who has done so well at the HS level they havent really done a ton of transfer portal stuff, those other schools have gotten the cream of the crop from the portal. So yah call me skeptical that the blue bloods will suddenly be average.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Jay Wright is an elite basketball mind, very smart guy. However i think this is incorrect. As we sit today Uconn/UK/Duke/UNC are all in the top 11, KU is 16th and has a "terrible" year. All are likely to be 4 seeds or higher, Duke has the #1 recruiting class coming in (possibly a historic one), UK just said yesterday they started a new NIL group essentially to take over college bball recruiting, Uconn is the favorite going into the tourney after winning last year and UNC has been very good this year and went to the finals 2 years ago. They arent going anywhere and will always be there. Sure it looks different than it did, but the results are basically the same. Tell me what school can keep a kid like Bacot for 4-5 years, only those level teams, if hes at say the U or Cal he never stays his whole career. Outside of Duke who has done so well at the HS level they havent really done a ton of transfer portal stuff, those other schools have gotten the cream of the crop from the portal. So yah call me skeptical that the blue bloods will suddenly be average.

I agree with you. The liberal transfer rules only make it easier for the blue bloods to recharge and improve their rosters. In an era of unfettered free agency, the elite, rich programs are in a position to procure anyone they want.

 

[TwistingMyMelon]

Jay Wright is an elite basketball mind, very smart guy. However i think this is incorrect. As we sit today Uconn/UK/Duke/UNC are all in the top 11, KU is 16th and has a "terrible" year. All are likely to be 4 seeds or higher, Duke has the #1 recruiting class coming in (possibly a historic one), UK just said yesterday they started a new NIL group essentially to take over college bball recruiting, Uconn is the favorite going into the tourney after winning last year and UNC has been very good this year and went to the finals 2 years ago. They arent going anywhere and will always be there. Sure it looks different than it did, but the results are basically the same. Tell me what school can keep a kid like Bacot for 4-5 years, only those level teams, if hes at say the U or Cal he never stays his whole career. Outside of Duke who has done so well at the HS level they havent really done a ton of transfer portal stuff, those other schools have gotten the cream of the crop from the portal. So yah call me skeptical that the blue bloods will suddenly be average.

Agreed. Wright may be correct that lower tier schools now have more of an opportunity to improve themselves through the portal but, as the old show tune states: "Anything you can do I can do better." The blue bloods typically have more money to invest and they are still shiny objects that can attract good players wanting to move up to a bigger stage.