How to fix non-NCAA Tournament teams from opting out of the NIT

Transfer portal windows have frustrated people considering when they open in relation to when some sport’s respective seasons actually finish. That’s now coming into play again as, on Monday, the portal opened for college basketball even though postseason tournaments are beginning this week.

On3’s Andy Staples looked at the portal problem in relation to how it’s hurting the NIT during his show on Tuesday. He has seen the outrage from some that coaches and players don’t have time or aren’t interested in competing in it but, with that, he provided quite a simple solution to the matter.

“The old school people who remember when the NIT was a bigger deal? They’re going nuts over this. ESPN is going nuts over this because they televise the NIT. They would like you to watch it,” said Staples. “But does anybody actually care that much?”

“We could fix it. You want to fix it? Let’s fix it right now,” Staples said. “Here’s how you fix it – you open the transfer portal two, three weeks later. It’s that simple.”

In making his point, Staples compared basketball’s position to football. For football, the players are leaving at the end of the semester anyways in order to get to a new school that they need to be in by the next one. As for basketball, their players are entering mid-semester when they don’t technically have any rush to choose a new home until the summer.

That’s why, in his eyes, it’s not hurting anyone to move basketball’s portal back another month. That would keep coaches focused on what’s left of the season, keep players actually on teams throughout the tournaments, and, as such, uphold what people want to see from an event like the NIT.

“You look at football? Football’s transfer portal opens the first week of December. That is right before exams in most places, that’s right before the end of the semester. The end of the spring semester at most places is not until the end of April. You could open the transfer portal on April 1st and not have to deal with this right now,” explained Staples. “Most teams would go play in the NIT because there’d be nobody in the portal yet. Guys would have a chance to maybe play a couple games in the NIT, maybe show off what they can do if they’re going to hop in the portal. That’s it! That fixes the problem.”

“It doesn’t need to be open right now. It could be open April 1st. That gives everybody plenty of time to pick a new school, figure out where they want to go. In fact, the thing about that one? Like, in football, you’ve got to be at your new place by January. Here, you don’t have to be at your new place ’til July. So, yeah, what are we even doing here?” Staples asked. “Move the transfer portal window! It’s not complicated. If you’re that worried about ‘the sanctity of the NIT’ and people playing in it? Just move the transfer portal window. Instead of opening it this week, open it April 1st – problem solved. Done, easy. That’s it!”

For reference, several teams opted out of the NIT entirely after not making it into March Madness. Some of those names include Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Indiana, Syracuse, St. John’s, Memphis, and Pittsburgh. Those teams may have seen it as insignificant while they may have also viewed it as a chance, whether as a coach or a player, to prepare themself for the portal.

Staples’ point is even more valid with how transfers can take out a roster in basketball. Football has enough people to withstand a certain amount of opt-outs for games like this. Basketball, though, only has a handful or two to work with, which makes every transfer or opt-out matter that much more.

“In basketball, with your small roster sizes? That’s the difference between basketball and football,” said Staples. “I said, if you were a power conference program and you get thrown in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, you’re going to have a bunch of opt-outs. You still might actually have enough to field a team that can play in the game. But, in basketball, if you have five, six opt-outs, you may not have enough scholarship players to play a game. So, I get it. But it’s not that complicated.”

However, to fix this problem, the NCAA would likely have to risk another legal matter. It just might be a risk they have to take, especially since this stance isn’t inherently hurting anyone as far as a timeframe.

“Now, you might get sued over that and the players will win if they sue you over when you open the transfer portal so you probably don’t want to open that pandora’s box,” said Staples.

“You may get sued about when the transfer portal windows open but you’re probably going to get sued over that anyway. So get over it. At least, in this case, I don’t know that it inconveniences anyone enough to cause them to file a lawsuit,” Staples said. “Like, you don’t actually have to be there until July. It’s so easy. But, again, nobody thought of that.”

To Staples, this is anything but complicated. He sees no reason for basketball’s portal to be open right now and, with that, sees no reason why it can’t or shouldn’t move back a month. That would easily clean up much of this mess and, as part of that, turn every team’s attention back to the postseason, even if you’re in the NIT rather than the NCAA Tournament.

“Open the transfer portal window on April 1st. It still gives everybody plenty of chances to move. Everybody who wants to move can move. It’s not complicated,” Staples said. “It’s actually very similar to football in that respect, although it would still be less of a compressed window then what football has in December.”

“Don’t freak out about this. Just fix the problem,” said Staples.