From an outsider perspective, it is very odd and surprising that Rutgers has three starters in the portal AFTER their best season in 40 years. If Harper remains in the draft (he declared but has not signed with an agent) and Baker does not return for a fifth year, then Rutgers will basically be starting from scratch.
Rutgers
- Thread starter Catdude
- Start date
Harper really dropped off in the second half of the season. Would be surprised to see him high in draft predictions.
This seems to happen way more than you’d intuitively think; especially this year with the ability to be immediately eligible. I do wonder in these cases if it’s obvious to everyone involved that they just hit the metaphorical ceiling. There’s no way that the next season will be better, so maybe it’s time to go out on top (especially if they have any interest in possibly playing at a different school at some point or going pro). If you accomplished the thing the coach challenged you to help accomplish when you were being recruited, there has to be part of you that feels like “ok we did it. Maybe I can go try a new challenge and a change of scenery.”
Over the years I've felt less and less loyalty to my professional sports teams as basically you don't know who's going to be there from one season to the next. Unfortunately, major college sports and even smaller colleges now seem to be going the same way. Heck, even high schools now regularly lose their top players to local private school powerhouses or places such as IMG.