College players reaching out before entering transfer portal is happening 'more and more'

The transfer portal era of college athletics is getting more and more wild by the minute. College coaches not only have to deal with constant roster churn each year and draft declarations, but they also have to manage the NIL figures for their roster. And On3’s Andy Staples had On3 National Scout Cody Bellaire on his show to discuss how agents and players are gauging their market value, in terms of NIL dollars. Bellaire said that more and more prospects are reaching out to teams and seeing what kind of money they can get, before they even actually hit the transfer portal.

Bellaire discussed how often are players reaching out to other teams while they’re on another team to see what their value is? “Yeah, I would say it’s rare, but it’s happening more and more. I actually got a text from a source the other day that sent me a screenshot of another conversation with a GM who got a text directly from a prospect,” Bellaire began.

“It was the player and the agent. He threw them in the text together. Right? This player and agent said, ‘Hey whoever, this is my client. And they’re entering the portal now. This is their career stats. We are asking for X amount of dollars in NIL. And they’re like, specifically seeking out these staff members within these teams to essentially barter and find out if they can get some sort of contract squared away before they even reach out to other coaches. Before they even get on campus. It’s pretty Wild West out here, Andy, and I think it’s only gonna get worse before it gets better,” Bellaire smiled.

Coaches and players will have to constantly adjust to the transfer portal

One thing is for certain, teams and coaches will constantly have to adapt to the transfer portal as it evolves. While many might not like it, with the mountain of losses and litigation the NCAA has been pummeled with over the past decade, NIL and the transfer portal are here to stay. There will probably be some tweaks and changes along the way, like Staples noted in the podcast.

Players asking for money is nothing new in big-time college athletics. Money has changed hands for several decades. It’s just been under the table and wasn’t discussed publicly. Now, NIL is starting to get more out in the open and athletic directors are openly discussing their annual NIL budgets for their rosters and teams. As things continue to progress in the future, we’ll likely get more clarity over the entire process.