How Miami (Ohio) basketball is defying the transfer portal era

Hello everyone.

Thanks for reading NIL Wire today. I think this is a story you’ll be interested in reading. What Miami (Ohio) is doing right now is almost impossible, easy schedule or not. We talked to players and coaches to better explain why and how other teams might use Miami’s roadmap to avoid portal potholes, and how much it costs to win in the Mid-American Conference.

Enjoy!

— Kyle

The transfer portal has been eating mid-major programs alive.

Nowhere is that more obvious than the Mid-American Conference. In today’s portal economy, All-MAC honors double as audition tapes for the Big Ten and Big East programs. Develop a guard into an 18-point per game scorer? Congratulations, you’ve raised his market value! 

In its past life, the MAC thrived on developing overlooked players and unleashing experience on suspecting victims in March. But in recent years, more than 40 percent of power conference transfers have come from mid-majors, a one-way talent pipeline that’s hollowing out the soul of mid-major basketball.

Which is exactly why what’s happening at Miami (Ohio) right now is so remarkable. 

Miami finished 25-9 and came within a single possession of punching its ticket to the Big Dance last season. Inside the crestfallen locker room at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, the question wasn’t whether the RedHawks built something special – it was whether anyone would stick around to finish it. Miami’s season was a flashing neon light for power conference programs. 

Why stay when a bigger payday was a few weeks away?

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