Not long after 68 college basketball teams found out where they fit into the NCAA Tournament bracket, every coach in the country — including those going dancing — had to put their recruiting hats on.
The NCAA Transfer Portal opened Monday. One report said that as of around 10 a.m. MT, there were already 125 players in the portal. That number has grown since and will continue to do so.
Utah men’s basketball coach Craig Smith said he expects all of his players to be available Tuesday when the Runnin’ Utes host UC Irvine in the NIT despite the portal being open.
“I anticipate all of our guys,” Smith said Monday afternoon. “Haven’t heard otherwise. So that’s where it’s at.”
Smith said that while recruiting is year-round, it certainly “amps up” as soon as the portal opens. He added that the recent changes in college sports, from the transfer portal on, are just a reality at this point.
“The amount of change has been incredible,” Smith said. “But you have to adapt and adjust, just like you do in life, and you have to be able to figure it out.
While Smith and his staff will be busy looking at the portal landscape, they’ll also be preparing to play a UC Irvine Anteaters team that went 24-9 overall and 17-3 in the Big West Conference. They play at 9 p.m. in the Huntsman Center, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
The NIT bid marks the first time in the last five seasons that Utah has reached a postseason tournament of any kind. There’s been some speculation that Smith’s job could be in jeopardy despite the team’s win totals increasing over the past three seasons.
“We’re not perfect by any stretch. Nobody is,” Smith said. “But it’s a group that works hard and wants to get in there and be the very best that we can be. So to be able to get into postseason play and have something to play for, I think it matters.”
The Runnin’ Utes will be just five days removed from losing to Colorado in the Pac-12 Tournament with only one full day to prepare for the Anteaters, who feature guards Justin Hohn (12.7 points per game) and Andre Henry (10.6 ppg).
“They play a lot of different guys, they have real depth to them, and they have great size that you maybe aren’t used to seeing at the Big West level that way,” Smith said of UC Irvine.
Smith said he felt proud that his players want so unequivocally to continue competing this season.
“We just want to keep this thing rolling and want to play for each other and see what we can do,” Smith said.
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