Final Four report: Transfer portal may not be all that it seems, coaches say

The NCAA transfer portal became a hot subject Thursday in Minnesota, when Gophers guard Sara Scalia announced she is entering the portal to begin searching for a new team. Several of the Final Four coaches offered their opinions on the flood of players looking to transfer, as the number in the Division I women's basketball portal grew to nearly 850.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley called it "a big old fad,'' adding the transfer movement is "way out of hand.'' Louisville's Jeff Walz said some players have good reasons for changing schools, but others are entering the portal too hastily. And Geno Auriemma of UConn pulled no punches, saying players who are unhappy sometimes misplace the blame.

"You know those 850 people in the portal?'' Auriemma said. "300 of them are not going to find a school to go to, because they're going to realize it's not the school they just left. It's them.

"Sometimes, you have to leave. Sometimes, it's the right thing to do. But 800, 1,000 of them? There are only [356] Division I schools.''

Staley views the ability to transfer without sitting out a year as a way for athletes to control their own destinies, adding "you have to allow them that space.'' But she noted there currently are more people in the portal than there are scholarships available. She believes that could impact high school players, because many coaches will prefer to add players with college experience.

Walz said he doesn't begrudge players who left Louisville to gain more playing time elsewhere, and he even keeps in touch with some. But he cautioned that not everyone who changes schools will find a better situation.

"I always like to say, 'The grass is greener on the other side because it's fertilized," Walz said, adding a colorful description of the fertilizer.

Room for everybody

Walz has used the portal to beef up his own roster. Three Cardinals starters, guards Kianna Smith and Chelsie Hall and forward Emily Engstler, came to the team via transfer.

Coaches have to be careful when bringing in transfers, Walz said, because it can disrupt a team's chemistry. Last year's additions of Hall and Engstler knocked senior guard Mykasa Robinson out of the starting lineup. Before adding Engstler, Walz said he first sought Robinson's blessing, knowing it would thin her opportunities.

"Playing time is great, but I want to win," Robinson said. "Whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes for the team to be successful to win, that's what I'm willing to do. Emily's a great player, so her addition to the team is everything for us."

'A fighting shot'

Louisville stands in the way of the juggernaut South Carolina and a berth in the national title game, but Walz has seen national media assume they're going to lose. The Gamecocks have been ranked No. 1 all season. Walz specifically called out ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption" host Tony Kornheiser for saying the other semifinal game, UConn and Stanford, will determine who "is going to play South Carolina" in the final.

"I don't know if they know there's four teams in the Final Four," Walz said. "Let's at least roll the balls out and see what happens. They might end up being true, but I give us a fighting shot."

Tara vs. Geno

Friday's semifinal between UConn and Stanford features the two winningest coaches in NCAA women's basketball history. Stanford's Tara VanDerveer has won 1,157 games, and Auriemma is only nine behind, with 1,148.

VanDerveer said she and Auriemma don't have the same kind of rivalry Auriemma had with two other great coaches, the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw, who has retired.

"Geno likes to kind of get in little battles with people,'' VanDerveer said. "Maybe it was Pat when Pat was alive, or Muffet. I like him, and I think we get along really well. I've never felt we were adversaries in a negative way, but more competitors in a very good way.''

Etc.

"We're in the same locker room I think we were in back then, playing the same team,'' Auriemma said. "It's funny how life comes around, right?''

Star Tribune staff writer Kent Youngblood contributed to this story.