Who is even on my team?
This isn’t really a story all about Mason Gillis. I mean, sure, he was the impetus for this, but it’s not about him. Not really. Except that of course it is. If you missed the news today, Mason Gillis has announced his intention to play his final Covid year in a Duke uniform.
NEWS: Purdue transfer forward Mason Gillis has committed to Duke, @On3sports has learned. https://t.co/KkecsAatdM pic.twitter.com/QrwJcLRRNs
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 22, 2024
As I said on Twitter, I hope he scores 40 a game…and I hope Duke loses every game, unless it helps Purdue.
This is the world we find ourselves in as college sports fans in the year 2024. Before we get too deep into this though I want to get one thing out of the way. I’m thrilled for Gillis. He’s going to continue his education at a great university and will likely get a very good payday out of it. I’m a huge proponent of the athletes getting paid. This isn’t Little League where giving someone a ticket for a hot dog (or walking taco), a drink, and an other (to be used on candy or if your concession worker is feeling generous, a snowcone) is enough for all of their hard work in the game. This is a business where millions upon millions of dollars flow into the coffers of the universities who have these top level teams. It’s time the players got their fair share. Now, do I agree with the way in which the NCAA has handled all of these changes? Absolutely not. It’s the Wild West out there right now. I don’t know what the correct answer is on this but I know it needs to end with the players continuing to be able to earn a fair wage for the money they generate.
Now, to my greater point. I hate seeing Gillis go, but it was inevitable. There are only 13 scholarships available and with the Covid year available it sure seems like Matt Painter sat down with his seniors and checked in to see if they wanted to stick around. We aren’t privy to those conversations but it seems apparent that Painter did not expect Gillis to return. Want some evidence for that? Well, Painter signed six incoming players out of the high school ranks despite not having six players set to leave the program. As the kids like to say, the math ain’t mathin’. Something had to give and at least one of those things was ensuring that guys like Ethan Morton and Gillis weren’t returning for their extra Covid year.
That, like it or not, is the nature of college sports right now, We don’t always know who is hoping to be on the roster from one year to the next. Now sure, this isn’t entirely new. Just look at the first few years of the Matt Painter era here at Purdue. So many players came in that didn’t finish their careers at Purdue. In fact, it wasn’t until Marcus Green graduated in 2009 that Matt Painter had a player complete all four years of eligibility at Purdue. Marcus Green was alone that night on senior night. The Paint Crew honored him by wearing Green shirts. It was a touching and beautiful moment that showed what the Purdue fans cared about, who they wanted to see in a Purdue uniform, and what Purdue basketball meant. Those moments are becoming fewer and fewer as we advance forward.
Brian Neubert from Gold and Black put out a tweet that summed up the transfer portal in general that I think is worth sharing.
We should have a game show around this time every year where the first fan who can name 40 Big Ten basketball players for the following season wins fabulous prizes.
— Brian Neubert — GoldandBlack.com (@brianneubert) April 22, 2024
It reminds me of what it has been like being a Cincinnati Reds fan for so long. The joke amongst me and my Reds fan friends for years was that if a player got good enough we knew he would be leaving. The Reds simply couldn’t afford them. So, if the Reds wanted to be good they had to build a different way. It took them about two decades to get there but they’ve actually built a team of young players that could make them a contender in the near future. That’s the position many mid-majors find themselves in now in the era of the transfer portal and NIL. Mid-majors are picking grounds now for big name schools with big pocketbooks. Purdue of course is no exception as they grabbed Lance Jones from SIU this past offseason. While the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, and maybe get to the Final Four was enticing, I’m sure the opportunity for greater NIL and exposure was certainly part of the equation.
Purdue though has been the exception to these changes and not the rule. Right now, barring something completely unforeseen, Purdue will not add a single player in the transfer portal. Instead, they will build from the high school ranks and work to keep those already in the fold happy and on the roster. There of course will have to be some attrition somehow whether that be a returning player leaving, getting off scholarship somehow, or an incoming freshman adding a prep school year. Something has to give.
To Brian’s point though, look around the Big Ten, do you even know who is still on which team? Players now are switching not just from lower levels to higher levels, but within the same conferences. I saw today that a player from Michigan was headed to OSU for next season. Or maybe it was from OSU to Michigan. It’s honestly so impossible to know. And that’s my greater point. Purdue basketball is lucky. When the ball is tipped for the first time next year Purdue fans will need to know some new faces, but those will be the true freshman. They will still see Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, TKR, Myles Colvin, and Camden Heide. The building blocks of the future are on the roster right now. Many teams won’t have that luxury.
For a lot of teams out there, they’re going to need new introduction videos getting to know their rosters before game one. Who is even on Michigan right now? What about Wisconsin who has seen an exodus this offseason? Name me the starting five for IU next year. I bet you can’t do any of those things. Is that good or bad? I’m not sure I know for sure. It’s certainly different. Each team will view this differently because it will impact each team differently. For Purdue and Matt Painter I think we can expect him to continue to build through the HS ranks with the occasional transfer portal addition, if space allows for it, and if the player is a perfect fit.
For many fans though they might have to get used to the fact that they are the 2000s Cincinnati Reds. Their best players will be up for grabs every offseason. You’re stuck in a spot of wanting your team to succeed but also hoping that they don’t succeed too much off the back off one player for fear of losing him. It’s a brave new world out there and it’s going to take awhile to calibrate. For now, I’ll always root for Purdue and look second at those players Purdue loses to the portal. Sorry Mason, I can’t root for Duke, but I hope you get that money.