Transfer portal is helping Providence basketball. Can same be said for college sports?

Thinking out loud … while wondering if you win the rat race, does that still make you a rat?

The college transfer portal will continue to hum along for the next couple of weeks until its closure on May Day, with nearly 1,800 athletes playing Division I men’s basketball still looking for a landing spot for next season.

And while you never know what you’ll have until players arrive on campus and begin working out, the PC Friars appear to have upgraded — significantly — with players who have held prominent roles with their former teams. You can never, ever, have too many shooters. Providence looks deeper, sure. And experienced in the backcourt, even if a bit green in the frontcourt.

Age is but a number. And yet, older-and-experienced is still infinitely better than younger-but-talented in college hoopdom these days.

More: This native Rhode Islander is returning to Rhode Island basketball. Who is he?

More: Providence basketball lands another transfer recruit; who is he?

That philosophy is not likely to change any day soon. The absolute freest free agency in sports belongs today to college athletes. The NCAA Division I Council has approved the continuance of immediate transfers for student-athletes who meet certain academic eligibility requirements, regardless of whether they transferred previously.

Translation: You still have to go to class and show progress toward a degree, at the very least, which might be harder to do with some of these mercenaries who attend four different schools in four years, chasing NIL dollars if not professional opportunities.

More: The local college transfer portal was buzzing last week; who’s coming and going

Rhody gains two, loses two. Brown needs replacements. Bryant was fortunate to hang on to one of its best. It will be very difficult, year to year, for mid-to-low major teams to grow their programs the old-fashioned way — through recruiting high school and prep kids.

And through constant roster turnover, it likely will be more difficult for fans and alumni to follow their schools and develop connections with their teams, which in turn may make it more difficult for prospective donors to snuggle up to, then pony up for their athletic departments.

I remember the days when fans balked at paying for seat licenses before they earned the right to even purchase tickets. Man, have our games changed. But have they changed for the better?

∎Taking a shot at the Way-Too-Early Big East projections — before the portal closes and rosters are completed: 1, Creighton; 2, UConn; 3, Marquette; 4m Providence; 5, Xavier; 6, Seton Hall; 7, St. John’s; 8, Butler; 9, Georgetown; 10, DePaul; 11, Villanova.

Wait, wut? Did I read that right? A blue-blooded team that has won two of the last nine national championships is LAST?

Playing Portal Kombat is a crazy thing these days, isn’t it? Good thing there won’t be any games played for another six months.

∎Speaking of games to be played: PC will reportedly open with Central Connecticut at the AMP on the day before Election Day. It will be interesting to see what kind of scheduling philosophy takes hold after this past season’s Selection Committee snubs.

And the Friars will host Brigham Young on Dec. 3 in the final Big East-Big 12 Battle. Something for the masses hoping for quality opportunities at the AMP. The two teams have met just twice, the last time 42 years ago.

The Friars have never beaten BYU, but BYU has also never played in Providence. The Cougars have a new coach in Kevin Young after finishing 23-11 last season and losing to Duquesne in the NCAA’s first round.

∎“Buy” games will always be in play. But without future conference challenges on the slate, there may need to be a willingness to move “home and home” opportunities to “home and neutral” for any of the so-called football schools to be interested.

Not for nuthin’, but I’d start by offering Mohegan Sun as a Friar home away from home destination if it hasn’t been already.

∎Talk about a rebuild. Chris Holtmann has almost completed the tear down at DePaul with an entirely new roster, and this week added former Butler head coach LaVall Jordan to his coaching staff. Jordan, you might recall, replaced Holtmann as head coach at Butler in 2017.

∎This week’s “Daddy Big Bucks” on the scene in NIL? FedEx — delivering a $5-million deal, per year, over the next five years to football and men’s and women’s basketball at Memphis. Fed Ex’s HQ, if you didn’t know, is also in Memphis.

∎More conference realignment is still a thing. Yeah, it’s been too quiet recently, unless you’ve followed the legal proceedings underway at Florida State and North Carolina to extricate themselves from the ACC.

The ACC’s rumored contingency plan, once FSU, Clemson (rumored to the SEC), UNC and Virginia (rumored to the Big Ten) depart includes potential invitations for Tulane, Washington State, Oregon State, South Florida and, wait for it, UConn.

Again, this is rumor only. But it’s one that won’t go away. Especially with greed still prevalent throughout the collegiate landscape among school presidents and conference Grand Poobahs.

∎Ya’ know, the higher ups could put a stop to this madness if they wanted to do that. But they don’t, and they won’t. At least until TV tells them the feedbag is empty.

∎UConn’s inevitable decision will be curious to follow, if only because putting Husky football in a severely watered-down ACC — one potentially without an ESPN contract, which could be blown up by departures — would also place its blue-blooded basketball program in that same watered-down conference.

And we’d have déjà vu all over again for Husky hoops, right Yogi? Am I crazy to think the Big East should just strike first and invite Duke?

∎My buddy “Big E” sez he doesn’t regret doing some things in life. He regrets getting caught doing some things in life.

∎Arguably, the Patriots’ first-round draft pick Thursday night was the most important selection for the franchise in more than 30 years, since Drew Bledsoe was plucked as No. 1 in ‘93.

More: Patriots take QB Drake Maye with No. 3 pick in NFL Draft

Seems almost unfair to put inflated expectations on a kid like Drake Maye, but Jerod Mayo pointed out Thursday night he’s been their guy for weeks now.

Fine. If you’re picking that high, you should expect (and draft) someone who is ready to play. Fill his plate. Give him the ball. Let’s see what he can do. Expect him to be “the man.” Fair or not, it should be the expectation.

∎The Heisman Trophy Trust last week reinstated Reggie Bush as the winner from 2005 largely because the landscape of college football has changed over 20 years. But it still doesn’t change the fact that he — and USC — cheated the sport as it existed 20 years ago.

So, past sins are forgiven quicker than student loans? Bush’s attorney that assisted in his reinstatement is none other than Ted Wells, hired by the NFL to investigate the Patriots’ role in “Deflategate” in 2015. Draw your own conclusions. They all have a smell.

∎Sure, the Red Sox deserve some credit for battling as they have through this early spate of injuries. Optimists might believe this is a sign of character. Pessimists?

A clear sign that the Red Sox now have a built-in excuse for when the season turns south. Which side of the fence do you fall on?

All I know is that Bobby Dalbec (2-for-35 at midweek) for Tristan Casas at first base? And Chris Sale is (so far) injury free in Atlanta. In my best Bob Lobel tone: why can’t we get guys like that?

Although pitching certainly wasn’t the problem, it does seem curious that these injuries (including last week to Brayan Bello) are piling up under the tutelage of a new pitching coach (Andrew Bailey) who has his guys throwing more breaking balls.

∎The Celtics are scary. Even with the best record in the NBA this season, their penchant for coughing up big leads late in games will be THE reason they don’t win it all. Because they should win it all. They are clearly the best team, talent-wise, this year.

However, live by the 3, die by the 3. That will likely play a factor in any unsuccessful run to the trophy. Miami torched the Celtics’ defense on Wednesday night, while the C’s were middling on offense and too reliant on playing one-on-one basketball.

Style-be-damned. D up. Just win, baby. Can Johnston’s Joe Mazzulla implement that formula?

∎The Bruins, alas, also cannot D up with any consistency. This Boston team has defended, has solid goaltending — even if you’re not a fan of the alternating goalie game between Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. But the puck does need to be cleared in front of the net, fellas.

The issue, which magnified itself in Game 2 against Toronto, is shutting off the offensive spigot. Pasta can’t do it all, so it was interesting to see the emergence from Brad Marchand when they needed it most. Intensity and emotion need to rise to the level of the moment.

This ain’t the regular season, boys. With the Bruins, I often get the feeling the fans want it more than the players do. Just sayin’.

∎Yes, some guy named Messi is playing in Foxboro at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. Greatest soccer player of our generation? Perhaps. But there’s a ton at stake for the sport in New England, beyond just getting to see him play.

A regular-season sellout crowd certainly might show the popularity of the sport as it continues to rise in a region dominated by the big four — the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. Which also might make that “pie-in-the-sky” dream of a soccer-specific stadium (Everett, Massachusetts hello!) a reality.

Are fans rooting for Messi, or for the Revolution? Isn’t that kind of like rooting for LeBron James against the Celtics? We don’t pull for the opposition. If we stop acting like fanboys fawning over the other teams’ stars, maybe the sport finally becomes too legit to quit.

And perhaps measures up, someday, to the Big Four.

Interested in having your questions on Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Think out loud and send your questions, comments, and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/threads right here! Join me on Twitter/X, @JRbroadcaster…on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke, and on Instagram and Threads @JRbroadcaster.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: NCAA transfer portal has forever changed college sports, not for better