https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/kansas-vs-unc-jayhawks-coach-bill-self-built-a-title-contending-roster-by-using-transfer-portal-to-get-old/

You can absolutely build an NCAA team - and maybe a winner - out of the portal.

I know Sid disagrees - - but I think our roster was better than its record this year and injuries hurt too, no pun intended. Not great, but better.

Hearing Bridges and Baumann may be back too as Super Seniors?

The portal is a skill set that any coach has to master for roster management in today's game - coming and going. If you don't you're going to be collecting unemployment in short order.

IMO opinion, you need to combine success in recruiting HS kids and supplement your roster from the portal. But when you are in the situation we are in, you have to turn to the portal in a big way first. The portal greatly helped Tx A&M and Va Tech last year, among many others. You can get better in the portal quickly. You just need to have a base of HS recruits to build from.

I agree with you that our roster was better than our record. Any chance for improvement went out the door with injuries to Horne and Ingram. And Crean just did a horrific job recruiting HS kids after his first full class. His 2nd season, the team was too loaded with freshmen. They just weren't ready to play at our level. He needed to add some good portal talent in his 3rd year to his base of HS sophomores and just didn't. His 3rd was also crippled by COVID. Once he had the injuries this past season, there was just no hope.

I would love to have Bridges back. He gives us something inside. I am on the fence about Baumann. Yes, he played very out of position (most as a PF) out of necessity, and he can do some good things. But, he ought to be coming off the bench as maybe a 7th or 8th man ideally. White has a ton of work to do on the roster.