The times, they are a-changin’.
But college basketball’s favorite elder statesman, Dick Vitale, isn’t rolling eyes at the new age of the sport he’s made a career coaching and commenting on. Vitale is instead embracing the age of the transfer portal and the way it has “reshaped the title chase overnight.”
With the bulk of the transfer pool now decided on their future homes, Vitale is taking stock of which teams made the most impact in the portal. While Florida didn’t nab any of the five Prime-Time Players (PTPs) Vitale singled out, the Gators still check in at No. 4 among the teams that “owned the portal.”
“Reigning champs didn’t need quantity, just quality,” Vitale said. “Enter Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee, a backcourt quicker than an airline Wi-Fi drop. Todd Golden’s chomp stays ferocious.”
Golden has already proven himself a maestro of the portal market. Every member of his backcourt Big 3 a season ago came to Florida, and there’s a good chance Walter Clayton Jr. finds himself on the program’s Mt. Rushmore if such a thing were to ever truly exist.
It took Clayton and Will Richard more than a season to play their best ball, though. Alijah Martin hit the ground running as a senior, which is the hope for Lee, who was among the Ivy League’s best a year ago. Fland already has SEC experience, but his freshman season was limited due to injury.
Still, Vitale is right in that they are two big-name transfers for a team coming off a national championship. With most of the frontcourt rotation returning, there’s a decent chance to repeat in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Dick Vitale says Florida Gators ‘owned’ transfer portal
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
