Today Jackson Skipper announced that he has decided to enter the portal. In the current day and age of basketball recruiting, it is going to be unlikely to keep every young player, especially with one more year of the COVID year players keeping rosters old. Roster construction has become wonky and it is hard to look ahead to see the role that exists on any team. It makes sense for Skipper to explore his options and see if there is a program that fits the path forward he sees for himself. I really liked the way Skipper played as he had a nose for the ball and always seemed to have a smile on his face. The regular season finale gave a glimpse of the player that he could grow into and I think he will be an impactful player wherever he lands. I wish him the best of luck and enjoyed his two seasons in Catamount country. Walk-ons Michael Mora and Charlie Moore have also decided to look for opportunities elsewhere after redshirting this season at Vermont and entered the portal today. According to the Burlington Free Press offseason tracker, Vermont expects to retain the rest of the roster so that is really good news. That leaves three roster spots to fill. Based on the offers I have seen thus far to players in the portal, Vermont is looking to add a guard and a post to fill out next years team. I would imagine there will be news sometime over the next few weeks around who is going to fill those roster spots. I am sure it is going to be such a relief to the coaching staff to be able to return so many players and have the portal period be a little less hectic this year.
Super fortunate to retain their core. There are other teams losing good chunks of their rosters. Good luck to the guys following their paths elsewhere. I believe next season is the last for players to be granted fifth year eligibility because of COVID. Will Vermont take advantage of this and bring in more experienced guys or bring in younger guys they can develop? Any idea what the coach's philosophy is on this?
ReplyDeleteIt is the last year of the older guys. I think there will continue to be attempts to regulate or balance out the transfer/NIL that coaches will have to adjust to. I would guess that it will continue to be a combination of portal/high school recruiting. The biggest change is that I think younger players will get more of a chance at minutes and make more of impact rather than sit so much the first few seasons.
DeleteToo bad about Skipper. Felt like he could contribute at some point. Great news on Joba staying.. we have some great defense coming back. I hope the portal brings a guy that can get buckets!
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