There is an amusing school of thought circulated amongst the college basketball community that the transfer portal is equally destructive to high-resource programs as it is to mid-majors. The fact of the matter: the Portal drains the Mid-Majors of its star talent, while the Power Five unloads its malcontents. Is this true of all cases? Of course not. But bear in mind that at least three conference players of the year are exploring greener fields (Norchad Omier of the Sun Belt, KJ Williams of the Ohio Valley and Fardaws Aimaq of the WAC come to mind) while the Power Five makes some scholarship space.

The Sun Belt is currently having its ass kicked by rampant Portalization, headlined by Arkansas State losing three starters to the Transfer Portal. Overall, the Sun Belt is experiencing an extreme power drain, seeing its Player of the Year (Omier), Defensive Player of the Year (again, Omier), Freshman of the Year (Duke Deen) and 6th Man of the Year (Elijah McCadden) all submit their names into the “Second Recruitment” lottery. (Data courtesy of Verbal Commits)

Player	Program	Credentials	Landing Place
Aleksandr Glushkov	Appalachian State
R.J. Duhart	Appalachian State	11th in SBC, Blocks	Charleston Southern
Lazar Grbović	Arkansas State
Norchad Omier	Arkansas State	SBC POY, SBC DPOY	Miami
Desi Sills	Arkansas State	2nd in SBC, Steals	Kansas State
Keyon Wesley	Arkansas State		Alabama St.
Mario Fantina	Arkansas State		UA-Monticello
Mason Grigg	Coastal Carolina
Ahmard Harvey	Coastal Carolina		High Point
Jalen Milner	Coastal Carolina
Jourdon Smith	Coastal Carolina		Grambling
Kevin Williamson	Coastal Carolina
DeShawn Thomas	Coastal Carolina
DeAnthony Tipler	Coastal Carolina		ETSU
Isaac Hippolyte	Coastal Carolina		Chowan
Rudi Williams	Coastal Carolina	9th in SBC, Scoring	BYU
Ebrima Dibba	Coastal Carolina	1st in SBC, Assists	South Carolina
Taj Thweatt	Coastal Carolina		Temple
Duke Deen	Troy	SBC FOY	Bradley
Jakevan Leftridge	Troy
TK Smith	Troy
Desmond Williams	Troy		UT Martin
Efe Odigie	Troy	SBC Top Newcomer	SMU
Rifen Miguel	Troy		UT Martin
Nelson Phillips	Georgia State		Troy
Jordan Rawls	Georgia State		Western Kentucky
Jalen Thomas	Georgia State	4th in SBC, Blocks	Butler
Chien-Hao Ma	Georgia State
Gedi Juozapaitis	Georgia Southern
Elijah McCadden	Georgia Southern	SBC 6th Man OY	Memphis
Gedi Juozapaitis	Georgia Southern		Maine
Caleb Asberry	Texas State	SBC 1st Team	Oklahoma St.
Deuce Guidry	Texas State		Lamar State–Port Arthur
Nate Lacewell	Texas State		Morehouse
Jamal West	South Alabama		Clarendon College
Alex Anderson	South Alabama		Alabama St.
Javon Franklin	South Alabama	SBC 3rd Team	Georgia Tech
Alex Anderson	South Alabama
Trey Boston	ULM
De’Marcus Hall	ULM		Bossier Parish Community College
Russel Harrison	ULM	12th in SBC, Scoring	Oklahoma St.
Ty Harper	Louisiana		Eastern Washington
Trajan Wesley	Louisiana
Theo Akwuba	Louisiana	4th in SBC, Rebounds	Ole Miss

Many of these guys endured the slings and arrows of limited minutes. But also, many of these players are starters. Many won’t be eligible to play for their new teams until 2023. But after watching the majesty of the March Madness mega-production, you have to wonder how many are rolling the dice for just One Shining Moment.

PHOTO CREDIT: Arkansas State University