Pittman Must Learn from Mistakes of Ex-Mavs Owner Mark Cuban

Arkansas Razorbacks in strong position to make noise in special Alabama, Washington transfer portal session

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Jan 13, 2024 10:34 AM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Back during the latter portion of Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki's prime, then owner Mark Cuban had a saying that eventually became the DFW area's "Left Lane, Hammer Down."

Every offseason and trade deadline, Cuban would tell frustrated Mavs fans he needed to "keep the powder dry." What he meant by that was he didn't want to overspend on mid-card players, even if it might make Dallas a little better. Instead, he wanted to keep money available because he was convinced he could land one or more "big fish" during free agency who would join Nowitzki in a long run of NBA Finals appearances.

Of course, no matter how nice he made the locker rooms and how many fancy dinners he hosted, it never happened. In moves that would flatter college coaching super agent Jimmy Sexton, big name NBA athletes like Lebron James and Dwight Howard always leveraged Cuban to get bigger deals or gain roster influence in other places while Nowitzi was left to take down the resulting super teams virtually on his own.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman finds himself in a similar situation. He oversees a college football destination that isn't on par in instant name recognition and desirability as places like Ohio State, USC, Alabama, Texas or Michigan.

However, he's played the long game, slowly adding players he wants rather than hitting the panic button to simply have his final roster sitting at 85. The numbers are a little fuzzy because Pittman has his own spreadsheet that reflects a roster list built off what he knows from exit interviews. Because not everyone he knows won't be coming back next year has made it known, it's unclear for sure who is on that roster.

Best estimates generated by piecing clues together is the Razorbacks have at least a couple of open spots and a pair of official visits left. If this is accurate, it's a huge advantage for the Razorbacks. A lot of teams have a full roster right now and no option to churn the bottom of the roster by shipping someone off to the transfer portal because it's closed.

That's not the case at schools like Alabama and Washington. Because both programs have lost head coaches, their players have a full month to hop into the transfer portal and try to land the best deal somewhere else. Because of the limited supply of quality players that will be available, bidding between schools that still have spots open will be fierce.

How many big money programs have scholarships available remains to be seen, but it should be way less than in a normal transfer window simply because of the lack of flexibility. That doesn't mean coaches can't get creative. It just means Pittman may have a fighting chance.

He kept his powder dry so to speak, so he can honestly tell one of the many recruits who will drop into this special portal session as coaching dominoes continue to fall they have a spot and can join right away. Beyond having available scholarships, Pittman also has the advantage of a late start at the university.

As was noted when Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman decided to keep his team out on the road this week rather than drag his the Hogs back to the bitter cold of Northwest Arkansas, the University of Arkansas isn't back in session yet. That won't take place until Tuesday, while the schools the Razorbacks will play on this road stretch will have already started.

That's important because of the enrollment clock. It starts a full eight days later for Arkansas than a lot of public universities. This gives Pittman more than a full extra week to identify new portal entrants and attempt to get them on campus after a lot of the tougher competition can no longer bring a player to campus for the spring semester.

Now, this doesn't mean Arkansas is about to land a pair of high quality players from Alabama or Washington. Much like Cuban, Pittman often has to deal with players leveraging strong interest from the Razorbacks to squeeze a little extra money or a new car from some other school.

Still, the Hogs are the average looking guy at the club and it's getting close to 2 a.m. The pickings are slim and there's a false urgency created by closing time drawing near. Pittman has room on his dance card and he may be the best looking chap of what's left with plenty of suitors desperate for a partner.

It's about as good of a situation as Arkansas is going to get in the portal. Now everyone has to wait and see if the Razorbacks get a chance to fire a shot, or if they follow the footsteps of the Mavericks from long ago and keep holding onto powder that's never never going to be used to actually land a big fish.