Geno Auriemma Sounds Alarm on College Basketball's 'Harmful' New Reality
The NCAA's adoption of a name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy that allowed student-athletes to make money from their personal brand in July 2021 changed everything about college sports.
While collegiate athletics had always been a massive (and lucrative) industry, none of that money was going to the players. Now, however, the NIL changes have made it so the country's top young stars can get paid their worth for what they generate for their school and athletic department.
This is obviously a significant win for these student-athletes. However, that's not to say the NCAA's NIL policy is perfect. There is still a lot of gray area, and much needs to be ironed out in what feels like a Wild West landscape of college sports right now.
The biggest current point of contention is the transfer portal, as a staggering number of student-athletes enter the transfer portal each year to head to whichever program they believe can maximize their earning potential.
It also means that college coaches don't need to depend so much on recruiting high school players. Instead, they can prioritize signing players through the transfer portal who have already proved themselves at the collegiate level.
Geno Auriemma Condemns 'Negative' of New NCAA Reality
UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma addressed this downside for high school players when asked about the November signing period for the 2026 high school class (which started on November 12) not having the same excitement as it once did.
"Yeah, it certainly has changed. All this transfer portal stuff... All it's doing is really hurting the high school kids. It seems that everything that comes along is a real negative for the high school kids," Auriemma said, per an X post from SNY.
"The signing period, back in the day, was make-or-break for your program. And now... for us, don't get me wrong, it's still important," he added. "For us, the high school kids are crucial. But, like everybody else in the country, you either get what you want in November — and if you do, great. That doesn't mean you're not gonna get more in April — and if you don't get what you want in November, there's certainly gonna be players available in April.
"[The November signing period] is important, but I think it has been harmful to the high school kids. But it's still important to us," he concluded.
Geno Auriemma discusses the impact of the transfer period and extra eligibility on the November signing period:
— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) November 13, 2025
"All it's doing is really hurting the high school kids. It seems that everything that comes along is a real negative for the high school kids" pic.twitter.com/Ko3rj6N1FX
Perhaps some sort of change can occur in the future, where signing players out of high school becomes the priority over getting players in the transfer portal.
Recommended Reading:
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
Follow GrvntYoung