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MANHATTAN — Count Kansas State women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie among the multitudes who have issues with the college transfer portal.
As if Mittie didn't have enough on his plate getting ready for the fifth-seeded Wildcats' NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against No. 1 Southern California on Saturday in Spokane, Washington, the portal's official opening Monday in the middle of March Madness just added to that madness.
"Fire away. In the infamous wisdom of what we do, the transfer portal is open and everything else is going on," Mittie said Wednesday to open a news conference with local Wednesday before the team got ready to head west for the Spokane 4 regional.
K-State's thrilling 80-79 second-round overtime victory at No. 4 seed Kentucky on Sunday secured the Wildcats a place in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002. But it also complicated matters in terms of building next year's roster.
K-State loses five seniors, including four starters, who are out of eligibility. While there is talent returning, the portal allows teams to restock quickly with veteran players. The Wildcats were unique in that the core of their team — seniors Ayoka Lee, Serena Sundell, and Jaelyn Glenn — spent their entire careers in purple.
Related: What is the game time for Kansas State women's basketball vs. USC in the Sweet 16?
Related: Kansas State women's basketball's Serena Sundell breaks assist record in March Madness win
So, with No. 1 seed USC coming up, Mittie still delved into the portal the first three days but set Wednesday as a cutoff before turning his full attention to the task at hand in Spokane.
"I'll be done with the portal today," he said. "Not completely, but in terms of this week, I won't be dealing with it. My staff knows that, but yeah, you've got to balance both right now.
"We were talking to people (Tuesday), and I've got a bunch today to talk to, but after today, that'll be the assistants, kind of balancing that."
Not that basketball is the only sport facing challenges with where the portal windows fall on the calendar.
"We haven't figured it out in any sport, when to do it," Mittie said. "Football is right in the middle of their bowl prep, and we've got it right in the middle of March Madness. I don't know that there's a right answer, especially when you have the number of kids that went in."
According to one count, more than 800 women entered the portal on the first day.
Still, Mittie is looking at it philosophically. The fact that the portal poses a conflict also is a good thing.
"It's part of our game, and thankful for doing both right now, though," he said. "We joked about that. Boy, it beats only doing one thing right now, so thankful for that."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie faces balancing act
Continue reading...
As if Mittie didn't have enough on his plate getting ready for the fifth-seeded Wildcats' NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against No. 1 Southern California on Saturday in Spokane, Washington, the portal's official opening Monday in the middle of March Madness just added to that madness.
"Fire away. In the infamous wisdom of what we do, the transfer portal is open and everything else is going on," Mittie said Wednesday to open a news conference with local Wednesday before the team got ready to head west for the Spokane 4 regional.
K-State's thrilling 80-79 second-round overtime victory at No. 4 seed Kentucky on Sunday secured the Wildcats a place in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002. But it also complicated matters in terms of building next year's roster.
K-State loses five seniors, including four starters, who are out of eligibility. While there is talent returning, the portal allows teams to restock quickly with veteran players. The Wildcats were unique in that the core of their team — seniors Ayoka Lee, Serena Sundell, and Jaelyn Glenn — spent their entire careers in purple.
Related: What is the game time for Kansas State women's basketball vs. USC in the Sweet 16?
Related: Kansas State women's basketball's Serena Sundell breaks assist record in March Madness win
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So, with No. 1 seed USC coming up, Mittie still delved into the portal the first three days but set Wednesday as a cutoff before turning his full attention to the task at hand in Spokane.
"I'll be done with the portal today," he said. "Not completely, but in terms of this week, I won't be dealing with it. My staff knows that, but yeah, you've got to balance both right now.
"We were talking to people (Tuesday), and I've got a bunch today to talk to, but after today, that'll be the assistants, kind of balancing that."
Not that basketball is the only sport facing challenges with where the portal windows fall on the calendar.
"We haven't figured it out in any sport, when to do it," Mittie said. "Football is right in the middle of their bowl prep, and we've got it right in the middle of March Madness. I don't know that there's a right answer, especially when you have the number of kids that went in."
According to one count, more than 800 women entered the portal on the first day.
Still, Mittie is looking at it philosophically. The fact that the portal poses a conflict also is a good thing.
"It's part of our game, and thankful for doing both right now, though," he said. "We joked about that. Boy, it beats only doing one thing right now, so thankful for that."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie faces balancing act
Continue reading...
