Two words that define the modern college sports model: transfer portal.
Since the advent of the portal and name-image-likeness, college athletes jump freely from team to team, so building a team has changed from a slow, steady processes over years to, for many, quick-fix solutions. Sometimes the results work out … if not for everyone.
Case in point: last football season. The Miami’s Hurricanes acquired quarterback Carson Beck, formerly of Georgia, for a deal worth a reported $4 million. Beck then guided his team to the College Football Playoffs’ title game, losing to Indiana but cashing in to the tune of $20 million, even after the ACC got its cut – not a bad return on investment.
In the off-season, Miami went back to the portal and signed Darian Mensah, who a year earlier led upstart Duke to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship – but not a spot in the CFP. This fall, Mensah is predicted to be the ACC MVP … for the Hurricanes, the preseason conference title pick.
It’s not just the revenue-producing sports playing the portal game. Just ask Shelley Smith, coach of South Carolina’s women’s soccer program, who calls the portal “the biggest change I’ve seen” in her 25 seasons at USC, where she’s posted a record of 327-145-72 and three Southeastern Conference titles, plus a trip to the 2017 NCAA College Cup.
“I’ve never seen so much change in a short amount of time,” she said. “All of a sudden, kids aren’t giving you the interest they once did if you’re not throwing out a dollar amount; they’ll go elsewhere, without thinking what they want out of a program or a school” – beyond instant gratification, that is.
Smith isn’t speaking rhetorically. Two years ago, she recruited Katie Shea Collins, a dynamic offensive player from Tennessee, who as a freshman scored 13 goals in 19 games, second only to senior teammate Cat Barry. The Gamecocks finished 11-4-7 and reached the second round of the NCAA Playoffs for the second year in a row. Collins was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection.
Last season, Collins scored 10 goals (of USC’s 31 as a team) and was first-team All-SEC and third-team All-American. The Gamecocks finished 10-5-5, but lost three of their final five games, including a 2-1 first-round NCAA loss vs. Wake Forest.
What will Smith expect out of the rising junior this year? Answer: nothing.
Collins will play her third (and likely last) college season for Duke. Ask the coach about that, and she chooses her words carefully.
“(Collins) only planned to be here three years; she wanted to go pro early,” Smith said. “She had some ideas that the ACC would prepare for that better; she was told that by some people” which, Smith believes, was not the best advice.
The coach sighed. “I hope it works out for her,” she said. “But it’s unfortunate for us. I’ve never had a situation where we lost our best player. But now it’s more of a problem for the entire sports industry: players aren’t committed to a program, but to what they can get. They have to decide what they need and want.”
Unsaid: so do the coaches.
Smith isn’t naïve about the portal, or averse to its potential rewards. “We have brought in a select few,” she said. “We don’t try to fill in with a whole new team (which some programs have done), but the portal has helped us fill a gap when we needed one.”
This off-season, she dipped into the ranks of transfers, signing a trio of players and adding Emilie Castagna, who transferred last year from Cal-Irvine but sat out with an ACL injury. Sydney Middaugh (St. Mary’s), Maryn Wolf (Stanford, a perennial soccer power) and Xavier transfer Reese Slater are all seniors; in fact, 15 of USC’s roster of 28 are seniors or graduates – potentially another plus.
“They (transfers) are older, and they’ve brought good chemistry,” said senior midfielder Maggie Taitano, a co-captain along with senior midfielder Cuyler Zulauf and fifth-year goalkeeper Christina Tsaousis. “We look more creative right now, and we have a more free flow in the attacking half to create more goal opportunities.”
“Obviously losing Katie Shea, we’ve had to switch around,” Tsaousis said. “But we’ve got some great additions, and we’ve switched our playing still a little bit. And our defense is in great shape.”
Smith also recruited four freshmen, led by forward Wynn Generally. Added to returning players, the coach believes her team collectively will be able to fill any void left by Collins’ departure. Maybe, in fact, the Gamecocks will be even better for that.
“When you have someone who takes a lot of the attention (a Collins, for instance), sometimes she becomes a focus” for opponents, “and you can be shut down,” said Smith, who doesn’t figure that will be an issue in 2026.
The Gamecocks, who opened their home schedule Aug. 12 vs. Oregon State, the first of seven non-conference matches followed by a 10-game SEC slate, will employ a multitude of attackers, led by Zulauf and sophomore forward Mackenzie Johnson, who each scored six goals a year ago. “Cuyler finished her junior year with a great goal vs. Wake Forest, showed what she’s capable of,” Smith said. “She can be much more dangerous, which is what we need from her.”
Bottom line, the coach said, “I believe we’ll have a more well-rounded attack now, a much more dynamic attack and ability to create in the offensive end. I’m excited by the group, what we brought in, how much we’ve improved.”
Time will tell if her blend of veterans and newcomers will return USC to the top of the SEC. The Gamecocks’ most recent conference tournament title was in 2022, with a runner-up finish in 2024. But Smith likes the team she will field this fall – not just for its talent, but as much for factors she’s always sought, going back to the days before the transfer portal was a reality.
Transfers, Smith said, too often “show a lack of loyalty across the board.” Schools, too; “you’ll see teams trying to buy success. We’re trying to stay true to what we’ve always been. Yes, you have to adapt. But we’ve still got a great group, one that wants to be here for the right reasons.”
If that sounds old-fashioned, Smith believes there’s a middle ground where USC can use the portal when need be but prioritize players who arrive via traditional recruitment. She cites an unnamed player who briefly considered transferring to the Gamecocks but wound up at another SEC team.
“Things she said (were) red flags,” Smith said. “She didn’t fit our team environment. We didn’t see a respect for people; it was just blaming coaches, teammates, nothing was (about) ownership. Our players take ownership, and they’re accountable for what they do.
“We try to bring in those kinds of players, so that we blend well on and off the field. We hope they can work off each other and play well together – but if they have that (connection) off the field, the on-the-field becomes easier.”
The transfer portal isn’t going away. Neither is Smith, or her philosophy. So far, it’s working for both.