Dykstra in Portal

[Bobcat4Ever]

When Kola and Darian portaled out to use their covid year Coach Bin liked their Instagram posts announcing it. She hasn't liked these players posts. My guess is this is a surprise to her.

This is very different. Kola (fave player ever) and Darian came in as regular four-year recruits. They played their four and were outstanding. In the middle covid had added an unexpected year. Kola decided to play hers near her home and family. Darian wanted to try bigger and went to Nebraska where ex-cat assistant Julian Assibe is on the staff. Kind of an in-house move. Both of them were gifted their fifth year after they had planned to be done in four. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, coaches or fans alike.

This situation is not at all the same. Neither have played four years. Neither has been gifted a year, and a decision to make. I suspect Marah’s decision might have something to do with her schedule and playing with the Canadian team. Does she move closer to Toronto? I’m going to hazard a guess that Natalie heads not for greener, but for warmer pastures. Like most guesses, it’s most likely wrong.

[arvcat2]

Oh Canada, two experienced projected starters for next season, puff, gone. Yes, this portal world sucks but for me it’s all about expectations to remain a supporter. Just try to be happy with a team that competes for the Big Sky title, beats the gris, shoots for a 20-win season, and is fun to watch. Winning the Big Sky tournament is great, however, “going dancing” is the perennial letdown as it always an ass whooping for whoever gets the Big Sky bid. As to the players leaving specifically for perceived greener pastures and/or brighter lights (may or may not be the situation for the 3 so far)…good bye and I’ll have no interest in following your remaining BB careers.

I would like to hear 4Mare’s take on these portal developments.

[MSU01]

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the portal right now for fans is the suddenness of it all, how we can go from the joy of watching our team play in the NCAA Tournament on a Friday to having three great players announcing their departure only five days later. This was the first year that I routinely watched the Cat Chat broadcasts on YouTube, and my favorite part of the show every week was always the women's player interviews as you could tell how much fun they were having and how much they appeared to truly like and support their teammates and coaches. We all wanted to continue watching the core of this team play together for as long as possible, but I guess that isn't in the cards.

I'm sure that a month from now we'll all have a somewhat more positive view of things especially if we've heard at that point about some great players coming in to replace the ones who are leaving. Good thing today is Opening Day and I can enjoy the brief period of optimism and hope before my team is officially out of the playoff race this year.

[Run-the-ball]

This is a really tough situation. As fans, we should want what is best for these players, however, in our fandom, we are loyal. Wanting that from our players shouldn’t be a bad thing. I’m sad to see both of these girls leave. They were really fun to watch and represented the cats well. With having to rebuild/reload every year, I think the sports loyalists are going to begin to turn to other options. It is fun to have a favorite player and watching them leave year after year is going to get old, really fast.
Thank you Coach Bin for sticking with the Cats!

[HookedOnGriz]

The portal gives and it takes. After all it brought you Morales the player of the year. I don’t know if anyone was up in arms about that.

[tetoncat]

We have an exceptional coach in Trish Binford who has remained loyal to MSU for twenty years and some of us are going to stop supporting her program because a few young kids chose to move on? I don’t get that mentality.
The Cats will be contending for the Big Sky crown next season. I am confident of that.
GO CATS!!!!

I feel like most comments are that they will not be as invested emotionally and financially. While Coach is all in, it seems players are becoming less and less. They talk the talk and then leave. Maybe multi year NIL fixes that but it also negatively impacts recruiting unless other universities do it as well. Fans don't have unlimited resources to get kids to play a game and entertain them. Let's face it, there is alumni pride but more of it is wanting to win

[Catfanatic84]

The portal gives and it takes. After all it brought you Morales the player of the year. I don’t know if anyone was up in arms about that.

You're spot on....getting Esme was key to the 30 win season and the portal enabled that......

I'm bummed we're losing Marah and Natalie, but there's a lot to build on next year including some outstanding freshmen. Looking forward to it. I think we owe it to Coach Bin and the players coming back to continue supporting this program. Coaching in this time of NIL has got to be especially challenging. Effectively, you're re-recruiting an re-assembling a new team every year. Might be easier to start a thread with who's staying rather than who's entered the portal!

[MSU01]

The portal gives and it takes. After all it brought you Morales the player of the year. I don’t know if anyone was up in arms about that.

You're spot on....getting Esme was key to the 30 win season and the portal enabled that......

I'm bummed we're losing Marah and Natalie, but there's a lot to build on next year including some outstanding freshmen. Looking forward to it. I think we owe it to Coach Bin and the players coming back to continue supporting this program. Coaching in this time of NIL has got to be especially challenging. Effectively, you're re-recruiting an re-assembling a new team every year. Might be easier to start a thread with who's staying rather than who's entered the portal!

The portal is temporary frustration followed by good news when we hear who's coming the other way, I think it's safe to say we'll all be back supporting the team in November when the new season begins. Unfortunately it would be hard to start a thread of who's staying when the portal is open for a full month and it's entirely possible that more players will enter between now and then.

[CatBlitz]

Ouch. I have been a sports fan my whole life, but I am wondering how long I will continue to be. The human interest aspect of following individuals and cheering for them because they are on your team is really disappearing. I don’t like this whole new landscape.

The level of apathy I've felt over the last few years is remarkable.

The kind of apathy that keeps you awake at night?

I sleep great.
And I posted that at 4:40pm

[AFCAT]

True, the portal giveth and it taketh away. However, Morales came to MSU to win a championship and she did just that. Pretty sure Morales didn't leave PSU for the NIl money at MSU. If the Big Sky is just a developmental league for bigger schools, that's also not going to help any program. Fans are going to get tired of this very quickly. I already know fans that are stopping donations. Heck, I give to almost every sport at MSU, including NIL money, and I'm not sure how much longer I want to subsidize players that are just looking for a bigger paycheck. Obviously, that's every players right to do so, but I don't have to help it happen. Time will tell if the Big Sky basketball can survive all of this.

[Bobcat4Ever]

@4Mare ???

[imacat]

[Colter_Nuanez]

Dykstra was the Cats’ best offensive player in the half court and a talented hooper. But in terms of what the Cats want to do across the board, Addison Harris is a much better fit as a defensive player and rebounder. If Harris takes the next step, she’ll be exactly as good if not better than Dykstra next year…And if the Cats keep Chirrick, Johnson, Harris, Phillips and add the Montana girls they have committed like Madison O’Connor, they’ll be really, really good for years to come.

Binford has had her and the school’s all time greatest team four times in the last 9 years. She knows what she’s doing…

[Bobcat4Ever]

Dykstra was the Cats’ best offensive player in the half court and a talented hooper. But in terms of what the Cats want to do across the board, Addison Harris is a much better fit as a defensive player and rebounder. If Harris takes the next step, she’ll be exactly as good if not better than Dykstra next year…And if the Cats keep Chirrick, Johnson, Harris, Phillips and add the Montana girls they have committed like Madison O’Connor, they’ll be really, really good for years to come.

Binford has had her and the school’s all time greatest team four times in the last 9 years. She knows what she’s doing…

Thank you. If the younger players see the angst when one of them strays, perhaps they will realize their value to Bobcat Nation exceeds points + NIL. I absolutely agree with your take here. Can’t wait to read more in Skyline Sports MT dot com! <— (free shout out)

[Helcat72]

Who knows maybe with Glancy's and Binford's connection with Boise she'll transfer to MSU! However I assume she and Feldman will probably follow Payne to Santa Clara.
In any case we need to replace a post player with good "game".

[imacat]

Dykstra was the Cats’ best offensive player in the half court and a talented hooper. But in terms of what the Cats want to do across the board, Addison Harris is a much better fit as a defensive player and rebounder. If Harris takes the next step, she’ll be exactly as good if not better than Dykstra next year…And if the Cats keep Chirrick, Johnson, Harris, Phillips and add the Montana girls they have committed like Madison O’Connor, they’ll be really, really good for years to come.

Binford has had her and the school’s all time greatest team four times in the last 9 years. She knows what she’s doing…

Don’t forget about Erickson. She has a ton of potential. I think she will develop into a solid contributor next season.

[Helcat72]

Dykstra was the Cats’ best offensive player in the half court and a talented hooper. But in terms of what the Cats want to do across the board, Addison Harris is a much better fit as a defensive player and rebounder. If Harris takes the next step, she’ll be exactly as good if not better than Dykstra next year…And if the Cats keep Chirrick, Johnson, Harris, Phillips and add the Montana girls they have committed like Madison O’Connor, they’ll be really, really good for years to come.

Binford has had her and the school’s all time greatest team four times in the last 9 years. She knows what she’s doing…

Don’t forget about Erickson. She has a ton of potential. I think she will develop into a solid contributor next season.

Erickson could develop however she didn't get as much experience as Harris. She also has to get stronger and if she is going to play the 4 or 5 some more good weight wouldn't hurt. I look at her as another Ella Johnson. Not really the "post up" type.

[aucat]

Now that the portal is starting to really impact the women's program even at a level of the Big Sky, I know this must be a huge challenge for AD Costello. Here he is trying to build fan support and facilities, etc. You get loyal fans but then the players are not loyal to the program.

The idea of being a loyal player and spending all four years and proudly graduate and become an alumnus doesn't seem to have the appeal that it once did. I find it hard to believe that Dykstra and Picton are going to get paid "big bucks" but maybe they will. In my unprofessional opinion they are NOT good enough to play in the big time conferences. We just saw what happened to a VERY GOOD SDSU women's team against Uconn.

But the bottom line is this. If players are not going to be loyal to a program, it's going to be hard for the fans to be loyal with their support.

Something will have to change. Personally, I think if a player is going to be paid NIL money to play at a school they suddenly are no longer "student-athletes" but they are paid employees and should be required to sign a contract that they cannot leave for three years.

I look at the commitment that Coach Binford made to a player like Lindsey Hein even though she had injuries and could not play. The video that MSU made of Mara making that last second basket set to the "At Last" Etta James song was a classic and I saved it on my phone. I just deleted it and have no interest in ever seeing it again.

[MSU01]

Something will have to change. Personally, I think if a player is going to be paid NIL money to play at a school they suddenly are no longer "student-athletes" but they are paid employees and should be required to sign a contract that they cannot leave for three years.

Would you also support holding the schools to the same 3-year commitment, so that they'd have to honor the player's scholarship and NIL money for the full 3 years even if the player wasn't any good? This also seems impossible to enforce for players who receive NIL money from potentially multiple outside sources instead of directly from the school as part of the new revenue sharing agreement.

[aucat]

Something will have to change. Personally, I think if a player is going to be paid NIL money to play at a school they suddenly are no longer "student-athletes" but they are paid employees and should be required to sign a contract that they cannot leave for three years.

Would you also support holding the schools to the same 3-year commitment, so that they'd have to honor the player's scholarship and NIL money for the full 3 years even if the player wasn't any good? This also seems impossible to enforce for players who receive NIL money from potentially multiple outside sources instead of directly from the school as part of the new revenue sharing agreement.

That was the point I was making about Binford being loyal to Lindsey Hein even though she was unable to play. I don’t suppose there’s any perfect solution. But the damage is taking a toll on the fans. I know it is with me anyway.