Collegiate athletes seem to be on the move more than ever before. Recruiting and scouting has never been as advanced as it is today, and as a result, collegiate sports are seeing rosters of athletes change course on a yearly basis.

Deputy Athletics Director for External Relations Curt Jacey gave his thoughts on the transfer portal and how it affects universities like UMKC across the nation.

“In the current climate of college athletics and response to the pandemic, student-athletes now have an unprecedented ability to transfer more easily,” Jacey said. “This year, there have been over 1,000 student-athletes in the portal at any given time.”

Typically, when a player transfers from a program, it may hurt their former team, but it still opens up the door for other athletes to make an impact.

“Whenever there is player movement, it presents an opportunity for another student-athlete,” Jacey said. “The transfer rules currently affect every coach in the NCAA in the same way.”

It can become frustrating for smaller programs when their players transfer to power five programs, but Jacey feels that the transfer portal goes both ways.

“In the same way that mid-major student-athletes can transfer to power five schools, power five student-athletes can transfer to mid-majors,” Jacey said. “There are student-athletes on our rosters and on rosters across the Summit League that played their sport at the power-five level. Student-athletes should be encouraged to find the situation that fits them best.”

Jacey is aware that the transfer portal can work for and against programs, but he is focused on doing the best job possible within the rules of the NCAA.

The transfer portal can be very frustrating for programs who lose key players in their system, but coaches feel that in a competitive field there is no time to dwell on a situation.

Jacey says, “There are over 300 colleges and universities, and our coaches are constantly in competition with each one of them.”

Kansas City Athletics have one main goal when it comes to their student-athletes, who give it their all for the program.

“Our goal is to have student-athletes stay in Roo blue and gold for their entire careers,” Jacey said. “All we can focus on is giving our student-athletes the best experience while they are on campus.”

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