UConn HC Randy Edsall: Players in Transfer Portal Are 'Enabled' and 'Entitled'

Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall doesn't sound like he will spend a lot of time recruiting players in the NCAA transfer portal. 

Per Alex Putterman of the Hartford Courant, Edsall called players who use the transfer portal "enabled and entitled."

"I'd rather go with high school kids or junior college guys," he said. "Guys going into the portal, they've got issues. That's why they're going into the portal." 

The NCAA established the transfer portal in Oct. 2018 as a way of organizing the list of student-athletes who were considering changing schools. 

Student-athletes are required to tell their current school's compliance department about their desire to transfer, which gives the school 48 hours to put their name into the portal. 

The process has drawn scrutiny from a number of coaches across the country. Penn State's James Franklin criticized it for enabling student-athletes to make decisions "driven by football" because "the college athletics that I grew up with was driven based on academics."

Former Washington head coach Chris Petersen told reporters last summer the transfer portal was bad for student-athletes because it “allows them to tap out” at one school and go to another. 

Use of the transfer portal has become common across the country in all sports, especially football. Last year, for instance, Heisman finalists Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma) and Justin Fields (Ohio State) were among the student-athletes who switched schools. 

Edsall did note Connecticut would consider players in the transfer portal if his staff had a pre-established relationship recruiting them out of high school or junior college.

Since returning to UConn in 2017, Edsall has a 6-30 record with no bowl appearances. The 61-year-old has a 98-127 career record as a head coach at Connecticut and Maryland.