Now that the portal has closed, it’s time to give a review of how the Tigers have done.
There are still a couple of roster spots left to fill, so it’s possible this whole evaluation will flip, but at this point it doesn’t sound like the Tigers are going to add game changers for those two spots, so it feels like a good time to review.
First off, the changes:
Heading out
Marcus Allen
Aidan Shaw
Peyton Marshall
And coming in
Sebastian Mack
Jevon Porter
Luke Northweather
Shawn Phillips Jr.
Taking 40 percent away from the highly-touted freshman class that Dennis Gates brought in going into last season hurts, certainly.
But, sadly, that’s become part of the environment of college sports and honestly, making it through the portal with five of the eight players Gates has brought in as freshmen the past two seasons - adding in Anthony Robinson and Trent Pierce with the loss of Jordan Butler - is a pretty solid rate.
Shaw was an expected departure, he just never grew into the player that Tiger fans hoped he could be coming into college.
But considering the Tigers didn’t lose Mark Mitchell, Robinson, Pierce, Trent Burns, Annor Boateng or T.O. Barrett, I think it was a generally successful portal session when it comes to player retention.
Allen and Marshall might turn into great players and that will be disappointing for fans that they didn’t end up doing that in Columbia, but forward and center aren’t necessarily major points of weakness for the 2025-26 season and now you can really only evaluate roster construction year-to-year.
I’m less optimistic about the incoming group.
I like Phillips, I think he’s a solid addition who can split center minutes with Burns. He's a solid rebounder on both the offensive and defensive ends, isn’t an offensive liability and is a better shot blocker than the Tigers have had under Gates.
Mack is a solid guard addition who feels like he fits right into the role Tony Perkins played this year. Whether that’s in the starting lineup or off the bench will be reliant on the summer development of Barrett and Boateng.
Northweather and Porter play similar roles as forwards who could slide down to the 5 spot when Gates wants a more "Versatile" lineup like his starting group this year with Pierce in instead of Josh Gray. I'm not sure how much to really expect from either outside of depth.
This year’s portal process didn’t include a game changer like Mitchell last season. By himself, he changed the expectations of what the 2024-25 season could be, add in all the other additions and it became a huge turnaround year.
I don’t think any individual does that in this group. This feels more like a plan based on the idea that the development of Burns, Boateng and Barrett, the continued growth of Robinson and Pierce and letting Mitchell become a star will be the key to the 2025-26 season.
I think this group would have been drastically helped by a Kyan Evans or a Brendan Hausen, someone to soak up the lost 3-point production from Caleb Grill and Tamar Bates, and there are still a few of those options available.
We’ll see what the Tigers are able to add for the final two roster spots, but right now, I give this portal session a C.
I think we’re looking at a slight step back as a team, but with some promising development from the young guys.
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