Prior to the introduction of the transfer portal to NCAA athletics in 2018, finding a new home was something athletes could seldom achieve. If high major recruits realized their futures were limited, moving to a grander opportunity was unlikely. Inversely, mid-major players playing above their competition had to work extra hard to earn the spotlight they deserved.
The former scenario has been especially relevant. Now, seven years into the transfer portal era and three years into the NIL era, staple players in mid-major programs are becoming less common. High major programs such as Duke, North Carolina and Michigan State will always have the spotlight and the money to offer that mid-majors just can’t.
That’s not an inherently negative thing. One such byproduct of the mass migration of mid-major stars to high major programs is the opportunity it provides for the roster’s younger players.
Following the 2022-23 season, Ohio women’s basketball experienced the departure of its best player, Mid-American Conference leading scorer Yaya Felder. Felder took to Texas, joining Baylor in the Big 12. While she saw a decline in usage, her spotlight was exponentially brighter.
The effect it had on the team she departed from was arguably even greater. Last season, Ohio gave more minutes to freshmen than any other team in the MAC. Its core three first-years, Bailey Tabeling, Monica Williams and Laylay Fantroy, combined for 72.1 minutes per game, as well as around 40% of Ohio’s total points scored. The season prior, freshmen contributed just 36.1 minutes per game and only 14% of Ohio’s total points.
Although Ohio’s season was an outlier, with no other MAC school coming close to matching its freshmen production, mid-major teams as a whole are outpacing high major squads with high-opportunity first years.
Among the nation’s top 10 men’s basketball freshmen in minutes percentage, all 10 spots belong to mid-major players, with only Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Rutgers’ Ace Bailey and Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber cracking the top 15.
New freshmen are emerging for Ohio, both men’s and women’s. For the men’s team, Elijah Elliott has recently established himself as a starting-caliber player, while Ayden Evans has seen occasional minutes, finding time to contribute with injuries to fellow big men. On the women’s team, Gigi Bower and Dani Scully have both earned impressive minute totals, averaging 21.8 and 15.6 minutes per game, respectively.
This trend reigns true even for the MAC’s undefeated representatives, Akron for men’s and Ball State for women’s, which feature at least one first year in their consistent rotation. The Zips run their prized freshman, Sharron Young, as a sixth man, while the Cardinal’s duo of Grace Kingery and Zuri Ransom have combined for 27 minutes per game and nearly 10 points per game.
As players continue to gain more freedom to choose their destiny in college basketball, mid-major freshmen will only continue to get the opportunities they are receiving to succeed.
