True. Id like to believe that the ones hitting portal now were the ones that demanded NIL windfall. The ones declaring pro with no indication they will be drafted is a much bigger headscratcher.
Most of these guys have been pampered all of their life because they are such great athletes, so most think they are NFL/NBA material, which isn't the case. Ask just about every high school player that signs with a major school and they all think they're good enough to play after college. It doesn't take long for reality to hit when they go undrafted, the phone quits ringing and they suddenly realize they have to get a real job.
By my count, we are down to 12 seniors going into next season: John Emery, Jay Ward, Jaray Jenkins, Ali Gaye, Myles Brennan, Devonta Lee, Darren Evans, Soni Fonua, Jarell Cherry, Chasen Hines, Jared Small and Cameron Wire. A couple of those may have used up their eligibility or declared and I missed it.
Hines, and maybe I misunderstood, but I think in another thread someone said it was reported but he personally hadn't declared yet.
One of CBK's most important tasks has to be to get rid of the bad apples so he can start building a solid foundation. I wouldn't be surprised if a couple more hit the road because it sounds like the locker room was a complete mess!
Back a number of years ago I heard a stat that went: less than 1 in 30 high school players end up playing at the college level and less than 1 in 30 college players end up playing in the pros. Don't know if it's true or not, but sounds about right.
Think of it terms of the bottleneck How many high schools are there? Thousands right? Only the best of the best will play at one of the 117 ish D1 schools with 85 man rosters. 32 NFL teams with 53 man rosters