That was one of the challenges of Fearneās rosters he built last couple years was, when watching the game, who had we spent money on?
He must of had a few swings and misses with guys he put on the roster in terms of over payments/scouting and probably what cost him the job.
Like hiring any mercenaryā¦sometimes it worksā¦sometimes it doesnāt.
I would hate to be a college coach today. You literally have to rebuild your entire roster every year.
You can def use low NIL money compared to peers as an excuse though.
I would still take the hit to be a college coach and get paid a lot to do that job. I definitely wouldnāt hate to be one.
80-100% turnover every year? Count me out.
https://x.com/matthewwinick/status/2080299905730424872
Welcome to the 2026 Transfer Portal Rankings. Each player is graded using a combination of analytics and film, considering a playerās entire career, how they fit in their new system, and what role they are expected to play at their new stop. The requirement to be included in this analysis is having played at a D-I school for their most recent college stop, and having played at least 10% of team minutes in any D-I season. All players are graded relative to their league/level, which is why all mid-major teams and Power 5 teams are intertwined. I am not saying one portal class is āmore talentedā than another, I am saying that one is graded higher than the other relative to D-I level.
CHARLOTTE 49ERS
Transfer portal class rank: #172
Best Transfer: Jizzle James
Worst Transfer: Peyton Matshall
KEY:
Player name
Grade
Player archetype
Projected role
Notes
Dorian Finister
C+
Scoring Wing
Starter
Out of nowhere learned to shoot after being an awful shooter his first two seasons. Also doubled his AST% at ULL vs. SHSU. Just totally out of nowhere became a monster scorer. Didnāt even fall that far in level. That said, his shot profile was pretty bad and he did all this on the No. 322 offensive unit. Heās still an undersized wing and an underskilled guard. If you split the difference, or heck, even just take 75% of his ULL season in the American, heās a fine reserve.
Jayden Fort
B
Rebounding 4
Starter
Extremely athletic and great on the offensive glass, but the processing isnāt there. Not a shooter, largely just a dunker. Very high defensive upside and was pretty good on that end. Not strong enough to be a 5 and not skilled enough to be a 4, but those problems matter less moving down a level. Iām worried about the skill level of Charlotteās frontcourt, but thereās no denying the athletic ability.
Dylan Grant
B
Versatile Forward
Starter
Really good athlete who hit his threes early and then went completely ice cold in league play. Complete non-passer. Just doesnāt even look to make plays for others. When he gets the ball, heās driving or going up with it. Should absolutely be a better finisher with his physical tools. With how well he played in non-con, youād think maybe heāll benefit from dropping a level, but there are no Lehighs or Delaware States in the AAC. If he continues to improve the skill level, he could be pretty good as a senior. Very good offensive rebounder.
Jizzle James
A-
Combo Guard
Starter
Jizzleās AST% plummeted and his 3-point shooting soared in his JR year. Really out of nowhere. Had never topped 30% from deep or gone below 22% AST, and yet shot 44% from 3 and 14% AST%. Makes zero sense. Cincy being 10 pts per 100 better with Jizzle on O despite him missing most of their buy games just shows how valuable he was to their team. Heās a flawed player with a very weird statistical profile, but thereās no doubting heās far too talented to be a non-P5 player.
Peyton Marshall
C
Rebounding Big
Key Reserve
Marshall has 40 TOs and 30 FGs in his career, which feels impossible. Heās an absolutely giant human being but is very low on skill. Perhaps dropping down a level will help, but I think he may have needed to drop further. His touch isnāt good enough to make up for all of his liabilities. He has tons of defensive upside when heās able to be parked in the paint, but a lot of that is still theoretical. I donāt think heās as good as fellow AAC reclamations like Bonke and Berg.
Tyler McKinley
B-
Prospect
Key Reserve
Very low usage big who is all of a non-shooter, average rebounder, and average defender. Not too sure what he does well yet, but he has a strong frame and has three years of eligibility, and obviously has a relationship with Miller.
Keyshuan Tillery
B+
Prospect
Key Reserve
Was much better late in the season and has great HS pedigree, and the fact that he gets to find his footing once again in an upper MM league feels like the right spot. Very good passer and shifty creator but quite small and needs to be more efficient.
#172? Lol. Thatās insane, but if you look at these rankings and some of the teams below us, itās less worrisome
TBH, donāt really care about the rankings. The grades and notes are what Iām focusing on.
He doesnāt pull any punches, but his critiques contradict his gradesā¦
Flawed player gets an (A-)?
After reading his critiques, our recruiting class apparently cannot shoot the ball at all, has low skill, doesnāt do anything well, and apparently we donāt even have 5 starting caliber players on the roster.
Sorry folks, apparently we are headed for a single digit wins season according to this guy.
Oh and he can F off with the P5 crap. This isnāt football.
In all fairness, he has SFA ranked like 5, and Arizona below us. I donāt think our team will lack talent(yes I know you we being facetious in your post)
Like I said earlier, donāt care about the rankings. FWIW, I too considered James flawed before reading Winickās critique so didnāt think anything of that comment. Did confirm my concerns about Marshall.
I took his selection of 4 of the transfers as starters to mean he thinks the 5th starter could come from one of the holdovers or freshmen.
As far as the P5, thatās correct since weāre talking hoops.
Anyway, just appreciative that someone took the time take on such a task that is inclusive of all D1 hoops instead the typical focus on the P5 + Gonzaga per CBS, ESPN, Fof68, etc.
I donāt understand his criteria for team rankings. Why would App be 86 with only one player, and that player not an A
From the āHomeā spreadsheet of Matthew Winickās project:
Welcome to the 2026 Transfer Portal Rankings. Each player is graded using a combination of analytics and film, considering a playerās entire career, how they fit in their new system, and what role they are expected to play at their new stop. The requirement to be included in this analysis is having played at a D-I school for their most recent college stop, and having played at least 10% of team minutes in any D-I season. All players are graded relative to their league/level, which is why all mid-major teams and Power 5 teams are intertwined. I am not saying one portal class is āmore talentedā than another, I am saying that one is graded higher than the other relative to D-I level. Below is the formula for the grading of each transfer class.
A+ = 100, A = 95, A- = 90, B+ = 85, B = 80, B- = 75, C+ = 70, C = 65, C- = 60, D+ = 55, D = 50, D- = 45, F = 40
+1 pt per player (B- or better) OR -1 pt per player (C+ or worse)
Starters weighted at 100%, Key reserves weighted at 80%, Reserves weighted at 20%The weighting is done so that players who are not expected to play nearly whatsoever arenāt overly influential in a teamās grade. Donāt come at me for the āwrong roleā assigned to a player, it is still early in the offseason and things can change.
As of now, no 5-in-5 lawsuit players will be added, even when they sign to a new team (MJ Collins to Cincinnati). I have included most players who are suing for an additional year that isnāt under the 5-in-5 umbrella.
BTW, posted today:
https://x.com/matthewwinick/status/2080692836492579163