Transfer Portal 101: NIL Market Trends + Roster Strategies

The transfer portal is exploding—and so are NIL prices. In this episode, Evan Miyakawa breaks down a “Transfer Portal 101” guide to how teams are navigating the modern roster-building landscape, including why the NIL market is up 65% year-over-year and how that’s impacting decisions across college basketball. He dives into the economics of the portal, explaining why centers are being overpaid, why point guards may actually be the best value right now, and how supply and demand is reshaping roster construction. Evan also highlights key player archetypes to target (like sophomore breakout candidates) and ones to be cautious of (like high-volume scorers without well-rounded skill sets). If you want a clear, data-driven understanding of how teams are spending millions to build rosters in today’s game, this episode is for you.Chapters(00:00) Transfer Portal 101(01:56) NIL Market is up 65%(05:25) Front Office Suite tool for teams(11:26) Is the market sustainable?(14:09) Bigs are being overpaid(17:47) Where teams can find value in the portal(21:08) The Vandy and Nebraska model(22:32) Freshman to Sophomore leap(25:25) Teams are overvaluing volume scorersConnect with the show:Visit EvanMiya.comFollow on Twitter/XSubscribe on YouTubeFollow on InstagramFull Show ArchivesMerch