Sports are so weird, and this one seems to get weirder all the time. I was so delighted by a nationals weekend that I never saw coming. I’m even more delighted that I don’t have to be sad it’s over because the offseason is also incredibly weird and is already starting to show it. In my last column of the 2025 season, we’re meditating on the good but mostly the bad (because it’s more interesting) and on the past but especially the future (because I can’t stop making everything about recruiting.) I’ll see you in the 2026 preseason. Which is actually really soon.
Question: Who’s going to take advantage of the transfer portal?
I’m always looking ahead, even when plenty is going on right now; I’ve been building 2026 lineups in my head for weeks now. So, even when I’m watching postseason meets and everything seems great, half of my mind is going “OK, which of you are going to leave?”
Apparently, quite a few. The expected wave of cuts related to the (still unofficial but at this point generally accepted) roster limit rules for next year have started, and we’ve got some reasonably high-profile transfer portal entrants for other reasons, too. eMjae Frazier, if we’re all interpreting her graduation correctly, is a really fascinating prospect…
