Age of transfer portal not cause for Bison women's basketball coach Jory Collins to change

Last season, the light switched flipped down again. The Bison went 11-18, had two players leave during the season, had issues within the coaching staff and ultimately saw eight players either graduate or depart via the NCAA transfer portal.

That’s life in the fast lane of the portal these days and Collins said if he thought NDSU was any different from others, it would be a cause for concern. The recent variables of the portal, an extra year of COVID-19 eligibility and money from name, image, likeness were never part of his coaching career.

Have they caused him to change his approach and coach differently?

“As a coach, I have to be who I am and I have to find people that fit what we want to be,” Collins said. “Obviously when you’re winning games it’s a completely different story. Everything is all hunky-dory and great and when you’re not winning, you’re looking for reasons why we aren’t winning. And those can be one of a thousand things to all different kinds of individuals. We try to stay true to what we do and how we do it and we’re going to be just fine.”

Nobody appeared immune from issues, including his staff.

“We’ll have a more selfless team than we had this past year,” Collins said. “I know our team chemistry and camaraderie between players will be on a whole another level better and in our coaching staff, we’ll have a lot more camaraderie as well.”

Assistants Sandra Abston and Brooke Costley left after the season. Starting guard Ryan Cobbins transferred to Alabama, part-time starter Olivia Skibiel transferred to Minnesota State Moorhead and promising freshman recruit Ellie Dague, who was injured last year, transferred to the University of St. Thomas.

There were no apparent internal problems within the university. Collins' personnel file obtained through an open records request showed no documented complaints.

“When we go back, do I wish I would have handled situations differently early in the year? Of course, hindsight is 20-20,” Collins said. “But I know every time we make a decision, we sit and talk about what is in the best interest of the team. Eventually, you’re going to go through some hell and adversity and stuff like that when you’re trying to get this going. I know that. I’m not a patient guy so it bothers me to the core when it doesn’t go the way I had it envisioned going. But I am also a firm believer in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and I don’t think for one second we’re not going to be able to jump back into the path we had in Year 2.”

NDSU went 15-9 in the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season. A year earlier, Collins’ first year as head coach, NDSU won seven of its final 12 games and won a game in the Summit League tournament for the first time since 2009. After a decade, the program had the look of making a run toward the top of the Summit.

That didn’t happen.

“The thing that’s probably the most disappointing, I thought we did a good job from Year 1 to Year 2 building momentum and getting the ball rolling,” Collins said. “Our train before the season started went off the tracks. And it’s just not easy to pick it back up and put it back when you’re playing games. It’s disappointing we had to go through it, also the way in which it did and I don’t want to get into any details. But for us to get right back into the momentum we had is not going to be difficult.”

NDSU is not alone with major roster shakeups. Fellow Summit schools South Dakota lost all five starters, Denver lost its top three players and Oral Roberts lost most of its roster all either to graduation or the transfer portal.

Collins was hoping a weekend at the Division I Women’s Final Four in Minneapolis three weeks ago would make him feel better about the profession.

“I actually felt worse when I left because everybody was saying the same thing,” he said.

The days of recruiting a freshman class, develop those players into upperclassmen leaders who in turn mentor the younger players are about over. Only four players remain from the 2020-21 team.

Players making money through the name, image, likeness stipulation is becoming more common in the women’s game, especially at the higher levels. After the season, Collins said there was about a week where he was scared to see a text or phone call from one of his players.

“You think you know where everybody is but you don’t,” he said.

Collins knows the status of returning starting guards Heaven Hamling and Abby Schulte. They’ll be counted on for leadership. Incoming 6-3 guard/forward Elle Evans from Edwardsville, Ill., may start immediately. The Bison got a player back in the portal in 6-1 forward Taylor Brown, who is among three players expected to make it official with the Bison this week. Brown, from Lakeville, Minn., was a leader in American University reaching the Division I NCAA tournament.

Collins expects to add one or two more players after that.

“The whole environment of college athletics has changed,” he said. “There are some variables that weren’t in this profession before a couple of years ago that have made things more fickle for rosters and being able to project and plan. With the portal going the way it is, it’s just really volatile.”