How GCU, ASU basketball programs build their rosters among NIL changes

The NIL (name, image and likeness) era in college sports collided with the transfer portal and conference realignments to create a whirlwind of change in recruiting.

Arizona State’s first-year men’s basketball coach Randy Bennett and Grand Canyon men’s basketball coach Bryce Drew are heading into the 2026-27 season with their rosters heavily constructed through the transfer portal by getting the players’ right price.

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Bennett and Drew spoke with nonplussed and comedic tones during a panel discussion at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s 14th annual Jerry Colangelo Golf Classic fundraiser in Phoenix on Sept. 17. They discussed the undetermined direction of college basketball.

“It’s the unknown,” Bennett said to the moderator, Dan Bickley of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “We’re trying to make decisions about our teams, about our future of college basketball, but we don’t really know. I will say this: The only thing we do know is we have to adapt and then make good decisions. That’s all I can tell you. Those two things you have to do a good job of.”

Drew, who’s entering his sixth year at GCU, concurred with Bennett about having to adapt as the business of college athletics reached a tipping point. Drew also half-joked when he pointed to NBA legends Paul Pierce, Drew’s former Houston Rockets teammate, and Suns icon Charles Barkley in the audience about the college sports’ NIL era compared to their time playing in the NBA.

“I did some research,” Drew said. “Paul Pierce, we’re the same (1998) draft class. You would’ve made more NIL (money) in year one this year in college than your whole rookie contract. Charles Barkley, first year signing with the Houston Rockets, you would’ve made more money in NIL in one year of college this year; maybe you did. I don’t know.”

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Drew continued amid laughs from the event’s attendees.

“This whole game has changed so much,” he said. “We’re a version almost of the NBA in the ’90s for what we are in college basketball right now with…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gcu-asu-basketball-programs-build-120249355.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-20 12:02:00

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