Matt Zimmer: Jacks get hammered by the transfer portal, but Eric Henderson insists on remaining positive

Mar. 26—BROOKINGS — Eric Henderson answered on the first ring and mock-shouted into the phone: "WHAT?!"

He was, to be clear, joking. The South Dakota State basketball coach knew who was calling and what the call was about.

Zeke Mayo, the Summit League player of the year, had just announced on social media that he will declare for the NBA Draft while maintaining his final year of college eligibility, while also intending to put his name in the transfer portal. This came one day after Jackrabbit sophomore William Kyle, the Summit League's defensive player of the year, also entered the portal.

Those two defections, coupled with the graduation of seniors Luke Appel, Charlie Easley and Matt Mims means the entire starting five from this year's NCAA tournament squad are all gone from the program.

I almost felt bad making the call. What did I expect Hendo to say? The news wasn't exactly surprising, especially from Mayo, who had suitors last year at this time and instead chose to come back to SDSU for another year intent on leading them to the Big Dance, which he did with a spectacular season. Kyle's departure felt like less of a certainty but it was by no means shocking. The 6-8 big man was probably the Summit League's most improved player this past season, becoming a force on both ends of the court and one of the most exciting players in mid-major basketball. There's no doubt his athleticism will be a big help to whichever major conference school acquires his services. Both student-athletes are likely to have large sums of NIL money thrown their way.

But all of that is window dressing on a cold reality for Henderson, his team and SDSU fans. This is a tough day for Jackrabbit Nation.

While SDSU has been hit by the portal before, most notably with all-everything point guard Baylor Scheierman, who left for Creighton two years ago and established himself as one of the best players in the entire nation. But other than that, SDSU seemed to have largely avoided the same portal-poaching that has devastated the rest of the Summit League's men's teams.

This week it hit like a punch to the gut.

After exchanging laughs over his greeting, I asked Hendo what his reaction was to the news (great question, Zim), not really knowing what else to say.

"Well, obviously, it's very bittersweet," Henderson began. "You certainly...(long pause)....(longer pause)...honestly I don't even know how to respond yet, Zim."

I know it's a tough day, I responded. But to be clear, you're not mad at Zeke or Will.

"No, no, no," Henderson said. "That's the thing. It's just a delicate situation. Zeke had opportunities to leave last year and for him to come back and believe in what we do, I think that says a lot. And I think he benefited from that, too.

"College athletics is really changing, and I'm not saying for better or worse. Times are evolving so you have to be prepared for everything. None of it shocks me. I'm not surprised. Would I like to Coach Zeke for another year? Would I love to coach Will for another couple years? Of course, but I say that while being equally as excited to coach the guys that are in our program. I don't want to take away from that. Does that make sense?"

Yeah, it does. But the portal and NIL are making your job really difficult. Your program is kind of at a point where you're just good enough to develop players into being good enough to get stolen by the big boys.

"That's the hardest part," Henderson said. "You love challenges and stuff, and at the end of the day we're in the business of helping young people grow and be happy and so if they think that can be done elsewhere, better, what do you say? You wish them well, and I love 'em and you just want them to achieve their goals and dreams, and if we're a part of that, great. If not, that's OK, too."

The Jacks have used the portal themselves — Matthew Mors and Nate Barnhart both transferred in from other Division I programs. Henderson has stuck to the gameplan of recruiting high school kids and developing them, and the Jacks have been more successful using that old-school strategy than most other mid-majors.

Will they have to abanadon that formula and go full-on portal hunting for free-agents?

"No, I don't think about it like that," Henderson said. "I still love my job and I still love developing young people. Just because we lost these guys doesn't mean we're gonna stop recruiting high school kids. Because at the end of the day, both Zeke and Will have done great things for South Dakota State and helped us accomplish a lot of great things. We're going to continue to recruit high school kids. But in the same breath, we do also have to put our team in the best position to be successful. Will there be more portal and transfer guys? My guess is that answer will be yes."

The legalization of NIL and the transfer portal have revolutionized college sports. On the one hand, it's given student-athletes a power and reward system they never had before and probably should have, to at least some degree. The NCAA took advantage of athlete labor for years, and anyone who still argues against that is being disingenuous.

Having said that, the fallout has created a new system that would be unrecognizable to any college basketball fan 20 years ago. Mid-major programs are quickly being relegated to mere farm teams for the power conference schools, while those gigantic programs have their own issues, with players hopping in the portal on an almost yearly basis. The coaches in the Big Ten or SEC also face new headaches, they just happen to be different ones than Henderson (and they also have more money to throw at those problems).

Henderson has made clear from the start of the NIL/portal era that he's supportive of systems that allow for the players to advocate for themselves. That system is now biting his program in the shorts, but Henderson isn't whining about it or looking for major changes in the landscape of college basketball.

"I always want to make sure the kids have opportunities that help them be successful," he said. "So I don't necessarily feel like it's all broken. I just feel like it's the way it is. We have to continue to adapt and be proactive — without losing the mission. Because like I said, I'm not mad at anybody. I just need to continue to evolve and adapt and change with the rules and how things are going while continuing to help young people grow and achieve their goals and dreams. I've done it with mostly high school kids. Does that mean I have to adapt? Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't help young people in the transfer portal learn and grow, too."