How Vermont men's basketball navigated a 'hectic' transfer portal in 2023

Scanning the transfer portal late one night in March, Vermont men's basketball associate head coach Ryan Schneider came across a player he initially missed.

Shamir Bogues of Tarleton State in Texas had placed his name in the portal a couple days earlier. One of approximately 1,500 players in Division I looking to transfer this spring, Bogues' defensive acumen and offensive profile were a match for what the Catamounts sought and desired.

Schneider quickly reviewed film on Bogues and reached out to other assistant coaches for feedback. It was after midnight when Schneider alerted his boss, Catamounts head coach John Becker.

"I texted (Becker) and said, 'This is the guy we really need to get,'" Schneider said. "He's looking for exactly what we have to offer."

Less than a month later, Bogues, an all-defensive team selection in the Western Athletic Conference, gave his verbal commitment during his official visit to Burlington. Bogues' decision capped an all-encompassing, weekslong dive into the portal for Catamount coaches, who scooped up four transfers to round out their 2023-24 squad.

More: Who's on the roster? Nonconference games? The latest on 2023-24 UVM men's basketball

Vermont also landed Fairfield's TJ Long, Brenton Mills of Bowling Green and Jace Roquemore of UC San Diego in a second straight offseason with high program turnover for the two-time reigning America East Conference champions.

"I really like all four kids we got out of the portal from a character standpoint, from a work ethic standpoint, from an IQ standpoint and from a talent standpoint," Becker said. "My staff did an incredible job weeding through the portal and identifying the right kids. They deserve all the credit for putting this team together."

At times "hectic" and overwhelming, the Vermont coaching staff combed through 75-100 new names each day in the portal, studied film, developed relationships with recruits via text messaging and Zoom calls and arranged campus visits on late-night calls.

"Our staff looked at every kid who went in the portal," Becker said. "It was kind of around the clock in trying to identify the right kids and then do everything in our power to get them here and close the deal."

More: March Madness: Coverage of UVM basketball teams in the 2023 NCAA Tournament

All of that began in earnest for Catamounts on March 18, the day after they lost to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

"We went right to work to replace four starters. There was no take a week off," Schneider said. "It’s hard to describe how hectic it is."

Vermont coaches take lessons from 2022 offseason portal

At the close of his news conference following the 78-61 defeat to Marquette, Becker admitted their approach to the portal during the 2022 offseason was flawed.

"I thought last year, in the portal, we kind of didn't know how that worked, necessarily. Maybe shot for kids too high that weren't going to come here," Becker said. "Like I said, the portal is like speed dating; you've got to identify the right ones, otherwise you're chasing the wrong one and you end up back at square one.

"So I think we have a better understanding about that and who might be attracted to us. We're not as pretty as we thought, I guess."

Rewind to that offseason: The Catamounts were coming off a near-upset of Arkansas at March Madness in Buffalo, New York, but saw critical pieces depart the program, among them: Ben Shungu, Isaiah Powell and Ryan Davis. Without forwards Powell and Davis, the two-time America East player of the year, Vermont coaches had available minutes in their frontcourt to sell to recruits, and they went searching in the transfer portal for high-major candidates.

"We figured that some disgruntled guys at the high-major levels or guys we thought would be really productive for us, would automatically think (Vermont) is a great opportunity because we have a really nice track record of developing frontcourt guys," Schneider said.

The coaching staff learned those players generally transferred to other high-major programs. And Vermont can't compete in today's NCAA landscape of NIL deals with schools or conferences of that size and with strong booster support.

"There is so much noise in these kids' ears as soon as they hit the portal. In some cases, it’s hundreds of people. You are just wading through all this noise to see if you can just make an impression," Schneider said. "Sometimes you reach a player right away and never hear back. Or you find someone you really like and then start hearing or seeing on Twitter that they have 15 high-major schools who’ve already reached out.

"Last year, we probably got a little ambitious because of what we were losing and the success that we had, that we would basically get through to high-major guys who wanted to transfer down."

However, Vermont's spin in the portal wasn't all for naught.

The Catamounts secured transfers Dylan Penn, Matt Veretto and Ileri Ayo-Faleye. Penn and Veretto, who hadn't played college basketball in three years, were critical to the Catamounts' title run, particularly during a 15-game winning streak before the Marquette defeat. And Ayo-Faleye, who had played sparingly at Rhode Island, earned minutes off the bench as a defensive force in the frontcourt.

"We had to adjust on the fly and we were still really happy with the guys we wound up with," Schneider said. "We probably would have reprioritized our recruiting chart, our depth chart a little different had we known what we know now.

"Last year provided a different blueprint for this year."

How Vermont coaches worked this year's transfer portal

Before the Catamounts headed to Ohio for March Madness, coaches had already begun mapping out strategies and inputting multiple Excel files as players started putting their names into the transfer portal. They decided, though, to start pursuing players once their season officially ended at the NCAA Tournament.

After their Saturday meeting the day after the Marquette loss, Vermont coaches went to work filling out the roster.

Schneider and assistant coaches Chris Santo, Derryk O'Grady and Bryson Johnson, who has since left UVM for another coaching gig at Holy Cross, divvied up the player pool (a list of 50 names or so that is constantly evolving), with Schneider usually the point person on the first contact with a potential recruit.

"There is a lot of collaboration with figuring out who we really want to hone in on," Schneider said. "Every 24 hours, filtering through who’s now in the portal and who’s already in the portal. Who do we like and who do we not like? Who’s gettable, who’s not gettable? We're filtering through all that in real-time."

Then names are funneled down to Becker for approval or further discussion.

"It was really impressive to see how the staff vetted players," Becker said.

And the pitch to players, generally, focused on the program's sustained winning: The Catamounts have earned six tournament titles in the one-bid America East and played in five NCAA Tournaments in Becker's 12-year tenure.

"You are selling John and the success of the program and what he’s built here," Schneider said. "It depends on the profile of the kid. If they are coming from a place that hasn’t won very much, you are really selling the winning and the opportunity to hopefully compete to make the NCAA Tournament.

"I think that’s really appealing to guys, especially those who have been on the outside looking in during their careers."

Vermont's standing among mid-majors and its annual expectations of playing deep into March appealed to Shamir Bogues and Jace Roquemore.

"It was clear as day that winning was a culture here. Making the tournament is one of my dreams," Bogues said.

Said Roquemore: "They win. Plain and simple. The track record speaks for itself. You can’t beat a program that wins."

But Bogues and Roquemore also appreciated UVM coaches' commitment and other selling points. The players said they heard from around 15-20 D-I schools beside Vermont.

"The transfer portal is crazy. You get texts and calls from all over Division I and Division II," Roquemore said. "Amongst all the chaos, coach (Schneider) reached out to me first, 'Hey, man we really like what we see.' He kept in touch with me over time and his communication was the most consistent and what they brought was the most valuable."

Bogues was told how his development might look like in the Catamounts' system.

"They kept telling me what my position would be, what my progression would be and how I would get to the next level," Bogues said. "Coach (Becker) talked about where I would be in the defensive schemes. That’s what I really like about it."

Vermont's flurry of activity to secure the transfers

This offseason, Vermont had about a dozen official visits to campus, counting the recruitment of high school players, according to Schneider. The player visits over a three-week period in late March to mid-April — not counting Final Four weekend which is a dead period — showed how jam-packed and busy Vermont coaches were during what is traditionally a quieter time for programs.

On the same night a high school recruit departed on March 25, TJ Long arrived for a two-day visit. Long, who had previously been recruited by UVM, announced his commitment to transfer by March 30. Three more players conducted official visits before standout guard Aaron Deloney reversed course and recommitted to the program for his final year of eligibility.

"It’s way different than the high school recruiting period when you get to know them and their families to a situation where you’ve never seen them play live, never seen them in high school," Becker said. "You’re making a connection with them and then days later, having them visit."

On April 13, Brenton Mills, another player whom UVM had previously recruited, opted to sign on with Vermont — the same day the team greeted Roquemore and his parents for his official visit. Bogues then followed for a three-day visit.

"It’s a very hectic time. But a credit to everybody in the program, we identified the right kids. And even the kids who didn’t come here, you’re rooting for them," Schneider said. "If you didn’t know those guys were transfers, you’d think: They are Vermont kids. They look and sound like kids who’ve been in this program for four years."

Vermont's roster features just three of its 13 scholarship players in their last year of eligibility: Mills, Deloney and Veretto. Barring any players leaving unexpectedly following this upcoming season, Vermont coaches won't have to pour so much time and resources into the 2024 transfer portal.

And that's a good thing, Schneider said.

"The work, life balance has gotten really hard," said Schneider, a married father of two young children. "I don’t think we want it to become the norm. We don’t want to fill the roster every year that way."

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont men's basketball: Catamount coaches on transfer portal success