Does that mean we only take the HS players we really want/need and leave the voids to be filled by the portal?
Yes, I do think the availability to transfer every year now and NIL will make the "top tier" schools only take the top HS kids - like top 60-70 ranked type kids, the rest will have to go to other schools show what they can do then transfer to one of the power schools.
If you are trying to win a national title every year, it just makes more sense for programs to take proven guys that have done it at a high level vs. a high school kid that will take a year or two to develop
My take is that it will create a huge gap between the haves vs. the have-nots, but also think it will narrow the dispersion in the "haves" group- between the true blue blood top recruiting schools and the other "haves" because schools like us can restock through the transfer portal, so even though we're not getting McD AA guys out of HS, the transfers we get like TSJ and Mayer are ready to play right now and allows us to compete year in and year out. Plus the blue blood schools will lose the one and dones and always have guys transfer out if they aren't getting enough playing time freshman year. If the blue bloods stop taking as many 5 star guys because they want to restock through the portal, then there are more 5 star kids available for schools that normally wouldn't land them. So overall I think it helps schools like us compete more consistently vs. the Duke/Kentucky/Kansas programs because of the transfer rules/NIL now