re: NCAAT and SEC First Year HC

They were definitely a bubble team. 20-12 (7-11 SEC) going into Nashville that season.

It's more referencing time. I'm not discrediting what was done before the conference realignment, but its no different than saying in the last decade, or since Calipari. I referenced that in my original statement.

What Gates did was very impressive. The transfer portal certainly makes it more possible to win quickly (to a certain extent) than pre-portal days. It's not a given because you have to know exactly what you want to do it and the type of player that fits, but it does give you more options than there used to be. Year 1 before was basically try and sign a couple stragglers in the recruiting class that might be overlooked (or some jucos) and then do what you can with the existing roster in terms of playing your style. Today you can basically pick and choose from the portal to get guys who at least play the game the way your style plays it. They may not be great players, but they fit, and they are generally experienced. Jans did a similar nice job at State with that (though he inherited a roster that already fit his general style whereas Gates did not).

However, it's clearly not just as simple as getting a bunch of guys from the portal and having them all fit together - ask McMahon and even Golden at Florida.