Get used to it.

The time has come for college basketball teams to again endure what the transfer portal means, for entire rosters having to be replaced as players search for greener pastures.

And by green we mean dollar signs.

It won’t happen for everyone, certainly not for as many who believe NIL riches are out there to be collected.

Some harsh realities await countless names.

What is promised is not always delivered.

Sometimes, a player’s pursuit is for that of a much larger role. Sometimes, teams gently shove kids out the door if things haven’t transpired as coaches desired. There are all sorts of reasons thousands of players enter the portal.

And in this year’s case, already more than 2,000 have done so.

Doing business

But reality eventually sets in. Take the UNLV men’s team of coach Josh Pastner. His first season running the program last year included 13 new faces. He might have to sign near that many again given senior departures and those who have jumped into the portal.

It’s just the new way of doing business.

It’s the new world and won’t be changing anytime soon.

“I want guys that want to be back,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said at his postseason news conference. “I don’t want to talk anybody into coming back.

“If you want to come back, here’s what you have to do to become a better player. If you don’t want to come back, I’m going to hug you and wish you well and know that there are great opportunities for everybody out there.”

It’s the attitude you must own as a coach. A healthy one.

Players should be able to see what their value is on the open market. They have that right. You shouldn’t panic about it as a coach. It’s just the way things are now.

Fans find such truths hard to accept. Those who wonder why players aren’t more loyal to a respective institution. But who should argue with someone desiring to know their true worth?

This is how Dutcher views things: That if someone says a certain player is going into the portal, he’s probably already there. That if a kid already has an agent, the latter is already fielding calls every day.

“It’s every program in the country,” said Dutcher, whose team has lost six players to the portal thus far. “Everybody is in the portal. That’s what people have to understand. You don’t have to officially be in the portal for people to inquire if this guy’s available and here’s what we think he’s worth. That’s an everyday thing.”

This isn’t: Recruiting has changed with the portal. Chasing the top high school players isn’t as much in vogue as it used to be. Pastner talked about it as much on an edition of the “Full Court Press” podcast.

“Probably in other spots, you’re so locked into the local aspects of things,” Pastner said. “But probably where I’m at now is we’re looking at guys who have ties to Las Vegas who may have been at another spot and it didn’t work out to what they expected. Come back home type of thing …

“Things are a tad bit different that maybe you put so much emphasis on a local kid in high school because he’s in your backyard and because high school recruiting was everything. Now, high school recruiting — not that it’s not important — but it’s really second or third or maybe even fourth on the list when you’re looking at putting your roster together.”

Recruit older

It has to be. It has to come after things like fundraising for NIL and landing older players that you have a better chance at winning conference titles with and earning NCAA Tournament berths.

That a player like promising UNLV forward Tyrin Jones, who arrived out of high school and has announced he will return for a sophomore season, might not be the norm any more.

As Pastner said, this isn’t the old days when you’re getting five to six years from a high school recruit, especially if you develop him correctly. Then, folks with a much bigger budget than yours come calling.

It’s nothing personal. Players weigh their value and if it’s significantly higher somewhere else, they most often leave. They have a decision to make. Everybody is dealing with the same reality.

Get used to it.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.