Honors Projects

Abstract

The creation of the transfer portal has increased the mobility of collegiate athletes, giving players the autonomy to switch teams throughout their career. As a result, the roster development process has become more complex, as coaches are tasked with the challenge of recruiting from the transfer portal, which involves an extensive decision-making process. Coaches not only have to evaluate a substantial pool of players, but they also must consider the following constraints they are under: scholarship budget, roster spots available, and positional needs. To simplify this decision-making process, this analysis includes the results of a Microsoft Excel data optimization model that selects players from the transfer portal whom a coach should target based on their team’s personalized needs and constraints. While the model serves as a helpful resource to guide coaches’ recruiting endeavors, the study concludes that it is inadequate as the sole tool for making all recruiting decisions due to its inability to consider qualitative factors involved with the transferring process.

Department

Honors Program

Major

Finance

First Advisor

Christopher Rump

First Advisor Department

Applied Statistics and Operations Research

Second Advisor

Ray Schneider

Second Advisor Department

Sport Management

Publication Date

Spring 4-29-2026

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