I feel like UConn had ideal roster construction for the new era we are operating in. Looking at their starting five:

• They had a couple of very good players in Clingan and Karaban that they recruited. They were role players in prior years but not good enough to go pro and they got better and became more prominent players.
• They had a multi year transfer in Newton that you could say the same as above.
• They brought in a stud freshman in Castle who understood the team dynamic and wasn't focused on being the alpha. He clearly bought into the vision.
• They went into last offseason looking at what they needed and then went into the portal and got it in Spencer. They really only had one consistent outside shooting threat so they needed to upgrade there and they got the ancillary benefit of being experienced, crafty and also defensive minded.

Now, some of that is good fortune as they missed out on guys they wanted in front of above players. But I feel like a blend of experience, a dynamic freshman and selective portal additions is the way to go. I think the schools who have leaned heavily on multiple freshmen will continue to struggle on the big stage. You may find the occasional team that hit the portal hard and brings in a bunch of mercs who has high level success but I'm not sure that's a consistent recipe for success. And the teams that refuse to operate in the portal will be left behind.