Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell was asked during a Big Orange Caravan stop in Chattanooga on Tuesday night about the importance of high school recruiting in the transfer portal era.

And she gave an answer that applies to all of college sports, including college football.

The way rosters are built in college athletics has changed dramatically over the last few years thanks to NIL and the transfer portal era.

Caldwell, for example, has 15 new players on her roster for the 2026-27 season, and 13 of those players are transfer additions.

The NFL Draft provides another example of how roster building has changed, as each of the top two picks over the last three years attended multiple colleges before turning pro (Fernando Mendoza, David Bailey, Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels).

With so many players finishing their college careers at different programs than they signed with out of high school, it’s led to some folks suggesting that high school recruiting is no longer important (with some schools, like St. John’s under Rick Pitino, eschewing high school recruiting altogether).

Caldwell, however, explained this week why high school recruiting is still very important.

Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell details why high school recruiting will remain important

Caldwell admitted Tuesday that she’s had conversations with her staff about the importance of high school recruiting, but she pointed out that the relationships built through high school recruiting are important when it comes to landing players out of the portal down the road.

“We had a short conversation about that as a staff this morning,” said Caldwell when asked if this transfer cycle has changed her thoughts on high school recruiting. “But I think no, not necessarily — because the relationships still need to be there to be able to get them [in] the portal.”

Recruiting is becoming more transactional than ever, but relationships still matter — and they can often be the “tiebreaker” in a portal recruitment.

Rick Barnes and the Vols, in fact, are in a good spot to land Wake Forest transfer guard Juke Harris because of the relationship that was built during his high school recruitment.

High school recruiting has changed a lot since the rise of NIL and the transfer portal. It doesn’t look anything like it did a decade ago. But it still matters. Regardless of the money being spent, or how many transfer players are on a team, winning games (in any sport) still comes down to a talented roster pulling in the same direction (culture still matters). And when rosters are being built via the recruiting version of speed dating — the portal is basically a two week sprint in the winter — the relationships built during high school recruiting can help both sides ensure they’re making the right decision.

High school recruiting may look different these days, but it’s still very important in college athletics.