Here is my Fran portal playbook.
Page 1: Tell fans you are going to work really hard in the portal and throw a name out (Adams).
Page 2: Have Fran trolls take to message boards to promote said player and Fran's hard work (Franisdaman).
Page 3: Named guy goes elsewhere. Shift to talking up returning guys to reduce expectations.
Page 4: Portal whiff. Fran trolls work OT to tell everyone disappointed in portal results they are bad fans and that Fran looked at a lot of players, but couldn't find the right fit.
Page 5: Talk up walk on player and offer a scholarship and imply they may get PT next year.
To be successful in the portal you need to demonstrate to kids you embrace it, which Fran clearly doesn't. It also helps if you were in on some of these kids during the initial recruitment process, which is seldom the case for Fran. Last but not least, you have to be honest about assessing current players and recognize where you can upgrade--Fran is terrible at this. 3 years wasted on Joe T., 2 years on Josh, Ulis looking like another multi-year bust and TBD on Mulvey. Fran's big portal gets = Bakari Evelyn and Rebraca.
I spent way too much time reviewing portal bios the other night and there are some intriguing players out there that should be on Fran's radar. To be clear, I was not looking at the hottest portal prospects because Fran won't even look at those guys. I reviewed players from mid-major programs and even drilled down to see which ones had Midwest roots and a lot did--even some playing at east/west coast schools grew up in WI, MN, IN or IL.