The NCAA’s transfer portal is getting a bit ridiculous.

Pine-Richland graduate Phil Jurkovec is headed to the University of Pittsburgh to play quarterback for the Panthers. That’s because he wasn’t satisified with his situation at Boston College.

Of course, Jurkovec was only at B.C. because he wasn’t happy with his situation at Notre Dame.

Pitt has an opening at quarterback because Kedon Slovis has re-entered the transfer portal after coming to Pitt from USC ... where, of course, he was unhappy with his situation.

In Division 1 college football, the transfer portal seems to be a means for players to jockey themselves into position to get noticed as a prospect for the NFL draft. That’s understandable, certainly, but it’s sad at the same time.

Call me naive, but college athletics are supposed to serve as a means for talented athletes to get a college education. Jumping from school to school through the transfer portal makes it hard for me to fathom these guys taking advantage of that educational opportunity.

Pitt basketball has lost a number of players to the transfer portal over the last couple of years. Losing will do that.

One local basketball player who could have transferred — without being criticized for it — is Butler graduate Ethan Morton. Through two seasons at Purdue, he was seeing limited minutes. And while the Boilermakers were winning, Morton was doing a lot of sitting.

A number of Division 1 basketball programs closer to home would have welcomed Morton. He would have practically been a guaranteed starter at many of them, including Pitt.

But Morton stayed put.

Nobody loves playing basketball more than him. Nobody wants to be successful in the sport more than he does. But switching schools to improve his basketball stock? That’s not what this guy is about.

He’s about getting his degree as a finance major. He’s about using his hoop skills to get a college education. He’s about loyalty to the school he signed on with originally.

Now Morton’s starting — and shining. He’s already had great performances against some of the top programs in the country this season. Purdue is undefeated and he is one of the big reasons why.

Ethan Morton is one of those guys who refused the transfer portal. He stuck with the same team, the same coach and his same academic goals.

Good for him.

Slippery Rock University football used the transfer portal to retool a defense in 2022 that graduated several starters the spring before. The Rock reached the Division II playoffs for the fourth straight year as a result.

That move paid off. Good for them.

The transfer portal has its place in collegiate athletics. It just shouldn’t be abused.

In some cases — like Ethan Morton’s — it should be refused.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle