Two-way contracts in college basketball? One mid-major coach’s bold idea to adapt to transfer portal chaos By Matt Norlander Apr 23, 2025 at 3:15 pm ET • 5 min read Getty Images

The transfer portal deadline hit at midnight ET Wednesday, ending the liveliest and most congested transfer cycle in college basketball history. In an effort to be creative in the ever-changing landscape of college sports, Killings is trying to improve his team while also using a moneyball-type approach to bring a little more stability to power-conference programs, in addition to his own.

Developing players to return to power-conference teams

Here’s the idea: Many high-major schools wind up with players that, for whatever reasons, aren’t prepared to play at that level when they get there. (Sometimes, the player and the coaching staff only realize this after the fact.) Instead of sticking around for four years to develop, most of these players now leave after one season if things don’t go the way they hoped. 

The self-aware guys who bounce typically transfer down to a level much more suited to their skill sets. Well, instead of doing what many other coaches have been doing — contributing to therapy-session text chains daily or making grousing phone calls to fellow coaches for the past month — Albany coach Dwayne Killings has been brainstorming one potential workaround: two-way contracts.

Well, sort of. 

Isaac Trotter

Similar to two-way deals in the pros, with players fluctuating between G League and NBA rosters, Killings wants to turn his America East program into a developmental system for high-majors. Read more about it here.