I kind of disagree here. With Grace and Goose coming back and Walz on board, we had one more spot available, which was fine to hold for the portal. We ended up having three spots because Sal and Isaiah left.
What if Grace and Goose had not wanted to come back? Assuming Sal and Isaiah still left, then we would have been trying to get five guys from the portal, and I don't think Mooney would have wanted to have to tap the portal that hard. Pretty sure he would have put more effort into recruiting high schoolers for 2020 if he knew he had a minimum of three more spots in addition to Walz, plus potential transfers out.
Now, Grace and Goose might not have known before the season was over whether they wanted to come back, and that's fine, but it's odd to me that Mooney presents it as if the topic was never broached until March. Could be true, but if it was me, I would have been simply raising the topic with the guys the previous summer...
"Hey, no need to decide for sure right now, but just wondering if you've given any thought to whether you want to use your extra year with us or not. If not, we'd love to be able to recruit some new guys to fill out the roster. If so, great, we'd love to have you. If you're unsure, that's cool too...we'll chat again later in the season, but let me know at any point if you and your family start having any thoughts on it."