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College basketball transfer portal: Programs with best sells for looming 2023 portal cycle – 247Sports
Selection Sunday is on tap for March 12. 24 hours later, the college basketball transfer portal opens. Many coaches were pleased with the implementation of the 60-day window to enter the transfer portal, but the timing has some squirming.
“I guess I wish that it would start a little later than the day right after Selection Sunday,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood told Fox Sports’ John Fanta. “You would hope you don’t have someone on your team, as you’re heading to the tournament, who is looking at the portal, but I would also be wrong to say that it won’t happen. Somebody who isn’t playing or getting minutes is going to be looking for a new destination. I’ll be shocked if there’s a tournament team not dealing with that, and look, you have to stay on top of transfers at every moment because that’s essential in building a roster.”
Preparing for the transfer portal –– which housed more than 1,700 players in the 2022 cycle –– is a vital piece that staffers throughout the country are already preparing for even in the middle of the season.
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The one-time free transfer rule was adopted in April 2021 which opened the floodgates for student-athletes to move from school to school without sitting out a year. Plenty of programs have built a thick booklet of “hits” from the portal that will undoubtedly be used in the brochure for the next crop of talented transfers. These programs are slated to have a strong sell when the transfer portal opens on March 13.
NC State: Kevin Keatts should not have any issues parlaying the explosions from Jarkel Joiner and DJ Burns to have a very attractive sell in the portal. NC State’s sell gets even better if Terquavion Smith goes to the 2023 NBA Draft as many expect. The Wolfpack will have plenty of available buckets.
Wake Forest: Steve Forbes knows what he’s doing in the transfer portal. Last year, it was Alondes Williams and Jake LaRavia. This year, it’s Tyree Appleby. All three of these guys have come to Wake Forest and improved their NBA Draft stock rapidly. Transfers who can get buckets can find a haven at Wake Forest.
Alabama: Guards can flourish in Nate Oats’ pace-and-space offense. Ohio transfer Mark Sears has had a terrific year. Ex-Texas Tech transfer Nimari Burnett is starting to find his ideal spot at Alabama after some nasty injury luck. Alabama will also be able to sell the success of projected lottery pick Brandon Miller to the portal’s best wings.
Creighton: It was Ryan Hawkins in 2021-22 and then Baylor Scheierman in 2022-23. Creighton’s core of Ryan Nembhard, Trey Alexander, Arthur Kaluma and Ryan Kalkbrenner might not all be back next year, but Greg McDermott and Co. have all they need to reload via the portal.
Kansas: Bill Self has pull in the portal. Kansas landed coveted transfers like Remy Martin and Kevin McCullar in back-to-back cycles, and both guys turned into pivotal role players for awesome teams. If (when?) Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick bounce for the 2023 NBA Draft, KU could be in position to be a major player for the portal’s top talent.
Providence: Ed Cooley has built a beautiful culture at Providence, and the Friars have had multiple transfers come in and immediately have career-best seasons. Al Durham was an afterthought at Indiana and a bucket at Providence. Bryce Hopkins couldn’t get off the bench for Kentucky, and a year later, he’s in the Big East Player of the Year conversation at Providence. South Carolina transfer Devin Carter and Louisville transfer Noah Locke have been reliable starters all season for a Friars club that can advance to the second weekend. Cooley’s transfer portal game plan has smashed for two straight years.
Iowa State: T.J. Otzelberger totally rebuilt Iowa State into a Sweet 16 team with transfers in 2021-22. He’s a new-age coach who has proven in back-to-back seasons that he can find the right guys in the portal to keep the Cyclones extremely competitive.
Arkansas: Eric Musselman is a big-game hunter in the portal. Ricky Council IV was a home run. Trevon Brazile was shaping up to be a grand slam. Musselman is also good at finding reliable role players like Au’Diese Toney and Stanley Umude who helped Arkansas make the Elite 8 last year. Arkansas has made the transfer portal a huge piece of its roster-building formula.
Illinois: A year after Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer splashed 98 3-pointers for Illinois, Brad Underwood is at it again. The Illini’s three leading scorers are all Big 12 transfers. Underwood trusted Matthew Mayer and Terrence Shannon Jr. with the biggest roles of their careers and both wings have responded with career-best seasons. Shannon is a second-team All-Big Ten lock at worst, and Mayer has a strong case for second-team All-Big Ten, too. Baylor transfer Dain Dainja (10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds in his first true season of college basketball) has been a pleasant surprise too. With Shannon, Mayer and Coleman Hawkins likely departing, the Illini have plenty to sell in the transfer portal both on the court and in the NIL waters.
UNLV: UNLV has been a nice landing spot for Power Five transfers like EJ Harkless (Oklahoma), Luis Rodriguez (Ole Miss) and Elijah Parquet (Colorado). There’s no reason that trend can’t continue in 2023.
Maryland: So far this season, Georgetown transfer Don Carey hasn’t given Maryland much. But Patrick Emilien has been solid and Jahmir Young has smashed. The Charlotte transfer has been playing at an All-Big Ten level. Maryland has some interesting stay-or-go conversations that need to happen with starters like Young, Hakim Hart and Donta Scott. If some playing time becomes available, Willard is going to have plenty of good film to show transfers because he’s really elevated Young’s game this year.
New Mexico: Richard Pitino landed studs like Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House out of the transfer portal in the 2021 cycle, and Morris Udeze was a big-time get in the 2022 cycle.
Miami: A combination of LifeWallet’s deep pockets and Jim Larranaga’s beautiful offensive scheme makes Miami a major player. Nijel Pack, Norchad Omier and Jordan Miller are three straight transfers that have flourished in South Beach. If Isaiah Wong leaves for the 2023 NBA Draft, Miami will have an awesome situation for an elite lead guard.
Kansas State: Jerome Tang found some gems out of the transfer portal before what was supposed to be a really rough first year. But playing for Tang and Kansas State should be very attractive after the success of Keyontae Johnson and others.
North Carolina: If UNC underwhelms, do not be surprised if there is some major roster turnover. And if that happens, UNC is going to be a destination for transfers. The enormous success of Brady Manek still holds massive weight and covers up so-so seasons from big-name transfers like Pete Nance and Dawson Garcia.
West Virginia: Erik Stevenson, Tre Mitchell and Joe Toussaint have had really solid seasons for West Virginia. There could be a lot happening behind the scenes with WVU ahead of 2023-24, but as long as Bob Huggins is in charge, West Virginia is going to be able to get dudes from the portal.
Santa Clara: Dropping down from the Power 5 level and balling in a really tough conference like the West Coast Conference has some real benefits. Missouri transfer Parker Braun has turned into a reliable starter for the Broncos, and Illinois transfer Brandin Podziemski has transformed into a legitimate NBA Draft prospect.
UCLA: Just because Mick Cronin wasn’t super active in the transfer portal last year doesn’t mean UCLA doesn’t have the resources to be a major player. Cronin flexed his muscles in the transfer portal by landing Johnny Juzang out of Kentucky ahead of the 2020-21 season. If Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. decide that four years of college is enough for them, UCLA would be a desirable landing spot for bucket-getting and defensive-loving transfers.
Xavier: Sean Miller is one of the best coaches in college basketball, and transfers fall in love with Xavier easily. It won’t be hard for transfers to watch what Souley Boum has done this season for Xavier and imagine themselves doing something similar.
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