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College basketball transfer portal: Kentucky headlines teams that … – 247Sports
Recently-fired Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith likes to use the slogan “divorce is good sometimes” after a player leaves his program for one reason or another. But that’s just not true. One side always wins the split. The same goes for the college basketball transfer portal to varying degrees.
In the player-empowerment era, we hear a lot of the same “I need to find the best fit for me” quotes after guys enter the transfer portal. Mid-major stars who transferred up to the Power Six level make so much sense and their respective teams obviously miss them like crazy. But there are plenty of examples where the team ends up being in a good place despite losing a really big piece.
Iowa State looked destined for the Big 12 basement after star guard Tyrese Hunter transferred to hated Texas. T.J. Otzelberger must not have gotten that memo. After Tuesday’s 80-76 win over No. 5 Kansas State, the Cyclones are tied atop the Big 12 standings with … Hunter and Texas. Ironic isn’t it? Brandon Huntley-Hatfield was one of the top-rated players in the 2022 transfer portal cycle, but No. 4 Tennessee has been terrific without him. Huntley-Hatfield transferred from one of college basketball’s best teams to Louisville, one of the worst teams in the Power Six.
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However, not every team was as lucky as Iowa State and Tennessee. Plenty of programs could really use a player who transferred away ahead of the 2022-23 campaign because divorce actually stinks sometimes.
Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves has been a really good addition for Kentucky this season, but it’s clear that the Wildcats lost more than they gained in the transfer portal. Keion Brooks Jr. is putting up numbers at Washington, but Kentucky probably won’t lose too much sleep over Brooks’ exit. Jacob Toppin and Brooks do some of the same things well, so that was clearly a logjam at the power-forward spot.
But Bryce Hopkins exiting Kentucky for Providence could haunt John Calipari if the Wildcats aren’t able to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Hopkins has passed every test with flying colors this season. The big-bodied forward is a matchup nightmare who can create his own offense in a hurry. Providence believes it has the Big East Player of the Year in Hopkins, and his numbers back it up. Hopkins is averaging 16.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this season. Obviously, he’d have different stats if he was sharing the rock with Oscar Tshiebwe, Cason Wallace and Co., but there’s no doubt that Hopkins would’ve been a major difference-maker for Kentucky and given Calipari some fantastic lineup versatility. Every talent-laden roster is going to have some attrition, but Kentucky just can’t let a talent like Hopkins walk out the door.
This isn’t fantasy basketball. You can’t take Terrence Shannon Jr.’s gaudy 18.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and immediately plop it into Texas Tech’s stat sheet. But a powerful, explosive wing like Shannon would completely change the trajectory of this Texas Tech squad. Losing Shannon to Illinois stung at the moment and looks even worse now that Shannon has elevated his game to a completely new level. Kevin McCullar leaving Texas Tech for Kansas got a whole lot more buzz, but Shannon was always the biggest loss. A Texas Tech team with McCullar and Shannon on the roster is one of the Big 12’s best and a legit Final Four contender.
Tom Izzo’s brazen refusal to look at the transfer portal was one of the big talking points all preseason. But it’s who Michigan State lost to the transfer portal that might be even more impactful on the Spartans’ 2022-23 outlook. Productive big man Julius Marble transferred to Texas A&M in search of a bigger role (which he might have had at Michigan State if chose to stick around), and he’s been one of the best big men in the SEC during league play. Texas A&M is off to a 5-1 start in the SEC, and Marble is averaging 15 points per game during that six-game stanza. Marble would be Michigan State’s best back-to-the-basket scorer right now and bolster a thin Spartans roster.
Let’s revisit Michigan’s timeline with point guard Frankie Collins:
March 17, 2022: Collins steps in for injured senior point guard DeVante’ Jones and shines in the first-round win over Colorado State in the NCAA Tournament. Collins scores 14 points, rips down six rebounds, dishes two dimes and pokes away a steal. Juwan Howard praises Collins’ mental toughness and preparation in the postgame press conference.
March 19, 2022: Collins plays 30 minutes to help Michigan upset Tennessee and earn a Sweet 16 berth.
April 12, 2022: Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn commits to Clemson.
April 19, 2022: Jones gushes over Collins and says he is going to “take care of Michigan for years to come.”
April 19, 2022: Llewellyn decommits from Clemson.
April 25, 2022: Llewellyn visits Michigan.
April 29, 2022: Llewellyn commits to Michigan.
April 30, 2022: Collins enters transfer portal.
May 4, 2022: Collins commits to Arizona State.
Are we all caught up now? Fast-forward to January, and Collins has taken the Year 2 jump Jones predicted – just this time it’s at Arizona State, not Michigan. Collins is averaging 10.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Michigan wanted to have Llewellyn, Collins, sophomore Kobe Bufkin, freshman Dug McDaniel and freshman Jett Howard form one of college basketball’s deepest backcourts. But Llewellyn started slow and suffered a season-ending injury, McDaniel has been up-and-down and now Howard is down with an ankle injury. Michigan’s guard depth went from a major strength to a big concern in a heartbeat.
Would Michigan pursue Llewellyn if it knew Collins would immediately leave? I think everybody knows the answer to that question because it’s clear Juwan Howard initially planned on riding with Collins, Llewellyn AND McDaniel and playing multiple lead guards at the same time just like he did the year before with Eli Brooks and Jones.
South Carolina’s timeline in its coaching search ended up really hurting the program in the transfer portal. The Gamecocks made a strong run at former Arizona coach Sean Miller who ended up taking the Xavier job after deliberating. South Carolina did not end up hiring Lamont Paris until March 22. One day later, Erik Stevenson entered the transfer portal. Three days later, Jermaine Couisnard entered the transfer portal. Six days later, Devin Carter entered the transfer portal. That was three of South Carolina’s top-4 scorers in 2021-22. All three of those guys transferred to Power Six programs and been double-digit scorers. Carter might sting the most because he has superstar upside after an All-SEC Freshman Team campaign.
South Carolina’s guard play has left much to be desired, and not having Carter, Couisnard and/or Stevenson is a big reason why the Gamecocks are the worst-rated team in the SEC, according to KenPom. You can’t really blame the players for leaving for something more stable, or Paris for not being able to keep them around. He didn’t have much of a chance to make a well-informed pitch. But South Carolina’s overall talent has clearly taken a big step back.
Oklahoma quietly had a really tough offseason. Losing guys like Umoja Gibson (transferred to DePaul) and Elijah Harkless (transferred to UNLV) might not have dominated headlines, but the Sooners’ lack of bucket-getters is jarring. Maybe Oklahoma doesn’t get star Nevada transfer Grant Sherfield if Gibson and Harkless are still in the fold, but it’s painfully obvious that Oklahoma does not have enough guys who can go break down a defense and get a bucket against some of the country’s best defenses. There’s so much pressure on Sherfield to score every single night, and when the entire defensive gameplan is centered around shutting him down, the Sooners do not have enough counters. If Oklahoma coach Porter Moser was able to keep just one of Gibson or Harkless around, the Sooners’ floor raises dramatically.
Change is inevitable when there is a coaching change. When Mike White left for Georgia, new Florida coach Todd Golden came in and was successfully able to sell his vision to proven rotation players like Colin Castleton, Kowacie Reeves and Myreon Jones. But Golden wasn’t so lucky with Tyree Appleby. The 6-foot-1 guard transferred to Wake Forest and has become one of the top bucket-getters in the ACC. Appleby is averaging a career-high 17.9 points and 6.0 assists per game. On paper, it looked like Appleby wouldn’t be a huge loss after Florida was able to land top-50 transfer guards like Will Richard and Kyle Lofton. But you have to give Appleby a ton of credit. He’s been way more productive than both Richard and Lofton so far this season. Florida’s offense has been stuck in the mud for long stretches while Appleby is a walking bucket right now.
Oh, Baylor can score. There’s no doubt about that. But the Bears’ defense has slipped significantly. Baylor earned a No. 1 seed last year thanks to a defense that ranked 13th nationally, according to KenPom. This year, Baylor is dead-last in the Big 12 and 92nd nationally in defensive efficiency. Losing switchy, defense-first wings like Jeremy Sochan and Kendall Brown to the NBA was always going to be tough to replace. But losing Matthew Mayer to Illinois is another big reason why Baylor’s defense has tanked.
Baylor doesn’t really need Mayer’s heat-check offense, but it really misses the rim protection Mayer would’ve added. Mayer has become one of Illinois’ best shot blockers despite playing out on the perimeter. Mayer ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 1.35 blocks per game. When he’s locked-in, Mayer is an elite defender thanks to his ball-hunting instincts and great length. Baylor could really use a wing like that.
Baylor transfer Dain Dainja has turned into a really nice piece for Illinois, too, but we’ll give Scott Drew and Co. a pass for that. Dainja has completely revitalized his career thanks to an incredible transformation with his body. He didn’t have a clean path to minutes at Baylor either. But losing Mayer when there was a starting gig and plenty of shots/minutes with his name on it is especially brutal.
A Big Four of Keyonte George, LJ Cryer, Adam Flagler and Matthew Mayer would’ve been nasty.
Nahiem Alleyne transferring to UConn after starting 84 of 90 games for Virginia Tech over three seasons didn’t pass the smell test. You could make a case that both the player and the team lost. When healthy, Virginia Tech was 11-1 but it didn’t have the depth to sustain an injury to Hunter Cattoor and a seven-game losing streak came out of nowhere. It could’ve really used Alleyne’s scoring punch.
Statistically, Alleyne is on pace for career-low numbers across the board at UConn. Alleyne started the first eight games for the Huskies, but he’s fallen out of the lineup and his rotation spot is tenuous at best. Alleyne has played less than 15 minutes in seven games in a row.
He could probably really use the minutes Virginia Tech could’ve provided, and Virginia Tech would likely be a lot better with Alleyne in the rotation.
Hindsight is 20/20 but new Louisville coach Kenny Payne should’ve done everything possible to keep Noah Locke in the program. You can’t blame Locke for entering the transfer portal after Louisville’s coaching change, but it has to sting for the Cardinals to watch the veteran sharpshooter go to Providence and have one of the best years of his career. Locke is averaging a career-high 10.9 points per game while shooting 37.2% from 3-point range on 6.1 attempts per game. Meanwhile, Louisville is mired in the middle of an embarrassing 2-17 season, and it has to play walk-on guards. It didn’t have to be this way…
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