College basketball transfer portal team rankings: Hunter Dickinson … – 247Sports

With just two scholarship players slated to return from last year’s team (and Kevin McCullar‘s NBA decision pending), Kansas needed to make major noise in the transfer portal to keep up as a national championship contender. And with the No. 1 class in 247Sports’ updated transfer portal rankings, the Jayhawks have done just that.
Kansas has breadth of transfers, landing four players, three of which are ranked in the top 40 players. But the biggest step came when Michigan center Hunter Dickinson, the No. 1 player in the portal rankings, picked the Jayhawks. Dickinson averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game for the Wolverines last year, and he could be in line for even bigger numbers on a team and with a roster designed to play around him.
But that didn’t happen in a vacuum. The Big 12 as a whole is a transfer winner, with three of the top-5 transfer classes and five of the top-10 classes belonging to Kansas’ Big 12 rivals.
Get the latest football and basketball transfer portal news from 247Sports.
Here’s a look at the top 10 transfer classes after the rankings updates:
The Jayhawks move into the top spot after a strong run in the transfer portal that included landing the Dickinson, the No. 1 player in the portal. Transfers aren’t typically immediately as good at their new homes as they were as their old spots, but Dickinson could be an exception, as he joins a coach in Bill Self who is among the nation’s best at creating chances for his big men. Dickinson is a two-time first-team All-Big Ten player, and earned consensus second-team All-America honors earlier in his career. Getting Nick Timberlake, who averaged 17.7 points per game and hit 233 career 3-pointers at Towson as a floor-spacer, looks like a great pairing. And then there’s Texas transfer Arterio Morris, a former five-star prospect with athleticism who shot the ball well down the stretch of his freshman year. Timberlake and Morris are the Nos. 30 and 37 overall transfers. Getting Parker Braun, older brother of former Jayhawk Christian Braun, from Santa Clara adds a depth piece at the 4/5.
Five transfers are headed to Morgantown, including one of the top scorers, top centers and top point guards in the portal. Syracuse big man Jesse Edwards is the No. 3 transfer center and the No. 4 transfer player overall, someone who can make an impact at both ends and allow Tre Mitchell to stick at the four. Montana State wing RaeQuan Battle put up 17.7 points per game last year and is the No. 36 overall transfer. It’d be hard to find a point guard more battle-tested than Arizona’s Kerr Kriisa, the No. 51 transfer. Manhattan transfers Jose Perez (No. 130) and Omar Silverio (No. 158) add pop to the wings as well. Perez averaged 18.9 points per game at Manhattan in 2021-22, while Silverio had a nice shooting year at Hofstra in 2021-22 before neither player saw action this past year.
The Razorbacks don’t have a top-5 transfer like the two previous schools, but Arkansas does have two of the top 25 in Temple transfer Khalif Battle (No. 20) and Houston guard Tramon Mark (No. 23). Battle is a big-time scorer who’s done much of his damage as a sixth man; he’s averaged almost 18 points per game over the last three years while starting 19 of the 45 games he played in. Mark is a winner who fills in whatever blanks his team needs to win. Washington guard Keyon Menifield just missed landing a top-50 transfer spot, at No. 52, while Louisville guard El Ellis sits at No. 67. Cincinnati transfer Jeremiah Davenport is a 6-foot-7 combination 3/4 who has had some interesting shooting flashes over the last three years.
Look out for Rick Pitino. The new Red Storm coach inherited a talented big man in Joel Soriano and set himself to turning around the roster around him. Nine transfers later, Pitino has the kind of team that could contend for top-25 positioning at some point. Penn transfer Jordan Dingle (No. 14) provides a terrific running mate for Soriano, UMass wing RJ Luis (No. 53) averaged 11.5 points per game as a freshman this past year and Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor (No. 105) provides Soriano cover. Daniss Jenkins (No. 66) leads four transfers who followed Pitino from Iona to St. John’s, joining Cruz Davis, Quinn Slazinski and Sadiku Ayo. Glenn Taylor Jr. (No. 96) arrives from Oregon State, where he averaged 11.6 points per game, while Nahiem Alleyne is a nice outside shooting piece who is a career 37.0% 3-point shooter across time at Virginia Tech and UConn.
The Longhorns losing both freshman recruits made this transfer class that much more important. Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas is the No. 9 transfer, and might be ranked too low at that spot. He’s the best scorer in the portal and a high-level shooter who can get his shot whenever he wants. Even with defenses knowing his importance, he’s still averaged at least 21.9 points and made at least 100 3-pointers in each of the last three years. Virginia center Kadin Shedrick (No. 22) is a by-rate wonder who will make the most of his minutes next to or behind Dylan Disu. Texas-Arlington guard Chendall Weaver shot the ball well as a freshman (40.2% from 3) and adds depth and a player to develop for the future. UTEP’s Ze’Rik Onyema is likely a frontcourt depth piece, and he also has multiple years left, should he choose to use them.
The Bulldogs had a massive hole at center when Drew Timme announced he wouldn’t utilize his extra COVID-19 season, a hole that got significantly smaller with the addition of Wyoming’s Graham Ike (No. 21). Ike averaged 17.3 points and 9.6 rebounds two years ago when he earned a first-team All-Mountain West nod, and he sat out last year, taking a medical redshirt after suffering a leg injury in the preseason. He could thrive with the looks that Mark Few’s Bulldogs generate. But Ike wasn’t the highest-ranked transfer to pick Gonzaga; that would be Creighton point guard Ryan Nembhard (No. 10). The Bulldogs were ultimately undone last year because they struggled to replace Andrew Nembhard’s impact at point guard, while Ryan, Andrew’s younger brother, can supply some of those same traits as the No. 2 point guard in the portal. And Eastern Washingon’s Steele Venters (No. 61) seems like a typical Gonzaga shooting wing with good size — at 6-foot-7, he made 164 3-pointers at 40.2% a pop over the last two seasons.
New Ole Miss coach Chris Beard can coach elite defense. And he went out to make sure that his Rebels would have a backbone in the paint, landing elite shot-blockers Moussa Cisse (No. 104, Oklahoma State) and Jamarion Sharp (No. 134, Western Kentucky). Cisse had a top-20 block rate in each of the last two seasons, helping Oklahoma State to top-12 defenses both years. At 7-foot-5, Sharp has ranked in the nation’s top two in block rate the last two years. But the more highly-ranked transfers will plug into the Ole Miss backcourt with Georgetown’s Brandon Murray (No. 12) and Arizona State’s Austin Nunez supplying scoring and creativity that could come in handy. Murray could also be an all-SEC type defender from the word ‘go.’
Losing Edwards to West Virginia stings. But first-year coach Adrian Autry has done a nice job filling things out in the portal, including high-potential additions like JJ Starling and Chance Westry on the wings. Starling, the No. 5 overall transfer and a former five-star prospect, is particularly interesting after averaging 11.2 points per game as a freshman at Notre Dame. Westry (No. 75) is a former top-50 prospect who could supply a nice running mate for Starling after transferring in from Auburn. Syracuse also landed a center with extensive ACC experience in Florida State’s Naheem McLeod, a 7-foot-4 pivot with 16 starts over the last two seasons. He blocked 3.6 shots per 40 minutes last year. Kansas transfer Kyle Cuffe is a big-time athlete, though his game needs continued polishing.
The Horned Frogs fared well in the transfer portal overall, but their biggest get was bringing in Delaware guard Jameer Nelson Jr. (No. 8 overall) as a like-for-like replacement for departed scoring guard Mike Miles Jr. Nelson scored 20.6 points and added 3.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game last year. Avery Anderson III (No. 102) has 80 career starts in the Big 12 at Oklahoma State; the Horned Frogs know what they’re getting there. Trevion Tennyson made 100 3-pointers at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last year, when he shot 40.2% from deep and 89% from the free throw line. And Essam Mostafa was a 6-foot-9, 250-pound double-double machine at Coastal Carolina, where he produced 12.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last year.
The Sooners have a sneaky-good class that perhaps shouldn’t be so sneaky. Javian McCollum is the headliner, coming in at No. 11 in the most recent transfer portal rankings. The Siena guard could plug-and-play as one of Oklahoma’s best players from the word ‘go.’ Pittsburgh transfer John Hughley (No. 76) represents a classic big swing; Hughley struggled last year but he basically averaged a 15-8 two years ago. If he plays at that level, Oklahoma could reach the NCAA Tournament. Oregon’s Rivaldo Soares could be a candidate to win a starting spot at the four after the Sooners lost Jalen Hill, though he’s more traditionally played the 2/3. And Utah Valley’s Le’Tre Darthard is a sweet shooter who is a career 37.8% 3-point shooter and 85.7% free throw shooter.
Expect Oklahoma to continue to look for options at the four.
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