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College basketball transfer portal: Scouting the best prospects so far – 247Sports
The transfer portal has been open less than 10 days we’ve already got roughly 1,000 names in the mix. Just as we did last week, we’ll continue to breakdown some of the top prospects to enter the portal (which will otherwise be referred to as “free agency” moving forward).
So far this week, we’ve seen defensive wings like Kobe Johnson, Micah Peavy and Otega Oweh enter from USC, TCU and Oklahoma, respectively. Also, an elite mid-major scorer in Saint Thomas, an ascending mid-major freshman in Kevin Overton and several noteworthy guards — including Malik Mack from Harvard and Jamal Mashburn from New Mexico — have jumped into free agency.
RELATED: College Basketball Transfer Portal: Updated Top 25 rankings for 2024
Here’s a rundown of exactly what they bring on the floor.
Kobe Johnson is a 3-year player and 2-year starter at USC, who has differentiated himself on the defensive end of the floor. The 6-foot-6 wing is a 2-time member of the Pac-12’s All-Defensive team. He has very good metrics on that end, with 3 stocks (steals + blocks) per game, a 4% steal rate and 2.9% block rate. Beyond that, he also has a combination of perimeter size, lateral mobility and length that allows him to be positionally versatile.
Offensively, Johnson provides a heady wing and good passer who averaged 3.3 assists per game this year. His shooting numbers were the biggest concerns as he knocked down just 31% from 3, with an average of over 4 attempts per game. Mechanically, though, his shot appears clean and repeatable. He’s also a career 79% free-throw shooter, who made 36% from behind the arc as a sophomore. So, there are reasons to be optimistic about his shooting potential. He is also a good wing rebounder who has averaged nearly 5 boards per game in each of the last two seasons.
Overall, he’s a two-way asset, who can be a defensive standout and valuable complimentary piece on the offensive end — particularly if he’s making spot-up shots. Johnson is the younger brother of Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson.
Micah Peavy was a freshman starter at Texas Tech before transferring to TCU for the next three seasons. He played heavy rotation minutes as a sophomore and junior, before cracking the starting line-up as a senior. He went on to average 10.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals a game as a starter. TCU went to the NCAA tournament in all three seasons he was in the program.
Peavy is defensive standout. He was TCU’s best on-ball defender and extremely versatile, showing switch-ability throughout the line-up. He plays with a super high motor, competes to the fullest on every possession and has good wing size. This would allow him to slide up the line-up and play some hybrid four (although that rarely happened this year with Emanuel Miller in that spot).
Offensively, he’s at his best when he can get downhill to his dominant right side. He converted 59% of his attempts around the rim this year (which is actually a career low percentage, per Pivot Analysis), but that came as a consequence of expanding his game. The key variable for Peavy’s growth remains his outside shooting. He came into college as a non-shooter, but improved to the point where he was at least capable with room and rhythm this year. If he can become a more consistent outside shooting and continue to develop his overall feel, then we could see him take a big leap next year.
Coming out of high school, Otega Oweh was known as a strong and athletic wing who could attack downhill and had the tools to evolve into an impactful defender. Both of those things have proven to be true during his two years at Oklahoma. He started 9 of 28 games as a freshman, averaging almost 5 points in 13 minutes per night. This year as a sophomore, he started 28 of 32, played roughly 25 minutes per game and averaged 11 points, nearly 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1.5 steals. He pushed those totals to 15 points per game in league play.
What was unexpected, though, was the progression of his shooting (albeit in a very limited sample size). Oweh made just one three-pointer his entire freshman season. This year he made 20 while shooting 38% from behind the arc. The shooting is still a big variable in his game, but he’s progressed enough so that opposing defenses can’t leave him totally unchecked from behind the 3-point line.
Oweh is still at his best getting downhill, playing through contact and finishing above the rim. The extent to which he can force opposing defenders to close-out on him, only opens up those opportunities. Defensively, his size and strength make him impactful on and off the ball as well as versatile and capable of guarding multiple positions.
After two seasons at Loyola Chicago and open struggles with his mental health, Saint Thomas transferred to Northern Colorado where he became one of the breakout players in the country. He averaged 19.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 47% from the floor, 33% from behind the arc and 87% from the free-throw line.
Thomas became more and more of a focal point for the Bears as the season progressed. Eventually, he earned the ultimate green light. At 6-foot-7, he’s a mismatch problem because he’s physically strong and able to score at all 3-ranges. Just a career 25% 3-point shooter in two-years at Loyola, he undoubtedly benefitted from high volume at NCU. He knocked down 2 of his 6.2 attempts per game with relatively clean mechanics when his feet were set and he was able to hop into his release. He puts the ball on the floor with a deliberate, methodical style, but he seeks out contact and is crafty in the lane. He’s also adept at scoring over top of smaller defenders, both from the mid-range area and in the mid-post. Thomas is a heady cutter off the ball and capable passer, albeit often in an iso style way and with a high turnover rate (3/game).
His ability to adjust to less offensive volume and freedom will be important, as too will be his work on the defensive end of the floor. He’s probably going to have an easier time defending fours than threes, but he’s plenty strong enough to do so. Also, he’s a high-volume rebounder. It’s worth noting that while he was instrumental to Northern Colorado’s 19-win season, they were actually a better defensive team with him off the floor, per Pivot Analysis.
Kevin Overton looked like a late steal for Drake at the tail end of his prep season at Sunrise Christian Academy. The southpaw showed a combination of positional size, playmaking and scoring. He lived up to that billing early by scoring 15 or more points in four of his first five games for Drake. He went on to start all 35 games and put up 11 points, 3 rebounds and one assist per game as a freshman for a team that won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship.
Overton adapted to less volume and was relatively efficient because of it. He’s a true 3-range scoring threat who was particularly comfortable in the mid-range area in the prep ranks. Yet, he attempted just 26% of his total shots from that range this year, per Pivot Analysis. Instead, 59% of his shots came from behind the arc, where he knocked down 35% of them, showing flashes of shooting on the move and from deep range with a compact release. He was also an extremely efficient finisher at the rim for a guard, converting 62% of his attempts. His total offensive metrics were in the 91st percentile this year, per Synergy Sports.
Conversely, he ranked in just the 28-percentile on the defensive end of the floor. Although he should possess all the physical markers — including good positional size — to be effective on that end.
Malik Mack exceeded all expectations in his freshman season at Harvard, averaging 17.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4 rebounds per game. He shined the most during the first month of the season, scoring 18 or more points in six of Harvard’s first 8 games. This includes a 32-point outburst against UMass, a 27-point performance against Indiana and 26-point outing against American. While he wasn’t able to sustain quite the same levels of productivity or efficiency in the months to follow, he still established himself as one of the top guards in the Ivy League as just a freshman.
Coming out of high school, Mack was known as an undersized and lean combo-guard who played with a scoring mentality. He attacked with good pace, got downhill given a runway and had a lot of shake off the dribble. He was crafty in the lane and could finish with runners. He was a capable shooter, but had some subtle inconsistencies in his release — including an occasional side-flick. Defensively, he had the quickness to be a pest.
At Harvard, his combination of pace and craft was a big part of his attack. He made nice strides with his ability to make plays for others while in attack mode and he shot the ball at a level consistent with what we saw in high school (35% on 5.5 3-point attempts per game). Physically, his lack of size gave him some problems finishing at the rim, where he converted 49% of his attempts per Pivot Analysis. Defensively, there were no red flags in his metrics. Although, his lack of size will be something opposing teams target more frequently at higher levels.
Jamal Mashburn Jr., the son and namesake of the former Kentucky star and NBA all-star, began his career with Richard Pitino at Minnesota and then followed him to New Mexico where he’s been a 3-year starter. Mashburn averaged 18.2 points per game as a sophomore and 19.1 as a junior, but saw that number drop to just 14.1 this year as a senior, as did his minutes and shooting percentages.
While Mashburn saw slightly less volume this year, he was still a featured threat, ranking second overall on the team in both usage rate and percentage of total shots. Even as he struggled with his efficiency this year, he was also still the most versatile scoring threat in the Lobos’ rotation and a true 3-range threat. He attempted 28% of his total shots at the rim this year, but only made 42%, illustrating his struggles to finish in traffic with somewhat limited size and athleticism. He thrived when he was able to use his compact and sturdy frame to draw contact and get to the free-throw line where he converted nearly 85%. His mid-range game, which was the biggest component of his arsenal as a junior with various pull-ups and step-backs, went from 49% of his total offense to 37%. Also, he made just 35% of those attempts. His 3-point shooting dipped most of all, dropping from 39% to 33%. His turnover rate was also problematic this year — especially during league play when it jumped to over 12%.
The hope going into the season was that the seemingly more weapons would benefit Mashburn by taking the focus off him from opposing scouting reports. While that may have been true, the biggest take-away from the year is that he seems to be a player (and specifically a shooter) who needs significant volume to be at his best.
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