Who's left in the transfer pool?
Mosley, Brooks settle on schools, leaving few remaining impact players; plus, Best Bets for 2023 futures
One of the biggest names remaining in college basketball’s transfer portal made a decision Monday, which means anyone who had Emoni Bates or Pete Nance in their transfer survivor pool is feeling pretty good about now.
What? You guys aren’t in transfer survivor pools? I thought you were fans…
Let’s get to the news.
STARTING FIVE
1. Missouri gets Isiaih Mosley
Maybe Mizzou can be a basketball school again.
Mosley isn’t just one of the best remaining transfers, he was one of the top transfers, period. The Mo Valley Player of the Year averaged 20.4 points and 6.2 rebounds last season for Missouri State and was a 50-40-90 shooter. He’d drawn interest from several programs and reportedly settled on Mizzou over Mississippi State.
Are the Tigers an odd choice? It depends on what Mosley’s after.
Many thought Mosley was likely to stay in the NBA Draft, but this gives him an opportunity for more TV exposure, and to shine against NBA-caliber players. Expect new coach Missouri Dennis Gates to build his offense around the 6-5 senior, who was a ball-dominant scorer for the Bears.
In the end, the move may be more important for Missouri, which hasn’t had a player like this since Michael Porter Jr. committed in 2017. If Mosley flourishes, it’ll help Gates rebuild the program’s public perception in a significant way.
2. Keion Brooks goes West
Washington upgraded its roster through the transfer portal, landing probable starters Franck Kepnang (Oregon) and Noah Williams (Washington State), but their most notable addition came Monday in the form of Kentucky forward Keion Brooks.
Brooks averaged 10.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and shot 49% from the field while starting all 33 games for the ‘Cats. But given his struggles from deep (he hit just 23% of his 3s on 30 attempts), he wasn’t viewed as an impact transfer.
Seems a bit much to me.
Brooks is long, bouncy and while he can’t stretch the floor, he still scored 15 or more points eight times last season and hit double figures in 33 of 80 games at Kentucky. There’s no reason he can’t lead the Huskies in scoring — to say nothing of his value in a 2-3 zone.
3. Who’s left in the portal?
Per Evan Miya, there are roughly 640 transfers still in the portal.
But with Mosley and Brooks committed to new programs, there are only a handful of impact transfer remaining: Courtney Ramey, Pete Nance, Emoni Bates and Jacob Grandison the best among them. (Some would also say Keyontae Johnson and Joey Baker, but Johnson essentially hasn’t played since 2020 and Baker’s been buried on the Duke depth chart.)
Ramey is reportedly choosing between Arizona and West Virginia (given how active the Mountaineers have been in the portal, playing opposite Kerr Kriisa seems like the move), while Bates has been linked to Louisville for quite some time. North Carolina has been targeting Pete Nance since before the NBA combine, and it’s too early to know where Grandison will land.
4. John Calipari’s got a bad feeling about this
Here’s a transfer portal example: Oscar Tshiebwe spent two years at West Virginia, transferred to Kentucky for the 2021-22 season and promptly grabbed every rebound in sight, led the ‘Cats to a 26-8 record and claimed NPOY honors.
If you’re John Calipari, that’s an ideal transfer. But the current transfer portal where players are at a school, transfer, then transfer again without sitting? He doesn’t like where that’s headed.
“We have to guard against mid-year transfers, that will be the next thing,” Calipari said. “A kid transfers at mid-year and tries to play right away. What if he transfers within the first three weeks? He plays three games and now he’s playing against you. What’s stopping them?”
Nearly 1,700 players entered the portal this year. It does need refining. But is Cal exaggerating a bit to make a point? Yes. But he’s doing that to emphasize the need to reinstate some sort of waiting period, whether it’s the original one-year wait (barring hardship exemption) or something else if a player wants to transfer multiple times.
5. Florida State adds length (again)
Leonard Hamilton secured a commitment Monday from Baba Miller, a 6-11 forward with a 7-2 wingspan. Who could’ve guessed that the Noles would add a long, athletic player?
Smith, 18, has played for Real Madrid since he was 12, and is considered one of the top international prospects in the class of 2022. He averaged 11.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and shot 50 percent from beyond the arc as U18 Spain went unbeaten in the FIBA European Challengers.
He’ll have a great chance to start immediately for FSU, which is coming off an injury-plagued 17-14 season.
BEST BETS
Smart plays for the 2023 NCAA Tournament
You can't predict the future, but you can bet on it, so here’s some advice on who to fade vs. who to tail in college hoops, writes Greg Waddell.
Here are few picks to win the 2022-2023 National Championship. Some caught my eye in a good way and a bad way. As always, odds are brought to you by our partners at BetRivers.
Best Value — Contender: Baylor +2000
I'm buying all Baylor stock. Yes, they lose Kendall Brown and Jeremy Sochan to the NBA, along with Matthew Mayer to Illinois. But there were a ton of mouths to feed last year and it wasn't always the smoothest fit. There are still plenty of riches in Waco, from Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer and Keyonte George in the backcourt, to Flo Thamba, Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Caleb Lohner in the frontcourt. Valued as the 10th most likely champ on the board, that feels like a floor and not a ceiling.
Best Value — Top 25: Illinois +5000
Illinois is arguably the biggest winner of the portal, with Terrence Shannon and Matthew Mayer taking their talents to Champaign. I'd argue at the 2/3/4 positions, the Illini have the country’s strongest roster with Shannon, Mayer, Coleman Hawkins, breakout candidates RJ Melendez and Luke Goode and freshman Ty Rodgers. There are questions with the Illini — most importantly, what about point guard and center? But Brad Underwood will have a ton of positional flexibility and there's worse things than relying on a 5-star recruit (Skyy Clark) to run the show. Valued as the 20th most likely champ on the board and tied for the 3rd best Big Ten team with Purdue. That seems like a massive undersell.
Best Value — Long Shot: Florida +7000
I jumped on Florida at nearly double these odds when Todd Golden was first hired, and I get the sense this won't be the last time the Gators rise. With Colin Castleton returning to anchor the frontcourt and Myreon Jones in the backcourt, the Gators just need their incoming transfers to be impact players. The good news is, I think Kyle Lofton, Will Richard and Alex Fudge can do just that. This is worth a sprinkle just in case The Golden Boy really works some magic in Year One.
Worst Value — Contender: Kansas +1100
Kansas is valued as the third most likely champ, right in line with Houston and Gonzaga, whose rosters are significantly ahead of Bill Self’s group. The Jayhawks are getting the Natty Boost, which they've earned … but count me skeptical that a team whose two best players are Kevin McCullar and Jalen Wilson can win six straight games in March. A slight decline for Kansas seems likely, but a slight decline for Bill Self just means they'll clinch the Big 12 title on the last day of the regular season instead of two weeks prior.
Worst Value — Top 25: Michigan +2500
The Wolverines valued as the 12th most likely champ (in a tier of their own specific to the Big Ten) baffles me. Hunter Dickinson is back, but the rest of the offseason has been a miss. Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewelyn will be asked to do too much in year one, and there's still massive question marks at the 2, 3 and 4 positions. Are Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard, and Terrance Williams really ready for 30 minute roles? That doesn't sound like a roster ready to win a Big Ten championship, let alone a national championship.
Follow Greg Waddell on Twitter, and find more of his betting tips and takes here.
PREVIEWING THE NBA DRAFT
Mr. 3-and-D (and more)
Ochai Agbaji’s senior season for the ages — All-American, Big 12 Player of the Year and tourney MVP, MOP at the Final Four and national champion — was possible because he went through the 2021 NBA Draft evaluation and spent the summer and fall working on his game (to go with some physical gifts as well).
Now, he’s a likely lottery pick. Randolph Childress and Jeff Goodman think he’s a a perfect 3-and-D player for a team because of his size (6-5), wingspan (6-10) and athletic ability (39-inch vertical) that pairs with his outside shooting stroke (41% from beyond the arc last season).
All that’s great, but you ask me, Agbaji could be even better than just a 3-and-D guy.
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COACH K, UNFILTERED
Mike Krzyzewski is pissed
Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski may be retired, but he still has a show on SiriusXM. And he’s not just filling air.
In a town hall segment that was recently taped and will air Friday, Coach K spoke about recent mass shootings and lit into politicians who aren’t taking action to prevent tragedies like at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and the grocery store in Buffalo.
The Durham Herald-Sun grabbed the quotes:
“You shouldn’t vote for the party, you should vote for the people that you serve. And you should have the guts, the courage, and it’s your duty. It’s your duty to do that. We are not doing that duty at the national level when our country is suffering greatly from it.
“The people that are suffering are people that need you. Like, why don’t you? Come on. You know? What the hell are we doing? You know, we’re not taking care of our people. And we can go into the guns. Like, you need an automatic weapon? You gotta be kidding me. You got to be kidding me. It’s disgusting.
“For us to see these kids get killed, members of our African American community get killed in a grocery store, members of our Jewish community getting killed in a synagogue (in a 2018 Pittsburgh shooting). Come on. That’s not right. That’s not right. That’s not right. I mean it’s amazingly wrong. It’s amazingly wrong. And you should be ashamed of yourself, if you are in a position of power.”
This isn’t the first time Krzyzewski spoke publicly about the need for politicians to do more. In January 2021, he expressed disbelief and disgust at the actions of those involved in the Capitol riots on January 6.
Everyone who was involved, they should be prosecuted. And our leaders, our politicians who spoke up in support of that, should be chastised. There’s no question about it. This is not about being a Republican or a Democrat, it’s about being a damn American.
The Fast Break
Links as you prepare for life without a smartphone.
New Gonzaga guard Malachi Smith had almost as many shot attempts at the rim (120) last season as Chet Holmgren (135).
Roy Williams is living his best life.
Maryland picked up 4-star guard Jahnathan Lamothe, a 2023 commit.
Sy Chatman is off to Buffalo. He averaged 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds for Illinois State last season.
Kenny Payne let it be known that he wanted Josh Heird as his new boss. (H/T: Mark Ennis)
Mississippi Valley State tabbed Hakim McClellan as its new AD.
Lindenwood named Jason Coomer as its new Athletic Director. Well, technically as its new V.P. for Intercollegiate Athletics.
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