The deadline to enter the college basketball transfer portal has finally, mercilessly, passed.
Players had until May 1 to enter, although those whose coaches left for another job were given another 30 days. There are a few marquee players still out there, but mostly, the dust has settled.
GO DEEPER
Ranking the best players in the NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal
Which is why we put out a call for a college basketball mailbag last week. We tried answering as many of your questions as possible … but there were enough to make this a two-part mailbag. We’ll dig into NIL and realignment in our second one; this is strictly a space for hoops:
(Note: Questions have been lightly edited for length and grammar.)
Which 5 teams have the most talent on their roster, and which 5 teams would you rank first in a preseason poll? — Elijah H.
Give me a top five of Kansas, Houston, North Carolina, Baylor and Alabama. The Jayhawks, Cougars and Tar Heels are all stacked with returning star power and quality additions. And let me add a nod to Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide’s staying power: If Bama gets back Mark Sears to go with the return of Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and Grant Nelson — plus the addition of coveted transfers Aden Holloway (Auburn), Chris Youngblood (South Florida) and Cliff Omoruyi (Rutgers) — the Tide are Final Four good again. — Kyle Tucker
In no particular order: Kansas, Baylor, Duke, Alabama, and Iowa State. Kansas would be my early pick for preseason No. 1 because of the ridiculous portal class Bill Self signed, on top of how much talent is returning to Lawrence. Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris Jr., and KJ Adams are all back, but are now bolstered by offseason imports Rylan Griffen (Alabama), AJ Storr (Wisconsin), Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State), and Riley Kugel (Florida). Who does Self start? Baylor and Alabama have also been transfer portal winners so far; Baylor’s duo of Jeremy Roach (Duke) and Norchad Omier (Miami) will fit excellently in Scott Drew’s system, and Alabama’s recent addition of Omoruyi gives Oats another Final Four-caliber squad. Iowa State supplemented its perimeter trio of Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic, and Keshon Gilbert with Saint Mary’s big Joshua Jefferson, one of my favorite under-the-radar adds of the offseason. And lastly, Duke, which has remade its roster this offseason around incoming No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg — who, yes, is really that good. Can Flagg and the rest of Duke’s top-ranked incoming class succeed in the sport’s oldest era? I’m cautiously optimistic. — Brendan Marks
In no particular order? Marks, what a copout! I’ll go, in order, Alabama, Houston, Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas. Alabama has the deepest and best roster if Sears returns. Houston lost Jamal Shead, which is huge, but landed a solid replacement in Milos Uzan, and the Cougars were playing at a top-5 level late in the year without Jojo Tugler and Terrance Arceneaux, who are probably their best two pro prospects.
Did you know that once Gonzaga put Ben Gregg into the starting lineup on Jan. 18 the Zags were the ninth-best team in college hoops, per Bart Torvik? And the Zags lose only one rotational player (Anton Watson), get a healthy Steele Venters (the 2023 Player of the Year in the Big Sky, a league that included some dude named Dalton Knecht) and also added All-WCC wing Michael Ajayi and Arkansas second-leading scorer Khalif Battle. I’m going to buy the Flagg hype, because if he truly is one of the best prospects of the last decade then Duke should be top-5 good. I have some PTSD from being a victim of groupthink and ranking Kansas No. 1 last preseason, but Self does have a deep roster and added some much-needed shooting. And he still is Bill Self. Iowa State, UConn and Tennessee are also in consideration. The other rosters that could be in the top-5 debate include Baylor (for its top-end talent) and Michigan (for its depth). — CJ Moore
Who does better in their first season at their new stop: John Calipari at Arkansas, Mark Pope at Kentucky, Dusty May at Michigan or Josh Schertz at Saint Louis? — Jesse K.
Depends how you define “better.” If it’s compared to what expectations will be, I would lean Schertz. Saint Louis has been ranked in just one of the past 10 seasons — for four weeks. I’ll bet on Schertz surpassing that and making an NCAA Tournament. No one below the major-conference level has had a better portal season than Schertz. He landed two of his former players — Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope — who both could have up-transferred to the high-major level. He convinced Gibson Jimerson, the No. 39 player in our transfer rankings, to stay at SLU. Jimerson, who has made 312 3-pointers in his career, is a great fit in Schertz’s system. That’s three commitments from three top-50 transfers at an Atlantic 10 school, and Schertz also grabbed two players from the high-major level in AJ Casey from Miami and Creighton’s Josiah Dotzler.
Now if “better” means NCAA Tournament success, that’s probably a different answer. I’d lean May but might re-evaluate once Pope finishes his roster. May has landed three top-50 transfers and a fourth top-100 guy in Sam Walters who has a high upside and fits the way he wants to play. I’m interested to see how he makes the Danny Wolf/Vlad Goldin combo work, but both are really good college bigs. The man who might determine if Michigan is the right answer is Roddy Gayle Jr. From a pure talent standpoint, he’s one of the best wings in the portal, but he’s yet to consistently play like it in two years at Ohio State. He’s the one who could take Michigan from a Top-25 team to top 10. But overall, I really like the blend of talent on May’s roster and the fact he convinced Nimari Burnett to return. He gives Michigan a defensive stopper; a starting lineup of Goldin-Wolf-Gayle-Burnett and then either Tre Donaldson or Rubin Jones has awesome positional size, some shooting and defense. And May can bring two big shooters off the bench in Walters and Will Tschetter. — Moore
Can Bill Self keep all those wings happy with so many to play with now? — Chad D.
So here are KU’s perimeter players: Harris., Elmarko Jackson, Kugel, Griffen, Mayo, Storr, Jamari McDowell and Rakease Passmore. At the four, KU has both Adams and Zach Clemence. It’s possible Storr, Griffen and maybe Kugel play some four in smaller lineups, but how many minutes is that a game? Five, maybe? Ten, tops? So that’s approximately 130 minutes for eight players.
The rotational locks, in my mind: Harris, Jackson, Mayo, Griffen, Storr, Adams, Dickinson and at least one of Clemence and Flory Bidunga. It’s rare for Self to play a rotation of more than eight. He’ll probably try with this roster, especially early. But at least two of those perimeter players, maybe even three are getting squeezed out. So, no, it’s doubtful he can keep everyone happy if happiness is tied to playing time. And the other thing to keep in mind…
There’s a second wave of portal season now, and it’s recruiting guys who have already committed to a new team whose roster outlook has completely changed since said commitment. KU already lost incoming freshman Labaron Philon, who committed to Alabama. It could be possible not every wing currently projected for the roster ends up on the Jayhawks, and the most likely to land elsewhere is Kugel. — Moore
Syracuse coach Adrian Autry is trying to rebuild the Orange into a power. (Jamie Rhodes / USA Today)
Can Adrian Autry bring Syracuse back to the tournament? — Kris A.
Absolutely. This season, though? That might be a stretch. Let’s not forget that Syracuse missed the NCAA Tournament in both of Jim Boeheim’s final two seasons; Autry took over that roster, one that needed — and still needs — some overhaul to get back to being a regular top-25 side. That process started with Autry instituting man-to-man defense last season, a necessary but laborious step. Now he’s onto the actual players … and that culling takes more than one offseason.
Take Judah Mintz, for instance. Good player. Productive. But a star who deserved as much oxygen as he had last season? Nope, and especially not for a team hoping to make the NCAA Tournament. Losing Maliq Brown and Quadir Copeland hurts, but in J.J. Starling and Chris Bell, Cuse has two productive, returning, ACC-caliber starters to rely on. Incoming freshman forward Donnie Freeman, the No. 23 player in the 2024 recruiting class, really impressed me on the grassroots circuit, and should compete to start from the get-go. But Autry still probably needs another season — and more shooters — to fully build Syracuse back into a tournament team. I’m confident in him as a coach, though, based on the limited sample size of last season. — Marks
What should I actually expect from the new West Virginia coach? — Josh H.
Consistently putting together rosters that are better than you think. Darian DeVries was one of the best talent evaluators at the mid-major level when it came to both high schoolers and transfers while at Drake. He got some steals, and it wasn’t just his son. I love what he’s done in the portal so far at West Virginia. Tucker DeVries, who we have No.1 in our portal rankings, was a good start, but I also like Javon Small and love Amani Hansberry. Hansberry is one of those hidden gems who DeVries finds and wins with. He didn’t get to play much his freshman year at Illinois because he was behind two older bigs, but he was one of my favorite players in the 2023 class. He’s a skilled big who can play inside and out and really pass, the type of modern center who can be a hub of an offense. He’s going to turn into a really good college player.
The Big 12 is a monster, and this is a tough job, especially considering the roster was a wreck, but I’d bet on DeVries. Remember, athletic director Wren Baker once hired Grant McCasland at North Texas. He knows ball and had a year to evaluate potential hires. — Moore
What’s the ceiling for Marquette next year? — Zach G.
An All-America season for Kam Jones and a top-3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Shaka Smart has shown that a commitment to development and roster continuity works. Jones proved when Tyler Kolek was out late in the year that he could be the focal point of the offense. Chase Ross has star potential. The loss of Oso Ighodaro is tough to replace on both ends, but Ben Gold made improvements in that Ighodaro role in some of Marquette’s two-man games and his shooting is a real plus. David Joplin will be plenty motivated after a disastrous final game of his season. The roster is still solid. Still old. Good depth. Feels like the floor is high because we’ve seen these guys win together already. — Moore
(Top photo of Kansas’ Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams: Jay Biggerstaff / Getty Images)
