2023 College Basketball Transfer Portal Watch Thread

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GophersInIowa said:
He was a freshman that played 8 minutes a game. Had some good offers out of HS. Wouldn’t be a big splash add but not terrible either.
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If you read about him, there are some things to like. Seems like an athletic energy player. And, yes, he had a lot of offers coming from HS and more than a few were good ones.

Still, this is a puzzling offer given apparent team needs.
 

cjbfbp said:
If you read about him, there are some things to like. Seems like an athletic energy player. And, yes, he had a lot of offers coming from HS and more than a few were good ones.

Still, this is a puzzling offer given apparent team needs.
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Well, they have 4 schollys open. If they can get two good guards, I am good with what they do with the rest. A guy like this could be insurance on Ihnen and Fox health or it could be a long term play as well.
 

bga1 said:
He is developing. He will get better and develop more range. He has a very difficult time right now defending bigger guys at the 4 as you could see painfully in the Wisconsin game. I think that the reality is that he is really about 6-5 not 6-7. Here's a surprising stat- JOJ shot 38% on 3s this year- small sample size only 8/21 but he really grew from day 1 to year end. He has the ability to beat guys off the dribble.... Ideally he plays at the 3
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He was in foul trouble for nearly the entire game against Wisconsin and couldn’t play aggressively. He showed to be a high-energy, plus defender in the post all year. His length, strength and athleticism makes him a very capable defender (all over the floor). Needs to make some adjustments to avoid foul trouble, but he’s got all-defensive team potential.
 

go_gophers said:
He was in foul trouble for nearly the entire game against Wisconsin and couldn’t play aggressively. He showed to be a high-energy, plus defender in the post all year. His length, strength and athleticism makes him a very capable defender (all over the floor). Needs to make some adjustments to avoid foul trouble, but he’s got all-defensive team potential.
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Yup. He was asked to guard a 7 footer.
 





007gopherfan said:
With the way the portal is, I can see a common theme of high school players(unless highly noted) committing to smaller school teams to get minutes and show there stuff to know they will transfer to bigger school. I can see more and more bigger schools swooping the transfer portal rather then recruiting out of H.S.
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BarnBurner said:
Opposite strategy of MN.
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90’s rule!
 




While he's not in the portal (yet), I looked at A.J. Plitzuweit's stats from last year. If he wants to follow mom to the U, his 41% from 3 and coach's kid smarts could come in handy.

Would be good off the bench.
 

007gopherfan said:
I can see more and more bigger schools swooping the transfer portal rather then recruiting out of H.S.
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It's a good strategy, really. Seems like it would be far less risky to bring in experienced portal players because for the most part, they're already at least partially developed such that you know with a fairly high degree of certainty exactly what you're going to get, whereas with high schoolers, who knows? They're more raw, less developed, tasting college life for the first time, and except for the best of the best, it seems like there's just naturally far more uncertainty when it comes to 17-18 year old players starting out.

I know that Ben has stated his personal preference that this remain a developmental program rather than becoming another 'Transfer U', but that just may not be realistic any longer, as literally everyone is shopping the portal anymore.
 








Ski U Mah Gopher said:
While he's not in the portal (yet), I looked at A.J. Plitzuweit's stats from last year. If he wants to follow mom to the U, his 41% from 3 and coach's kid smarts could come in handy.

Would be good off the bench.
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Looks like a sharp shooter that was even redshirted, so should have plenty experience with some year left to play.
 


Seany said:
It's a good strategy, really. Seems like it would be far less risky to bring in experienced portal players because for the most part, they're already at least partially developed such that you know with a fairly high degree of certainty exactly what you're going to get, whereas with high schoolers, who knows? They're more raw, less developed, tasting college life for the first time, and except for the best of the best, it seems like there's just naturally far more uncertainty when it comes to 17-18 year old players starting out.

I know that Ben has stated his personal preference that this remain a developmental program rather than becoming another 'Transfer U', but that just may not be realistic any longer, as literally everyone is shopping the portal anymore.
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That's all true but while the strategy is attractive in the abstract, it's a tough one in the execution. Transfer portal recruiting is far more competitive than prep recruiting and you have far less time to seal the deal. Most of the players of interest have an established record that is available to all and the recruiters know the time constraints. That's why about a dozen P6 teams reached out to a formerly obscure Wofford freshman guard (who received two D1 mid-major offers coming out of high school) on the day his name appeared in the portal. We don't know how many non-major teams also contacted him on the same day because those weren't included in the tweet.

Getting four or five decent to good players from the portal on an annual basis is tough for a program in our current state. I wouldn't want to try it year after year if I were the coach. Easier to have a program based on prep recruiting with maybe a couple of annual transfers to fill in the gaps.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
While he's not in the portal (yet), I looked at A.J. Plitzuweit's stats from last year. If he wants to follow mom to the U, his 41% from 3 and coach's kid smarts could come in handy.

Would be good off the bench.
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The kid isn't only playing for an in-state school; he's playing for a school located in his home town. I doubt he's leaving and certainly not to come off the bench.
 

I know there are many in the portal and likely more to go it, but I do believe there are plenty of guys in the portal that would be successful and helping here at the U. If I am Coyle and CBJ can't get a top player from the portal again....the seat gets hot real fast. Come on CBJ! Lets make a splash and get some good buzz going! Coyle didn't wait long for Fleck and Now WBB Dawn Plitzuweit.
 

007gopherfan said:
I know there are many in the portal and likely more to go it, but I do believe there are plenty of guys in the portal that would be successful and helping here at the U. If I am Coyle and CBJ can't get a top player from the portal again....the seat gets hot real fast. Come on CBJ! Lets make a splash and get some good buzz going! Coyle didn't wait long for Fleck and Now WBB Dawn Plitzuweit.
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What do you mean by "top player?" If by "top player" you're talking about a transfer who is among the top two or three transfers at his position, then I doubt Johnson will be able to satisfy you. If you're talking about a good player who could provide immediate help here, then I think he should be able to do that if he wants to keep his job.
 

cjbfbp said:
That's all true but while the strategy is attractive in the abstract, it's a tough one in the execution. Transfer portal recruiting is far more competitive than prep recruiting and you have far less time to seal the deal. Most of the players of interest have an established record that is available to all and the recruiters know the time constraints. That's why about a dozen P6 teams reached out to a formerly obscure Wofford freshman guard (who received two D1 mid-major offers coming out of high school) on the day his name appeared in the portal. We don't know how many non-major teams also contacted him on the same day because those weren't included in the tweet.

Getting four or five decent to good players from the portal on an annual basis is tough for a program in our current state. I wouldn't want to try it year after year if I were the coach. Easier to have a program based on prep recruiting with maybe a couple of annual transfers to fill in the gaps.
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The only route I can see to a sustainable path forward, is to routinely nab the MN players who are ranked in 100-200 range ala Payne, Carrington, JOJ & Christie, uncover gems like Henley who are overlooked and occasionally land players ranked >100 ( might be easier with MN kids) and supplement, here and there from the portal. Obviously, a tough road to road.

I think if Ben can show some progress and get to.500 overall record in the next year or two, some people will get on board with real cask and not walk around money.

Maybe about a ~25% chance Ben threads this needle.
 
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Gopher_In_NYC said:
The only path I can see to a sustainable path forward, is to routinely nab the MN players who are ranked in 100-200 range ala Payne, Carrington, JOJ & Christie, uncover gems like Henley who are overlooked and occasionally land players ranked >100 ( might be easier with MN kids) and supplement. Here and there from the portal. Obviously, a tough road to road.

I think if Ben can show some progress and get to.500 overall record in the next year or two, some people will get on board with real cask and not walk around money.

Maybe about a ~25% chance Ben threads this needle.
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I'd agree with your probability estimate. I also agree that he likely must reach or exceed a .500 overall record next year. I absolutely believed he deserved a third season but that's because I haven't seen a failing Big Ten basketball coach this century fired before three years. Todd Lickliter was fired after three losing seasons by Iowa and Rutgers fired Eddie Jordan after the same. I think Ben is entitled to the same minimum as them.

I'm not sure I'd characterize Henley as a "gem" at this point. I think we liked him in no small part because of his struggles, subsequent improvement, and the fact that freshmen played a lot of minutes for us this season and were our hope for the future. But, Henley's key composite numbers were among the lowest of all D1 freshman guards playing 600 minutes or more this season. He could turn out to be a very good player but I don't think that's a sure thing yet.

We should try to get the in-state players you mention but we still need to recruit from other places. For example, we got Christie from Illinois. Illinois is a much more populous state but it has only two P6 programs, Illinois and Northwestern, and not everyone can be admitted to the latter one. New York has only two P6 schools: Syracuse and St. John's.
 

A Cyclone writer thinks Eli King might enter the portal.

cyclonefanatic.com

STANZ: Looking toward the immediate future of Iowa State basketball

Mar 17, 2023; Greensboro, NC, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T. J. Otzelberger gestures during the first half against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Friday marked the end of something. It marked the end of
cyclonefanatic.com cyclonefanatic.com
 

bfriedrichs10 said:
A Cyclone writer thinks Eli King might enter the portal.

cyclonefanatic.com

STANZ: Looking toward the immediate future of Iowa State basketball

Mar 17, 2023; Greensboro, NC, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T. J. Otzelberger gestures during the first half against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Friday marked the end of something. It marked the end of
cyclonefanatic.com cyclonefanatic.com
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Would't be at all surprising. Doubt he will be able to move ahead of the current ISU starter.
 

bfriedrichs10 said:
A Cyclone writer thinks Eli King might enter the portal.

cyclonefanatic.com

STANZ: Looking toward the immediate future of Iowa State basketball

Mar 17, 2023; Greensboro, NC, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach T. J. Otzelberger gestures during the first half against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Friday marked the end of something. It marked the end of
cyclonefanatic.com cyclonefanatic.com
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cjbfbp said:
Would't be at all surprising. Doubt he will be able to move ahead of the current ISU starter.
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For sure. That incoming recruiting class would be a tough nut to crack.
 

cjbfbp said:
What do you mean by "top player?" If by "top player" you're talking about a transfer who is among the top two or three transfers at his position, then I doubt Johnson will be able to satisfy you. If you're talking about a good player who could provide immediate help here, then I think he should be able to do that if he wants to keep his job.
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I would say he has to do better than Cooper and Samuels. There are plenty of ones out there now that would make us more competitive that the U should have no problem attracting. If we do...the seat has to be hot!
 

007gopherfan said:
I would say he has to do better than Cooper and Samuels. There are plenty of ones out there now that would make us more competitive that the U should have no problem attracting. If we do...the seat has to be hot!
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Cooper and Samuels aren't even in the same stratosphere of transfer commits. Cooper was I believe 2nd in the nation in assists when he committed here and was one of the best players on his team, he was also pursued heavily by others schools. Samuels, was, well, none of those things. He was a role player on a mid-major who didn't have a ton of options.
 


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