2023 College Basketball Transfer Portal Watch Thread

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bga1 said:
Yes - a couple of quick guards with those three would be really good. I love the way Michigan State does it with their best teams...you score on them and their bigs are racing up the floor and the guards get it up the floor fast to see if they can beat you down the court for a quick score- feeding the bigs. I am all for a controlled running game that include discipline to pull if back if the break isn't there. 3-4 easy buckets during a game - catching the other team napping after a made basket- can be the difference in momentum and winning the game.
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Ben let the other team set up their press after made baskets last game. Did not like that, but they are so weak at handling the ball that he must have thought that was the best option. In dire need of ball handlers.
Signed Captain Obvious.
 

Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
I’ll be optimistic about quick guards who have more assists than turnovers.

I don’t care where they played high school basketball.

As someone who also roots for UST, saying Clarence Daniels scored 34 against BC is like saying Anders Nelson (former UST PG who transfer to William and Mary) scored 25 against Virginia Tech (a much higher KenPom team than BC…albeit each team is roughly the same in regards to defensive efficiency).

Would I want Anders Nelson on the U just because he torched VT and shot 46.6% on Treys while having a nearly 2-1 assist to turnover ratio…no I wouldn’t. He’s a really good player, but he’s a really good player at lower levels, or in very small doses at high levels…not consistently at high levels. He lacks speed and quickness.

The Gophers need: SPEED, Quickness, Vision, Passing, Shooting.

They also need CBJ to figure out what tempo he wants to play. I’d argue they should run and gun with Garcia, Payne, and JOJ…but who knows what he will decide to do
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It will be hard to run and gun with the lack of B1G depth we will have.
 





Gopher Teeth said:
It will be hard to run and gun with the lack of B1G depth we will have.
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Agree we need lots of guards and another C.

Or we just go small and tell ihnen…you’re 6’10 / 6’11”… you will be backup big and we are going to push the tempo for quick buckets. We are going to space the floor when Payne is not on the floor (5 out) and create driving lanes for drive and dish action. We acknowledge the defensive liability that puts us in, but we will make up for it with the speed of our offensive attack. Get rebounds and go…even on made baskets.

But…that all comes down to getting competent guards who can push the tempo, pass, and shoot.

Just go ask Jayden Moore (Hopkins freshmen) to reclassify up (jk-but he would’ve been our best guard last year…and he is a freshman in HS.)
 

This kid (a point guard who just entered the portal) had an outstanding season for a freshman at Wofford!

Jackson Paveletzke

He's from a small town in the Appleton metro area of Wisconsin. Wofford seems to like those unheralded midwestern guards (Larson, Klesmit, and now this guy).

Lightly recruited coming out of high school (Rivals lists only offers as Wofford and Toledo). Showed Wisconsin as a school of interest but didn't get an offer. I would think that Wisconsin would try to remedy that mistake this spring.

He won't be easy to get but Ben absolutely should offer.

10th in the Southern Conference in points per game
14th in player efficiency rating
5th in True Shooting Percentage (.614)
2nd in Free Throw Percentage (.842)
3rd in assists per game
 

cjbfbp said:
This kid (a point guard who just entered the portal) had an outstanding season for a freshman at Wofford!

Jackson Paveletzke

He's from a small town in the Appleton metro area of Wisconsin. Wofford seems to like those unheralded midwestern guards (Larson, Klesmit, and now this guy).

Lightly recruited coming out of high school (Rivals lists only offers as Wofford and Toledo). Showed Wisconsin as a school of interest but didn't get an offer. I would think that Wisconsin would try to remedy that mistake this spring.

He won't be easy to get but Ben absolutely should offer.

10th in the Southern Conference in points per game
14th in player efficiency rating
5th in True Shooting Percentage (.614)
2nd in Free Throw Percentage (.842)
3rd in assists per game
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Kid was off the charts on shooting efficiency!
 

Here is a backup center transfer prospect:

David Craig

He's huge: 7'2"

He's from South Africa and played at the very prestigious McCallie School before going to Mercer. Averaged 5.5 pts. and 4.2 rbs in only 13 minutes per game as a freshman this season.
 






Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
I’ll pass. Another tweener. Most likely a small sf. He had 38 ast all season compared to 62 turnovers.

We need ball handlers and guys who can penetrate and dish. This is not his game.

He seems like JOJ and I’d rather have JOJ’s upside
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I’d rather him on a scholarship than Ramberg.

Yes I understand the minutes/rotation equation, however, if he’s not taking up one of the 4 current open spots (thus includes Battle and Cooper leaving)and if what if JOJ gets hurt? Or we have a game with lots of fouls? JOJ would probably benefit, as would the team with better players to practice against, in a worse case scenario.

The good teams have depth, do when they have to go beyond the rotation they know #12, 13 schooly guy won’t be a massive step down.
This guy was all conference in his year at D1 - was Nelson, your UST example?

Lane Region State College is a Juco in ND and this guy went from there to first team all conference and team leader in several categories- wowza.

Lake Region State College - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

Sign him on the line that is dotted immediately!!!
 




Gopher_In_NYC said:
I’d rather him on a scholarship than Ramberg.

Yes I understand the minutes/rotation equation, however, if he’s not taking up one of the 4 current open spots (thus includes Battle and Cooper leaving)and if what if JOJ gets hurt? Or we have a game with lots of fouls? JOJ would probably benefit, as would the team with better players to practice against, in a worse case scenario.

The good teams have depth, do when they have to go beyond the rotation they know #12, 13 schooly guy won’t be a massive step down.
This guy was all conference in his year at D1 - was Nelson, your UST example?

Lane Region State College is a Juco in ND and this guy went from there to first team all conference and team leader in several categories- wowza.

Lake Region State College - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

Sign him on the line that is dotted immediately!!!
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I don't know what player you are arguing about but I do agree with Wet Blanket on one thing: this team needs guards and maybe a backup center but three guards are an absolute priority. The team has only 2 guards on the roster for next season and one of those currently is in high school (I know Ramberg is listed as a guard but he doesn't play like one). There are so many forwards on the team that it just doesn't make sense to recruit one. All you would be doing is taking minutes away from existing players on the team. Even if one gets hurt there is enough depth there.

Personally, I would like Ramberg to retain his scholarship. He has shown the ability to play 5 to 10 hustle minutes when needed and he's very quick to the basket when he gets a feed inside. That's about as good as you can expect from a 13th man.
 

There is a dang lot of talent out there...and it comes all at once without much notice in the portal. Just the evaluation part of this is a huge task! I've been wondering lately what the Gophers--or really any and all programs--have in the way of evaluation tools. I remember reading the article several years ago about the analytics expert Brad Stevens had at Butler, and I believe he took him with him to Boston, although I could be mistaken. That's the kind of person you need in this day and age. Honestly, even what we'd consider advanced statistics aren't really powerful enough by themselves to evaluate players from different levels and different leagues. Some kind of an adjustment for the situation they're in would be needed. There's the eye test (traditional scouting) of course, but when the dump truck backs up and dumps a load of prospects on you (everyone hitting the portal at once), you can't watch that much video on everyone. It's almost as though you need the entire D1 to be pre-vetted/pre-evaluated. That's the kind of thing I'd be trying to build if I were a coach.
 

Bad Gopher said:
There is a dang lot of talent out there...and it comes all at once without much notice in the portal. Just the evaluation part of this is a huge task! I've been wondering lately what the Gophers--or really any and all programs--have in the way of evaluation tools. I remember reading the article several years ago about the analytics expert Brad Stevens had at Butler, and I believe he took him with him to Boston, although I could be mistaken. That's the kind of person you need in this day and age. Honestly, even what we'd consider advanced statistics aren't really powerful enough by themselves to evaluate players from different levels and different leagues. Some kind of an adjustment for the situation they're in would be needed. There's the eye test (traditional scouting) of course, but when the dump truck backs up and dumps a load of prospects on you (everyone hitting the portal at once), you can't watch that much video on everyone. It's almost as though you need the entire D1 to be pre-vetted/pre-evaluated. That's the kind of thing I'd be trying to build if I were a coach.
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They have known for a couple of months how badly they are going to need guards...so I assume they have some good intel on guys they hoped would become available. It's no secret that guys who have great years at the mid major or lower level are thinking about the chance to move up to the bigger leagues- so I would think our staff was ready with what that list could look like.
 

Gopher Teeth said:
It will be hard to run and gun with the lack of B1G depth we will have.
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It's hard to run a lot in the Big Ten anyway. It's a tough half-court league. The highest team in the Big Ten in PACE is Iowa and they're only ranked #112 in the nation on that measure. In contrast, 5 of the 10 Big 12 teams are ranked above that. 10 of the 14 Big Ten teams are ranked below 200 in PACE. 6 are ranked below 300.

It's possible if Ben recruits well this offseason, we could have more depth. Even so, a running game typically favors the quicker team with better athletes. Iowa, as a #2 seed, made the mistake of getting into a track meet with #7 seed Oregon in the NCAA tournament two years ago. The results weren't pretty. They lost 80-95.
 

bga1 said:
They have known for a couple of months how badly they are going to need guards...so I assume they have some good intel on guys they hoped would become available. It's no secret that guys who have great years at the mid major or lower level are thinking about the chance to move up to the bigger leagues- so I would think our staff was ready with what that list could look like.
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Awareness/inventory is one thing, but evaluation is another. I don't know if others feel the same way, but they hit on Luke Loewe, who was all-defense in his previous league, and that translated to being an above-average defender in the Big Ten. Cooper: I'm not so sure; he's good at some things but very limited. If they thought they were getting a Big Ten starter...

Some people evaluate better than others, and that shows in the final product. What I'm wondering is, what are your methods? What are your tools? Again, some people's methods and tools are bound to be better than others. I wouldn't rest until I felt mine were the best anywhere. That's why Stevens ran such a successful program at Butler.
 

Bad Gopher said:
There is a dang lot of talent out there...and it comes all at once without much notice in the portal. Just the evaluation part of this is a huge task! I've been wondering lately what the Gophers--or really any and all programs--have in the way of evaluation tools. I remember reading the article several years ago about the analytics expert Brad Stevens had at Butler, and I believe he took him with him to Boston, although I could be mistaken. That's the kind of person you need in this day and age. Honestly, even what we'd consider advanced statistics aren't really powerful enough by themselves to evaluate players from different levels and different leagues. Some kind of an adjustment for the situation they're in would be needed. There's the eye test (traditional scouting) of course, but when the dump truck backs up and dumps a load of prospects on you (everyone hitting the portal at once), you can't watch that much video on everyone. It's almost as though you need the entire D1 to be pre-vetted/pre-evaluated. That's the kind of thing I'd be trying to build if I were a coach.
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Agreed. It's a daunting task but one that Ben Johnson & his associates (remember to delegate Ben!) must be up to. I have a regular saying: Very few people give 100% all of the time. Most people don't give 100% most of the time. But, to be successful, you must approach 100% at least some of the time. This is one of those times for Ben Johnson & Company.
 

cjbfbp said:
Agreed. It's a daunting task but one that Ben Johnson & his associates (remember to delegate Ben!) must be up to. I have a regular saying: Very few people give 100% all of the time. Most people don't give 100% most of the time. But, to be successful, you must approach 100% at least some of the time. This is one of those times for Ben Johnson & Company.
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I tend to cringe at the expression "work smarter, not harder," but I do wholeheartedly believe that if you develop sound methods, you can "outwork" the other guy without breaking a sweat. Now, developing those methods might be intensive--a Manhattan Project--but that's an up-front investment that pays dividends.
 

cjbfbp said:
I don't know what player you are arguing about but I do agree with Wet Blanket on one thing: this team needs guards and maybe a backup center but three guards are an absolute priority. The team has only 2 guards on the roster for next season and one of those currently is in high school (I know Ramberg is listed as a guard but he doesn't play like one). There are so many forwards on the team that it just doesn't make sense to recruit one. All you would be doing is taking minutes away from existing players on the team. Even if one gets hurt there is enough depth there.

Personally, I would like Ramberg to retain his scholarship. He has shown the ability to play 5 to 10 hustle minutes when needed and he's very quick to the basket when he gets a feed inside. That's about as good as you can expect from a 13th man.
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If Ramberg is on scholaship next year, Johnson failed.
 


cjbfbp said:
This kid (a point guard who just entered the portal) had an outstanding season for a freshman at Wofford!

Jackson Paveletzke

He's from a small town in the Appleton metro area of Wisconsin. Wofford seems to like those unheralded midwestern guards (Larson, Klesmit, and now this guy).

Lightly recruited coming out of high school (Rivals lists only offers as Wofford and Toledo). Showed Wisconsin as a school of interest but didn't get an offer. I would think that Wisconsin would try to remedy that mistake this spring.

He won't be easy to get but Ben absolutely should offer.

10th in the Southern Conference in points per game
14th in player efficiency rating
5th in True Shooting Percentage (.614)
2nd in Free Throw Percentage (.842)
3rd in assists per game
Click to expand...
This guy based on numbers seems much better than the guy from NH. Plus has 3 years of eligibility left
 

cjbfbp said:
I don't know what player you are arguing about but I do agree with Wet Blanket on one thing: this team needs guards and maybe a backup center but three guards are an absolute priority. The team has only 2 guards on the roster for next season and one of those currently is in high school (I know Ramberg is listed as a guard but he doesn't play like one). There are so many forwards on the team that it just doesn't make sense to recruit one. All you would be doing is taking minutes away from existing players on the team. Even if one gets hurt there is enough depth there.

Personally, I would like Ramberg to retain his scholarship. He has shown the ability to play 5 to 10 hustle minutes when needed and he's very quick to the basket when he gets a feed inside. That's about as good as you can expect from a 13th man.
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We are discussing (not really arguing) about Daniels (SF NH). I say pass, Gopher_In_NYC wants him
 


skiumah1 said:
Feels like the 1st transfer we get should give us a decent idea of what level we're at.
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Yep- I think that is right, they are not going to burn scholarships on the lower level guys yet, they are going to shoot high early. I sure hope it is a solid PG first.
 

cjbfbp said:
It's hard to run a lot in the Big Ten anyway. It's a tough half-court league. The highest team in the Big Ten in PACE is Iowa and they're only ranked #112 in the nation on that measure. In contrast, 5 of the 10 Big 12 teams are ranked above that. 10 of the 14 Big Ten teams are ranked below 200 in PACE. 6 are ranked below 300.

It's possible if Ben recruits well this offseason, we could have more depth. Even so, a running game typically favors the quicker team with better athletes. Iowa, as a #2 seed, made the mistake of getting into a track meet with #7 seed Oregon in the NCAA tournament two years ago. The results weren't pretty. They lost 80-95.
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Well...maybe this is why the Big10 doesn't show up in March Madness so often. Let's look at The Big10 ACC Challenge (ACC is typically known as a running / up-temp league). The challenge ran from 1999-2022, and the ACC owns a record of 152-127 in this challenge. So, one could argue, the faster temp wins against the slow bang it out style of the big10.

Digging deeper, let's see what conference does best in the NCAA tourney (since 2000):
Good Bleacher Report article on NCAA Wins by Conference since 2000

  • ACC has far and away the most NCAA wins, and by far the most titles 6 compared to the Big10's 1)
  • They have the most Sweet 16s by far as well
Maybe the Gophers shouldn't play the slow down ball and should play up tempo. It may not work the best in the Big 10, but it's not about the Big10...it a 5-7 seed in conference, make the tournament, and your style of play is geared for what matters, the NCAA tournament.

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Wet_Blanket_Guy said:
Well...maybe this is why the Big10 doesn't show up in March Madness so often. Let's look at The Big10 ACC Challenge (ACC is typically known as a running / up-temp league). The challenge ran from 1999-2022, and the ACC owns a record of 152-127 in this challenge. So, one could argue, the faster temp wins against the slow bang it out style of the big10.

Digging deeper, let's see what conference does best in the NCAA tourney (since 2000):
Good Bleacher Report article on NCAA Wins by Conference since 2000

  • ACC has far and away the most NCAA wins, and by far the most titles 6 compared to the Big10's 1)
  • They have the most Sweet 16s by far as well
Maybe the Gophers shouldn't play the slow down ball and should play up tempo. It may not work the best in the Big 10, but it's not about the Big10...it a 5-7 seed in conference, make the tournament, and your style of play is geared for what matters, the NCAA tournament.

View attachment 24584
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Certainly don't doubt the data and you might be right when it comes to performance in the NCAA tournament. For the Gophers, though, my immediate concern is that they start performing better in their own conference.
 

cjbfbp said:
Certainly don't doubt the data and you might be right when it comes to performance in the NCAA tournament. For the Gophers, though, my immediate concern is that they start performing better in their own conference.
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Just to fall on their face in the NCAA tourney? Isn't the goal to survive to the tourney and then make something happen? It's like the saying the NBA...regular season doesn't matter...just need to make it to the playoffs (NCAA tourney is the playoffs).
 

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