Transfer Success Stories

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UMwolverine

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Gopher basketball is in uncharted territory (with so many transfers that will start or play substantial minutes), and nobody knows how it will turn out for the 2021-22 season. For this thread, I'm hoping the hows and whys of the transfer situation will be kept kept to a minimum (those have been and are being discussed on numerous other threads). Instead, I would like to hear about success stories ( or failures if you want) for transfers moving up in level of competition.

I'm familiar with a few.

Mike Smith transferred from the Ivy League to Michigan last year and was a starter and integral part of a successful team.

Duncan Robinson transferred to Michigan from a Div 3 school and has had great success, now playing in the NBA.

Eddie Robinson Jr. Is someone you probably never heard about. He's from my home town, Flint, MI, and stepped up from CC to a Div 2 team, University of Central Oklahoma, where he set scoring records. Btw, he spent 5 years in the NBA as well.

I'm not saying all or even any of the transfers on the current Gopher team will play and achieve at such a high level, but I suspect some of them will show abilities that will turn out to be pleasant surprises.
 


One of the greatest transfers in recent history (and one of my favorite basketball players) was T.J. McConnell. He played HS ball for his father just outside of Pittsburgh. Although he was a very good high school player, he wasn't very tall or viewed as particularly athletic so he received only one D1 offer from local program Duquesne. He played two years for Duquesne and started 61 of his 63 games there. He led the Atlantic 10 in steals both years and was in the top 5 in assists both years. He was also in the top 10 in True Shooting Percentage both years.

After two years at Duquesne he decided to move to a higher level of competition and transferred to Arizona; he had to sit out a year. He started 76 of his 76 games at Arizona, was 2nd Team Pac 12 his junior year, 1st team in his senior year, and all PAC 12 tournament in his senior year. He was on the All Pac 12 defensive team both years. He was also on the All Region Team for the NCAA tournament in his senior year (Arizona lost to Wisconsin in the regional final that year - Bo's greatest team).

Of course, when the 2015 NBA draft came around, he wasn't drafted (players like him almost never are). He was signed as a free agent by the infamous Sam Hinkie and just completed his 6th year in the NBA. This year with the Pacers, he averaged 26 minutes per game despite starting only 3 games. He was first in the NBA in total steals and second in steals per game. He averaged 6.6 assists per game. He is an unrestricted free agent this year and perhaps he will finally get the kind of contract that he deserves.
 

TruthSeeker said:
Are you including JC players?

Bobby Jackson and Vincent Grier are great successes.
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Sure, why not? To broaden even further it could be any player that wasn't that highly rated out of high school and just took a few more years to develop, the kind of players that some fans crap on and deride the coach for recruiting who later turn out to be stalwart contributors to the team.
 

Duncan Robinson’s DIII Coach is the lead Assistant at UST and was a former assistant for Beilein at West Virginia that’s how Robinson got to Michigan..
 



This is a cool thread. Bottom line: It can happen and I hope one of Ben's transfers is a diamond in the rough. That said, you cannot put together a whole roster that way and it will be a tough year. This fall class is the real test.

My sleeper pick is Thiam.
 

bga1 said:
This is a cool thread. Bottom line: It can happen and I hope one of Ben's transfers is a diamond in the rough. That said, you cannot put together a whole roster that way and it will be a tough year. This fall class is the real test.

My sleeper pick is Thiam.
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Thank you. It just bothered me some at how some posters are trashing these transfers, most who have developed into high achievers (albeit at a lower level) since they first set foot on a college campus.

I'm not sure I agree that a decent team can't be based wholly on transfers. With the new transfer rules, I wouldn't be surprised if one day we see a team like that succeed.
 






Division III Carelton College transfer Freddie Gillespie had a pretty solid senior season at Baylor.
 




PeoplesFront said:
Division III Carelton College transfer Freddie Gillespie had a pretty solid senior season at Baylor.
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Didn't know about him. Had a very good senior season at Baylor and a pretty good junior season too although he mostly came off the bench in that one. He actually played 20 games in the NBA this past season and performed reasonably well for a guy on a short-term contract. It looks like he's signed with the Raptors for next year too although I don't know if it's guaranteed.
 


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