Throughout the season, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein will tweet out “We Sleep in May.” He might as well move that to June with the way the transfer portal is working.
Over 1,500 players have entered the portal through the first month of the offseason, and teams have been completely wiped out. But as the portal taketh, it giveth. Some of the best players in mid-major basketball are transfers and that trend should only continue.
Through the first of the offseason, here are who I think are the ten winners and losers of the transfer portal.
Cal Baptist
The Lancers can make the Big Dance for the first time in school history this season and are taking no risks. To pair with Taran Armstrong, an assist superstar, Rick Croy picked up New Hampshire’s Blondeau Tchoukuiegno, who had 111 helpers last season. Up front, they bring in Joe Quintana who started every game for Loyola Marymount last season and averaged 13.1 points per game. Cal Baptist has a real chance to win the WAC.
Loyola Chicago
Drew Valentine made it an emphasis after their NCAA Tournament loss to dabble into the portal, and man, did he do just that! It started with Butler’s Bryce Golden, who started 87 games for the Bulldogs. They also added big scorers in Philip Alston (California University of Pennsylvania), Sheldon Edwards (Valparaiso) and Jeameril Wilson (Lehigh), all of whom averaged double-digit points last season. There is no doubt in my mind that the Ramblers will compete for the A-10 title in their first season in the league.
North Carolina A&T
Will Jones is getting some high-quality players for the move to the CAA. It starts at the JUCO level, where he landed two national champions in Love Bettis and Kam Woods. Bettis shot nearly 40% from 3 last season as Woods dropped buckets during his freshman season at Troy (10.3 PPG) and in high school (3,871 career points to be exact). Add in Arizona State transfer Will Felton and one of the top shot blockers in the country in UC Irvine’s Austin…
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