2021 Transfer Portal Thread

[George]

It does have that feel.

Probably too early to call, but the longer we go without an answer at PG, the more I think we’ll see Skyy Clark reclassify (assuming he makes it to campus).

[George]

Even if we hit a couple of these transfers, forgive me for thinking we will have the least talented roster of Cals twnure.

Tubby level stuff.

Here's what we're working with as of today:

PG: Hickman
SG: Allen, Askew, maybe Mintz?
SF: Hopkins, Brooks (maybe)
PF: Toppin, Ware
C: Collins, Tshiebwe

That's...hm.

Next season's gonna suck.

[DA#23]

The returnees would have to improve a good amount and the recruits would have to pan out. Probably need an impact scorer via transfer.

Surely that would be better than this past season, but probably still a down year by Calipari’s standards.

[George]

The returnees would have to improve a good amount and the recruits would have to pan out. Probably need an impact scorer via transfer.

Surely that would be better than this past season, but probably still a down year by Calipari’s standards.

We need Clark to reclassify or (maybe and) a steady hand PG transfer. I'd hoped we could keep Clark in his original class, but as of now I don't know if we'll have that luxury, and frankly, our odds of getting him here at all may be better if we do so sooner than later. No matter what, we have to add at least one PG. Hickman and anyone else we're returning aren't going to cut it.

We have to add at least one, preferably two shooters. Outside of Allen (who wasn't automatic), we have virtually no returners who are any kind of threat from outside.

We probably need to add a SF, too, though that won't be as high a priority if Brooks does return and we get a SG with a little bit of size (like Grady).

Get someone competent at PG, a couple of shooters, and if everyone pans out we can run three-guard lineups with options at the four and five spots.

That's a lot of needs and a lot of ifs.

[DA#23]

So, ideally, Clark reclassifies and is as billed and Powell chooses UK.

[George]

So, ideally, Clark reclassifies and is as billed and Powell chooses UK.

AND we get one of Fredrick or Grady. Do that, and you'd have two or three* guys who could run point, and you could have three capable shooters on the court at any given time. Hopkins is supposedly a pretty good shooter for his size and position, too, so there's that.

*Who knows what Hickman will be able to give us.

[George]

Heads up: Jemarl Baker is back in the portal. Maybe Cal can play him now? (Ha.)

[Spiritof96]

Heads up: Jemarl Baker is back in the portal. Maybe Cal can play him now? (Ha.)

What's wrong with that guy???

[DA#23]

Short rant:

Whoever came up with the “transfer portal” should be reprimanded. It serves to celebrate and imo even encourage athletes to switch programs, helps provide the footing for a second recruitment, and frankly helps erode any hope of continuity these teams ever had.

Free agency, all of the time.

[DA#23]

What's wrong with that guy???

Life’s good in the portal.

[George]

Short rant:

Whoever came up with the “transfer portal” should be reprimanded. It serves to celebrate and imo even encourage athletes to switch programs, helps provide the footing for a second recruitment, and frankly helps erode any hope of continuity these teams ever had.

Free agency, all of the time.

I get it in theory. You're a guy at a smaller school who was good in HS but overlooked for whatever reason. You blow up in your first year or two, and everyone knows your chances of catching the eye of NBA scouts will be better at bigger schools. If basketball is your chosen profession and college is training for your profession, it's in the best interests of that athlete to allow him to make a move when the opportunity presents itself.

But as we're seeing, there are obvious problems, and they're probably just going to get worse. Last year, there were 489 names in the portal; this year, we're already pushing 900. The power dynamic is liable to shift to the elite Power Five schools more than ever, leaving mid-majors and lower to cobble together whatever they can after their best players leave year in and year out. This could have significant ramifications on the NCAA tournament, too. Some of those transfer guys will make their names in the tournament, but a lot more will bail from those small schools that otherwise would have had a shot at a cinderella run, had their players stuck around.

[Catsrock]

So, ideally, Clark reclassifies and is as billed and Powell chooses UK.

AND Powell would have to be ruled eligible—another waiver of SEC rules or a change to the rule itself

TOTAL crap that a blue blood program finds itself in this position every spring/summer now.

[DA#23]

I would imagine that the SEC would rule him eligible coming out of COVID, but that certainly isn’t a given...is it?

[George]

I would imagine that the SEC would rule him eligible coming out of COVID, but that certainly isn’t a given...is it?

I'd always been under the impression that Sankey was not a fan of such transfers, but others disagree, and other conferences may force his hand by changing their own rules. He'd put his misgivings aside before he'd let the conference fall behind.

[George]

What's wrong with that guy???

Must have been mistreated again.