2021 Transfer Portal Thread

[lilproUK98]

3-4 returnees isn't the normal for UK the last few years.

Scrambling to assemble a roster in the off season has become the normal for this program. We don't return players, we no longer land the truly elite recruits, and team chemistry is something that might develop by conference play.

Not only would Terrence Jones not return to UK after a freshman year now, he'd probably not commit in the first place.

I mean, it is EXACTLY the normal the past few years, and during the entire Cal era.... except last year. Which happened to have a once in a century pandemic occur.

Instead of bringing in 6-8 freshmen, Cal is bringing in 3-4 freshmen and 3-4 experienced, talented, and proven transfers. Not sure why people have a problem with this lol

[Joneslab]

I've complained for years about the way we have to patch rosters together in the spring and summer.

However, if that's the way it HAS to be and Cal can't or won't change, then we have to just root for it.

Were this a normal year, I'd be highly concerned. But it's not so I'm not.

I look at this thing and what could potentially happen and I think there's a real possibility for us to jump back really quick.

It's also not lost on me that the last can't-miss recruit we got, Olivier Sarr, was a monumental bust.

[lilproUK98]

LOL. Okay.

I don't doubt that they are hungry to do more, I am skeptical that it works out, period.

Welp, since you said "period" I guess that concludes this discussion lol ....we'll see how it goes.

Looks like a good time to take a nice long break from this nonsense again.

[DA#23]

Instead of bringing in 6-8 freshmen, Cal is bringing in 3-4 freshmen and 3-4 experienced, talented, and proven transfers. Not sure why people have a problem with this lol

I hope so, but we've yet to see this model enacted here.

I'm not trying to be morose, but while we might have returned 3-4 players a few times during this era they hardly ever have been rotation guys. I guess I'll count Brad if you want me too.....

[Dwight Schrute]

I've complained for years about the way we have to patch rosters together in the spring and summer.

However, if that's the way it HAS to be and Cal can't or won't change, then we have to just root for it.

Were this a normal year, I'd be highly concerned. But it's not so I'm not.

I look at this thing and what could potentially happen and I think there's a real possibility for us to jump back really quick.

It's also not lost on me that the last can't-miss recruit we got, Olivier Sarr, was a monumental bust.

This is the thing, if we're poaching transfer kids who are sophomores and have a couple years to gel, that's one thing. But we get 1 year kids (Mintz may return) and whiff and misidentify on the freshmen and it's just a recipe for disaster.

Baylor had a bunch of transfers but spent multiple seasons together and developed and grew. If it's just continuing to be a revolving door, then what's the point?

[JFCats22]

I like that Cal is landing the top transfers, that's clearly not a bad thing. But, none of these guys are "elite". If they were they would be in the NBA instead of being in their 3rd or 4th or 5th year of college. You have to have some of these types of players to be a contender for sure. However, I believe a title winning team absolutely has to have elite, game changing players and UK doesn't (and seemingly won't) have any of those types of guys next year.

Show me a team that has been an elite, title contending team without the best of the best players on it....I don't think you can.

[Joneslab]

This is the thing, if we're poaching transfer kids who are sophomores and have a couple years to gel, that's one thing. But we get 1 year kids (Mintz may return) and whiff and misidentify on the freshmen and it's just a recipe for disaster.

Baylor had a bunch of transfers but spent multiple seasons together and developed and grew. If it's just continuing to be a revolving door, then what's the point?

Well, Baylor is just one model. There are multiple ways to go about building a winner.

COVID opened the door for a kind of wild, unprecedented situation. The trouble is that Kentucky won't be the only team that has four or five really good transfers; there are liable to be several teams in the power conferences who are led by transfers next year.

But Cal has built really good teams in a variety of ways here. He's had teams with some experience, he's had teams with literally no experience. Had a team in 2011 that had no bench at all and went to the Final Four. Had a team last year that looked really rough on paper and won the SEC.

So just because we'll have transfers Baylor doesn't have to be the model. Baylor was good because they had tough-as-hell guards. They were also super old. Macio Teague is like 25 years old. That's something that's going to be possible for UK next year.

[DA#23]

I think that a transfer can be pretty key for a specific need or to "put you over the hump", but when you publicly announce that your new model will be to recruit and build rosters from free agency, I mean transfer portal, then you basically are admitting you can't land the elite prospects anymore and no one wants to stay in your program to develop.

That might be on the edge of hyperbole, but still.......

[DA#23]

Macio Teague is like 25 years old. That's something that's going to be possible for UK next year.

I politely disagree. He played for them for 2 years and had a redshirt year in their program. Derek Anderson did that here but I don't see Cal landing a Derek Anderson.

Nick Richards spent 3 years here but he's the outlier lately.

[Joneslab]

I like that Cal is landing the top transfers, that's clearly not a bad thing. But, none of these guys are "elite". If they were they would be in the NBA instead of being in their 3rd or 4th or 5th year of college. You have to have some of these types of players to be a contender for sure. However, I believe a title winning team absolutely has to have elite, game changing players and UK doesn't (and seemingly won't) have any of those types of guys next year.

Show me a team that has been an elite, title contending team without the best of the best players on it....I don't think you can.

The thing about this though is that I'm not sure Baylor or Gonzaga had many elite players coming into the year. They became elite because of what we know about this past year.

Jalen Suggs was definitely an elite athlete. Jared Butler was borderline. Colin Kispert maybe, though that's debatable.

But you've got all these other guys who starred last night and they weren't thought of as elite coming into the season. Macio Teague and Davion Mitchell (Mitchell averaged 10 a game as a sophomore) and Drew Timme (10 a game as a sophomore) and Ayayi (2 a game as a freshman)...all these guys were role players coming into this year, and then they blew up.

I look at players like Tshiebwe and I do see something in them that could be grown. But nothing works unless you have guards. It will all come down to who he gets at PG and whether that guy is tough. Everything else will fall apart if he can't bring in a game-changer at the point.

[George]

Cal has to take elite freshmen when he can get them, and I believe he can still get some of them. But, if that OAD freshman isn’t an immediate-impact guy, gimme then OAD transfer every day of the week.

Can’t know what you’re going to get until they step on the court, of course.

[Dwight Schrute]

I like that Cal is landing the top transfers, that's clearly not a bad thing. But, none of these guys are "elite". If they were they would be in the NBA instead of being in their 3rd or 4th or 5th year of college. You have to have some of these types of players to be a contender for sure. However, I believe a title winning team absolutely has to have elite, game changing players and UK doesn't (and seemingly won't) have any of those types of guys next year.

Show me a team that has been an elite, title contending team without the best of the best players on it....I don't think you can.

I dunno, Baylor just won without superstars. The ESPN draft board has Davion Mitchell at 12 and that's it. NBADraft.net doesn't have any of them in the lottery. I think Baylor won with a lot of very good upper classmen, but none of them are bonafide superstars. I think it can be done, but it's hard to do without cohesiveness and it takes time.

[Joneslab]

I politely disagree. He played for them for 2 years and had a redshirt year in their program. Derek Anderson did that here but I don't see Cal landing a Derek Anderson.

Nick Richards spent 3 years here but he's the outlier lately.

Played two years at UNC-Asheville as well. He'll be 24 in two months.

My point is that we're going to have old players on this team, and old is a commodity. Kellan Grady will be 24 at the beginning of the season. Mintz will be 23 in June.

I don't really agree that the players have to be in the program for a long time, simply because Cal has shown that he can win with freshmen. These transfers are not on the level of some of those freshmen clearly but they are significantly older. That matters (usually).

[JFCats22]

I dunno, Baylor just won without superstars. The ESPN draft board has Davion Mitchell at 12 and that's it. NBADraft.net doesn't have any of them in the lottery. I think Baylor won with a lot of very good upper classmen, but none of them are bonafide superstars. I think it can be done, but it's hard to do without cohesiveness and it takes time.

Jared Butler was a consensus 1st team All-American....he was absolutely a superstar in college. NBA ranking/draftability has little to do with being an elite college player in my opinion.

[DA#23]

This is some awfully thin ice.