Transfer portal

[Da Coach]

Another familiar name in the portal- Latrell Wrightsell, Jr. He was a 2020 recruit that attended the October 13, 2018, Red-White game and Bradley offered him while he was here-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...day#post465854

He ended up committing to Cal State Fullerton, and has spent 3 seasons there. He just entered the transfer portal, looking to transfer. He has nice numbers, and was named 1st team All-Big West Conference.

https://www.fullertontitans.com/sports/m-baskbl/2022-23/releases/20230306oh7d3y

Bio- https://www.fullertontitans.com/spor...._latrell_e9o0
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...-wrightsell-jr

I do not know if Bradley is recruiting him. He might be looking for a Power 5 school. He would have 2 years of eligibility left.

[egib52]

I guess I agree with both you guys. RJ Melendez was a spectacular high school player, and got numerous high-major offers. He's an athletic big shooting guard, 6'6" with good ball handling skills and shot creating skills. He's not a point guard, so no surprise that he averaged less than 1 assist per game. He would be a good player in a system that featured him as one of their primary scorers. He did play a lot this season (21.5 mpg), but never seemed to be as big a part of the Illini offense as he could have been. It appeared Underwood favored portal import gunners like Terrance Shannon (32% from three) and Matthew Mayer (33% from three) over his own recruits.
I'm not surprised that highly regarded recruits like 4-star guards Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps are bailing out of Illinois, along with Melendez.

I haven't heard if Bradley is recruiting him, but I hope they are.
IMO, if he transferred into the MVC, he'd be an All-MVC player. But I expect him to land at another Power 5/6 school.

If he's smart, he'd follow what his fellow Illinois recruit Podz did at Santa Clara, and replicate it. However, he's not as good a shooter. Most likely will end up at a P6.

[Da Coach]

I could see Melendez transferring to a lower tier Power 5 conference team like Wake Forest. Their head coach Steve Forbes seem to like athletic wings like Melendez.

[tomahawk chop]

You have to sell playing time and the NIL when they sign.

[Stryker]

Their best bet would be go to a mid-major conference where they would get more playing time and more notoriety. If they go to bottom feeders then they will stay down there and not be recognized because they are on a poor team

Absolutely, but they may still have better NIL deals there, and may consider it for the $$. Who knows how this will all fall out. Hopefully younger kids and highschool recruits are all of this closely...

[bradleyfan124]

Yeah definitely, he would excel a lot in the MVC.

There have to be a lot of players in the portal that were either not getting minutes they thought they should be getting at their power5 school, or were recruited over and pushed into the portal. Its going to be interesting to see where these players end up in general. Will there be enough bottom feeder power5 schools to pick them up? Or will they want or be forced to go down to a mid-major conference?

Their best bet would be go to a mid-major conference where they would get more playing time and more notoriety. If they go to bottom feeders then they will stay down there and not be recognized because they are on a poor team

[Stryker]

I guess I agree with both you guys. RJ Melendez was a spectacular high school player, and got numerous high-major offers. He's an athletic big shooting guard, 6'6" with good ball handling skills and shot creating skills. He's not a point guard, so no surprise that he averaged less than 1 assist per game. He would be a good player in a system that featured him as one of their primary scorers. He did play a lot this season (21.5 mpg), but never seemed to be as big a part of the Illini offense as he could have been. It appeared Underwood favored portal import gunners like Terrance Shannon (32% from three) and Matthew Mayer (33% from three) over his own recruits.
I'm not surprised that highly regarded recruits like 4-star guards Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps are bailing out of Illinois, along with Melendez.

I haven't heard if Bradley is recruiting him, but I hope they are.
IMO, if he transferred into the MVC, he'd be an All-MVC player. But I expect him to land at another Power 5/6 school.

Yeah definitely, he would excel a lot in the MVC.

There have to be a lot of players in the portal that were either not getting minutes they thought they should be getting at their power5 school, or were recruited over and pushed into the portal. Its going to be interesting to see where these players end up in general. Will there be enough bottom feeder power5 schools to pick them up? Or will they want or be forced to go down to a mid-major conference?

[Da Coach]

I guess I agree with both you guys. RJ Melendez was a spectacular high school player, and got numerous high-major offers. He's an athletic big shooting guard, 6'6" with good ball handling skills and shot creating skills. He's not a point guard, so no surprise that he averaged less than 1 assist per game. He would be a good player in a system that featured him as one of their primary scorers. He did play a lot this season (21.5 mpg), but never seemed to be as big a part of the Illini offense as he could have been. It appeared Underwood favored portal import gunners like Terrance Shannon (32% from three) and Matthew Mayer (33% from three) over his own recruits.
I'm not surprised that highly regarded recruits like 4-star guards Skyy Clark and Jayden Epps are bailing out of Illinois, along with Melendez.

I haven't heard if Bradley is recruiting him, but I hope they are.
IMO, if he transferred into the MVC, he'd be an All-MVC player. But I expect him to land at another Power 5/6 school.

[Dubl R 1]

Underutilized?!? He was a starter most of the season even though he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

Yeah I don’t think he fit the style of the other “gas pedal” guards they had, and Hawkins also out there perimeter clogging it up. He only took 5 shots a game, I think he’s more of a scorer/creator than a knockdown shooter.. but with the personnel they had we didn’t get to see him in that role. I think he will be good somewhere.

[egib52]

Illinois' RJ Melendez in the portal. I know he will undoubtedly go higher, but I'd love to have him at BU. He was incredibly underutilized in my opinion at Illinois.

Underutilized?!? He was a starter most of the season even though he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.

[Da Coach]

Another Valparaiso player enters the portal. 6'2" sophomore guard Preston Ruedinger was a recruited walk-on his freshman year, and played well enough (13 starts, 3.3 ppg) that he was given a scholarship for this season. However, he played much less this year, mostly due to injuries (only appeared in 9 games, 2.1 ppg) and with Valpo's head coach Matt Lottich let go, he has decided to transfer.
Bio- https://verbalcommits.com/players/preston-ruedinger
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ston-ruedinger

This leaves Valparaiso with just 6 scholarship players- Darius DeAveiro, Connor Barrett, Ibra Bayu, Emil Freese-Vilien, Joe Hedstrom, and Jerome Palm.
Whoever they hire will need to do a lot of work to rebuild that roster.

Also, 6'10" Illinois State forward Alex Kotov entered the portal. Kotov came to Illinois from Daytona State College, a junior college, where he was ranked #77 on the Top 100 juco players of 2021. But he played sparingly in 2 seasons at Illinois State (see stats below).

https://verbalcommits.com/players/alex-kotov

https://goredbirds.com/sports/mens-b...ex-kotov/10339
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...905/alex-kotov

[houstonbrave]

I can understand someone like Max Nelson being uncomfortable with his position. It took a while for Valpo to fire Lottich and it is taking a while to put a replacement in place. He doesn’t know who he would play for and if the individual wants him. If he doesn’t go explore his options he could be in a really crummy position.

[Da Coach]

I was looking up some stats on a bunch of the players in the portal, and there are numerous double digit scorers and good shooters. Nowhere near all of them will end up at high-major schools. I am surprised there aren't more who are committing and taking decent offers from good schools, and instead seem to be holding out for better offers. This is what the NIL fiasco is doing. Kids are no longer interested in simply getting more playing time, getting a shot at postseason tournament play, or getting a degree from a good school. They are chasing the best dollar deal they can get. I wonder if a lot of them will pass up good offers, only to end up empty handed, or with an offer no better than what they gave up.
There are also tons of players averaging 2 points or less. Good luck.

[bradleyfan124]

I wander how many players from so called marquee teams will move laterally. I just read a player from Notre Dame is transferring to Mercer.

[Da Coach]

Another MVC player will be entering the portal-
Valparaiso freshman Maximus Nelson, a 6'8" forward from Appleton, Wisconsin, appeared in 31 games this past season, and started 22 games. He averaged 4.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and shot 37.3% overall, and 34.2% from three. His 4.6 ppg ranked 5th best on this year's team. And, he would have been Valpo's leading returning scorer next season if he stayed with the departure of Krikke, King, Greene, and Edwards.
His other offers out of high school included South Dakota State, William & Mary, UC Davis, SIU, Vermont, lehigh, Green Bay, North Dakota State, Toledo, SIUE, and Milwaukee.
Bio- https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbask...aximus-nelson/
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...maximus-nelson

That makes at least 40 MVC players in the portal, and as far as I can find, only 2 have landed with another D1 team so far. E.J. Bellinger and Michael Shanks, of Belmont, are transferring to Tennessee State. That appears it was probably a prearranged move, as the head coach at Tennessee State is Brian "Penny" Collins, who starred at Belmont from 2002-2006 and Casey Alexander, Belmont's current head coach, was an assistant coach on those Belmont teams under longtime Belmont head coach Rick Byrd. Casey Alexander and Penny Collins remain close friends.