Transfer portal

[Da Coach]

Indiana State walk-on freshman Isaac Holmes has entered the transfer portal-

https://verbalcommits.com/players/isaac-holmes

Bio- https://gosycamores.com/sports/mens-...ac-holmes/7361

He did not play at all this season, so probably redshirted.


MVC player in the portal- the list now has at least 39 names-
Jace Carter- UIC
Jalen Jackson- UIC
Blaise Beauchamp- Evansville
Jonathan Dunn- Missouri State
Evan Brauns- Belmont
Dawson Carper- Missouri State
Kenny White, Jr.- Murray State
Cam Palesse - Valparaiso
Frank Jacubicek- Belmont
Michael Shanks- Belmont - transferring to Tennessee State
Antoine Smith- Evansville
Jonathan Mogbo- Missouri State
Joe Petrakis- Illinois State
E.J. Bellinger- Belmont - transferring to Tennessee State
Okay Djamgouz- Drake
Rienk Mast- Bradley
Alston Andrews- Illinois State
Bryceson Burns- Drake
Trey Hall- Evansville
Liam McChesney- Illinois State
Issa Samake- Drake
Ben Krikke- Valparaiso- Transferring to Iowa
Cameron Crawford- Indiana State
Zach Hobbs- Indiana State
James "Pop" Weathers- Bradley
Chris Moncrief- Evansville
Preston Phillips- Evansville
Zaveion Chism-- Evansville
Gabe Spinelli- Evansville
Matúš Malovec- Evansville
Dalton Banks- SIU
D.J. Burns- Murray State
Zek Montgomery- Bradley
Logan McIntire- Evansville
Marcus Domask- SIU - Transferring to Illinois
Rob Martin- Indiana State- transferring to SEMO
Lance Jones- SIU- transferring to Purdu
Jaxson Edwards- Murray State
Isaac Holmes- Indiana State
Max Nelson- Valparaiso
Preston Ruedinger- Valparaiso
Alex Kotov- Illinois State
Foster Wonders- SIU

[Dubl R 1]

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.

[tomahawk chop]

I am hoping we can get some visits these next 10 days and get at least a few commitments in players we have targeted that fit our needs. I really want players that can contribute now. We have enough bench players.

[Da Coach]

There are now more than 1,250 names in the D1 transfer portal, and another 685 in the D2 portal, with more being added every day. And the great majority of them are uncommitted. Unlike past years, they are not mostly the marginal players who are looking for another school offering more playing time. Many of them are starters, key players, and talented players from good mid-major and high-major schools who are looking for better NIL deals than they have. There are lots of good guards and forwards, and a limited number of centers. Looking at the overall talent available, Rienk Mast is among the better centers and should get a good NIL deal when he commits. However, with all the good guards and wings available, I'm not sure Zek will find anywhere near the demand he was hoping for. Pop Weathers will probably end up in the SWAC or an equivalent low-major program.

D1 portal- https://verbalcommits.com/transfers/2023/D1
D2 portal- https://verbalcommits.com/transfers/2023/D2

[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.

[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]

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.

[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]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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]

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...