This seems a little one sided Yoda, I can spin it the other way too:
Mast - One of the best centers ever at Nebraska already, helping them to an undefeated record in non-conference play so far after years of mediocrity.
Mosley - Made it to the G-League
Roberts - Was probably the best player on the team at Georgia last year, cashed in.
Reeves - Solid performance at Kentucky and cashed in on NIL.
Tyreke Key - Playing professionally in Europe
DJ Horne - Double digit scorer at a P5 school
Jones - Key contributor on the best team in the nation
Domask - Moved up to IL, got money, and is getting a lot of minutes
Yesufu - Won a championship at Kansas, cashed in on NIL
LaRavia - Actually on an NBA roster
Carter - Playing on a P5 team
Krikke - Key player on a BIG team this year
etc. Its all perspective.
Stryker, here's my reasoning - and note that I said some up-transfers end up doing well and have every reason to believe they made the right choice. But more do not, except possibly for the money.
First, I know they were all good players, so their outcomes did not surprise me at all, but I think most would have done better in the MVC
-Mast- would be right up there with DeVries for Player of the Year and a look from some NBA teams, but now will prob be a basement dweller in the Big 10
-Mosley, would have surely made the G-League but would have also had a way better senior year and likely been drafted. You think he's gonna stick in the G-League at 2 ppg? That's 14th of the 14 players on his team. 2 years ago he was predicted as a late 1st rounder, but by spring he'll be playing in Mexico.
-Roberts, also would have been in the running for POY and would have been 1st Team All-MVC, a conference CHAMPION and maybe gone to NCAA Tourney
..where is he now?
-Key- coulda skipped the whole year last year and still easily woulda been playing in a better place than Belgium, I think his stock dropped
-Horne- woulda got the same looks as AJ Green had he stayed in the MVC. His career 3-pt shooting in college is better than AJ Green's.
-Jones, well, you're just agreeing with me here but time will tell. He prob won't get NBA looks because he's a single digit scorer who shoots 28-30% from outside and avg just 2.5 assists.
-Domask, can't deny his playing time and scoring have gone down and can't buy a 3-pointer. He may turn out among the exceptions. If he stayed at SIU, he'd have gotten LaRavia-like looks and had just as good of a chance at the NBA.
-Yesufu- you have to google to find out where he is now, woulda been a star in the MVC- a la Dru Smith (who is in the NBA)
..also, his rumored NIL numbers are no better than what he'd have gotten at Drake..
-LaRavia- so you don't think he'd have gotten a shot at the NBA from Indiana State? I do.
-Carter- sure, but so did Dominik Olejnicsak & a few others, but who remembers? That's my point- the best players on Championship teams in the MVC end up doing better than 4th or 5th best players on mediocre P-5 teams, IMO.
-Krikke- again, you are agreeing with me but I also think he'd be a star in the MVC and get NBA looks anyway.
and Da Coach's suggestion of Brauns also bolsters my point of view. He gets so little PT, his entire season thus far is 2 minutes of DEEP garbage time in a 31 point blowout 2 weeks ago. He's prob on the phone as we speak begging Belmont to take him back.
And I didn't count Zek. His transfer was NOT an up-transfer. He's on maybe the 8th-10th best team in the A-10, when he could have been on the best team in the MVC with way better odds of playing in the post season, and maybe coulda been our best scorer getting NBA looks.