Transfer portal news

[tomahawk chop]

Bringing his team from D2 to the MVC worked. It’ll be curious to see how it works out doing the same thing from the MVC to the Big 10.

Right now they do not have enough size. I thought Drake was not a great shooting team and won a lot of games by getting offensive rebounds. Jayson Kent was a good rebounder for Ind.St. but not for Texas. The main difference between the power conf. schools and the mid-major ones is the size difference. I do not see Iowa winning a lot more games if they do not find some bigger and better players.

 

[yoda]

the last two years the dominant team in the MVC was made up of several DII guys.... plus a couple talented transfers...
and coached by a talented coach with lots of experience .... sure, it could happen again, but lots of DII guys have played in the MVC
and few have ever had dominant careers.

Both 23-24 InSU & 24-25 Drake teams were able to beat some also-rans in the post-season but still ended up falling flat & getting knocked out. I am skeptical that the next jump to the Big Ten or even (InSU's case) to the A-10 - are going to be easy routes to success at the higher level. Time will tell, but the one thing that both teams (in 2024 & 2025) prove is that a good point guard and 3-point shooting wins in the MVC.

(however, InSU's point guard had 430 pts & 188 assists in 2023-24 for the Sycamores, then transferred to Texas and had just 161 pts and 102 assists)

 

[yoda]

Here's a kid in the portal I'd love to see Bradey get...a really good scorer and defender...

Tyon-Grant Foster, was originally a Kansas City area kid who graduated Class of 2018, only a year behind Elijah Childs - both of whom were named to the Kansas City All-area teams.

He went to juco 2 years, then played the Covid year, then had a medical redshirt year - then two more years at GCU, becoming their best scorer & player.
So even though he has been out of high school seven years, and is already 25 years old, he STILL could have two more seasons of eligibility, because the Covid year and the medical redshirt year don't count against him, and he could also get the extra juco year.
I suspect he will go higher than mid-major, but here are his 2024-25 stats- 14.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.1 asst, 1.5 blocks, 1.7 steals.
All of those numbers except the assists would have placed him high among the leaders in the MVC.

 

[bradleyfan124]

Here's a kid in the portal I'd love to see Bradey get...a really good scorer and defender...

Tyon-Grant Foster, was originally a Kansas City area kid who graduated Class of 2018, only a year behind Elijah Childs - both of whom were named to the Kansas City All-area teams.

He went to juco 2 years, then played the Covid year, then had a medical redshirt year - then two more years at GCU, becoming their best scorer & player.
So even though he has been out of high school seven years, and is already 25 years old, he STILL could have two more seasons of eligibility, because the Covid year and the medical redshirt year don't count against him, and he could also get the extra juco year.
I suspect he will go higher than mid-major, but here are his 2024-25 stats- 14.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.1 asst, 1.5 blocks, 1.7 steals.
All of those numbers except the assists would have placed him high among the leaders in the MVC.

Pass the word along to the powers that be

 

[Bacci'sAftertheGym]

Part-time starter at Loyola Chicago Jalen Quinn has entered the portal. Has 1 year left. Originally from Tuscola, IL and was recruited by lots of mid-majors out of high school.
Unsure if he'd be looking for more play time in the MVC, but he'd be an immediate impact player and an awesome veteran presence to the freshmen coming in next year.
long shot but secretly hoping this is the guy DC talked about having a visit a couple days ago.

 

[Da Coach]

Part-time starter at Loyola Chicago Jalen Quinn has entered the portal. Has 1 year left. Originally from Tuscola, IL and was recruited by lots of mid-majors out of high school.
Unsure if he'd be looking for more play time in the MVC, but he'd be an immediate impact player and an awesome veteran presence to the freshmen coming in next year.
long shot but secretly hoping this is the guy DC talked about having a visit a couple days ago.

Bradley coaches did follow him when he was in high school in Tuscola, but never offered him before he announced his commitment to Loyola in August, 2021, before his senior year.
In his 3 seasons at Loyola, he's never broken consistently into their starting lineup, and he is a poor perimeter shooter whose outside shooting hasn't improved in his 3 college seasons. And from what I have seen of his play, he's a decent passer and defender, but not a great ball-handler.
It's possible that Bradley might contact him now that he's in the portal, though I have not heard that they have.
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/5105965/jalen-quinn

 

[tomahawk chop]

Bradley coaches did follow him when he was in high school in Tuscola, but never offered him before he announced his commitment to Loyola in August, 2021, before his senior year.
In his 3 seasons at Loyola, he's never broken consistently into their starting lineup, and he is a poor perimeter shooter whose outside shooting hasn't improved in his 3 college seasons. And from what I have seen of his play, he's a decent passer and defender, but not a great ball-handler.
It's possible that Bradley might contact him now that he's in the portal, though I have not heard that they have.
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/5105965/jalen-quinn

I want a one and done player that is capable of scoring in double figures most of the time.

 

[yoda]

Part-time starter at Loyola Chicago Jalen Quinn .....

You gotta really feel bad for Loyola. ( ) With graduation losses and the portal, now of their top 9 guys who played more than 6 minutes per game, looks like they maybe returning only 2- possibly 3 of them. (Rubin 9.6ppg & Houinsou 5.8ppg, plus maybe Moore who only played 9 early season games then went out with a season ending knee injury)

 

[bradleyfan124]

A total of 2007 players have gone into the transfer portal so far

 

[Steve Zalutsky]

Maybe I'm being impatient, but I'm hearing all these schools landing players in the portal. Are we close to landing one? Is BU lagging behind? Are we just being real picky? Is it extremely complex with thousands in the portal?

 

[bradleyfan124]

My guess is they're being picky. Bradley has a core group coming back. They want to find players that fit well with that group and still fit the needs of the team

 

[Da Coach]

Maybe I'm being impatient, but I'm hearing all these schools landing players in the portal. Are we close to landing one? Is BU lagging behind? Are we just being real picky? Is it extremely complex with thousands in the portal?

Yes, SZ, It's early. The BU commitments will come.
And this week has been an NCAA recruiting Dead Period, so there hasn't been much action.
And considering how many players have exited the MVC, there have been relatively few new portal commitments so far (a total of 8 portal transfers for 11 MVC teams)

The two teams wiped out by coaching changes and near-complete roster departures (Murray St. & Drake) have landed most of the transfers so far (6 of the 8 ), because they are a bit more desperate to reload their rosters, and their new coaches have brought in players they had connections with from their prior coaching jobs.

Here are the MVC portal transfers, so far...
The numbers are not meant as criticism of any player, but to compare with the huge amount of production each team lost from this past season.

Murray State-
Mason Miller- 1.1 ppg and 17% from three at Creighton- he is the nephew of new Murray State head coach Ryan Miller and played for him as an assistant at Creighton
Fredrick King- 2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg at Creighton- also played for new Murray State head coach at Creighton,
K.J. Tenner- 2.4 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 1.1 apg at West Virginia
Ben Shtolzberg- 3.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.5 apg, 20.0% from three at UC Santa Barbara- he also previously played for Ryan Miller at Creighton

Drake-
Braden Appelhans- 3.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.5 apg in 31 games at New Mexico
Owen Larson- 9.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 38.7% from three- played for new Drake coach Eric Henderson at South Dakota State

Belmont-
Isaiah West- 2.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.7 apg in 31 games at Samford

UIC-
Mekhi Lowery- 5.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 20.0% from three in 29 games at Towson

Evansville-
A.J. Casey- three year career average 1.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 8.7% from three, and a career total of 13 assists in 56 games​

​

 

[bradleyfan124]

The MVC losing players is killing the conference. In the game last night the leading scorer for Florida was Richards who played at Belmont a couple years ago

 

[Da Coach]

The MVC losing players is killing the conference. In the game last night the leading scorer for Florida was Richards who played at Belmont a couple years ago

Yes, and it's not just MVC teams. Johni Broome, Auburn's dominating big man, who has won multiple National Player of the Year awards, played the first 2 years of his college career at Morehead State. And just about every team in the Sweet 16 had key players that transferred in from mid-major schools.

 

[Stryker]

Yes, and it's not just MVC teams. Johni Broome, Auburn's dominating big man, who has won multiple National Player of the Year awards, played the first 2 years of his college career at Morehead State. And just about every team in the Sweet 16 had key players that transferred in from mid-major schools.

According to the graphic you posted showing the player originations on the S16 teams, a full 30% of the starting players on the S16 teams came from mid & low major programs. National champion Florida had 3/5 of their starting players come from mid majors, maybe even 4/5 if you think Washington State isn't a real power program. Auburn had 3/5 as well. Duke is a special case as they still stick to the freshman model for now, but had one starter that came from Tulane. Will be interesting if Duke changes its model going forward as it seems the experience model that Houston used may have an edge over the freshman phenom model. Houston had all major program kids, but they were all seniors or graduate players, very experienced.

 

[egib52]

From what I heard on a recent podcast, when the settlement gets finalized regarding revenue sharing, there is going to be a crack down on NIL pay to play. Deloitte will be tasked with making sure NIL deals are based on fair market value of services rendered. So the big schools are trying to lock up all of their NIL agreements before that happens. That is allegedly why the P4 is signing all of these transfers for more money than guys would have gotten in previous years, and also likely why there has been less movement on the midmajor front. Most guys are probably holding out to see if someone throws money at them.

 

[Da Coach]

According to the graphic you posted showing the player originations on the S16 teams, a full 30% of the starting players on the S16 teams came from mid & low major programs. National champion Florida had 3/5 of their starting players come from mid majors, maybe even 4/5 if you think Washington State isn't a real power program. Auburn had 3/5 as well. ...

Here is that graphic, for anyone who hasn't seen it. It shows the Sweet 16 teams and where their starting players originated. It does not name each school, so that was left for the observer to guess. Some are easy, others not so easy...Purdue was the only school with all of their starting players recruited directly by them. Michigan State and Duke had 4 out of 5.
The 2 finalists, Auburn (first column on top) and Florida (5th column on top) each only had one player recruited directly.

 

[Da Coach]

Updating the transfer list now with Evansville getting St. Louis transfer A.J. Casey-

There are 9 MVC portal transfers, so far...
The numbers are not meant as criticism of any player, but to compare with the huge amount of production each team lost from this past season.

Murray State-
Mason Miller- 1.1 ppg and 17% from three at Creighton- he is the nephew of new Murray State head coach Ryan Miller and played for him as an assistant at Creighton
Fredrick King- 2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg at Creighton- also played for new Murray State head coach at Creighton,
K.J. Tenner- 2.4 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 1.1 apg at West Virginia
Ben Shtolzberg- 3.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.5 apg, 20.0% from three at UC Santa Barbara- he also previously played for Ryan Miller at Creighton
Drake-
Braden Appelhans- 3.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.5 apg in 31 games at New Mexico
Owen Larson- 9.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 38.7% from three- played for new Drake coach Eric Henderson at South Dakota State
Belmont-
Isaiah West- 2.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.7 apg in 31 games at Samford
UIC-
Mekhi Lowery- 5.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 20.0% from three in 29 games at Towson
Evansville-
A.J. Casey- three year career average 1.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 8.7% from three, and a total of 13 assists in 56 career games at Miami & St. Louis​

 

[yoda]

Yeah- not sure I see any Newcomer of the Year candidates yet - BUT -- I guess this is exactly what we expected
when the rules now allow teams to use 15 scholarships this fall. Every kid in the portal wants to be on a Power Conference team, so the 2000 portal kids are all vying for the 4 or 5 spots on each of 60 to 70 P-5 teams.

Once those scholarships all get filled, then all the mid-majors will battle it out for the leftovers and the ones at the bottom of the barrel.

I think Bradley, just because of their recent success, has as good of a chance as anyone to get a starter-caliber portal player or one of the few top juco kids not yet committed. If you look at Bradley's success the past ~3 years (Duke, Christian Davis, Mikey Howell Terry Roberts, Malevy, Dillon, Corey Thomas) then I think we've done about as well as anyone else except Drake. The only real portal "misses" recently didn't hurt too bad as they were gone the following year (and some even sooner) and opened up their scholarship anyway.
As all mid-major coaches say - it's a whole new ballgame, You have to recruit & re-recruit your entire lineup every year.

 

[LongTimeFan]

They might not have hurt in the long run but some of them were counted on as starter or top reserves at the time they were recruited. It did hurt the next year. Wardle values players staying in the program. Can he adjust to the new environment? It hurts to be short two staff members at this time. Hoping for the best possible in recruiting and hiring new staff.