Transfer Portal

Men's Basketball
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Which are the best sites / Twitters to monitor players at who are candidates to “move up”?
We used to start lists of graduate transfer candidates- now we have to go deeper.
Just as following high school prospects/recruiting is a “thing” (was once told at a Rivals.com conference- two things people will pay for two things
on the internet- porn and recruiting - think about it!) following potential transfers that can be program changers will be a “thing”. And now with NIL- people will start whispering in the ears of prospective transfers how “green” it is on the other side of the fence.
We thought recruiting could be “dirty” before - welcome to the wild, wild, west!

“Hey coach - I can’t ‘get’ you Bobby Joe who is averaging 25ppg at Slippery Rock State - I’m his ‘agent’”

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I don’t think anyone (that I know of) tracks it during the season. After the season (or, as seasons end in March), here’s what I remember:

  • Verbal Commits (I think) had the full list, but it’s not terribly useful (e.g., not “ranked”)
  • The Athletic ($$) had a top 30-50 (I forget the number) but it was only available players, so it was hard to figure an absolute ranking of transfers. I think they also mixed in available HS seniors.
  • After that, I can’t remember. I think lots of sites did post facto transfer ratings, but I can’t remember if anyone else did real-time rankings
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Already some have portaled:

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https://www.verbalcommits.com/transfers/2021

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You’re not looking for a list of guys already in the portal, right?

Sounded more like you’re looking for a speculative list. Like this Stephen Curry guy at Davidson was underrecruited and is really blowing up this season, maybe he’ll want to transfer.

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Exactly - I think people will start building speculative lists - first/second team all conference candidates (non-power5s) are names that I would personally start with, then perhaps higher rated prospect that for some reason didn’t/don’t fit their current team) Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder - so those that are sought after might not have gaudy stats…

There are umpteen reasons that athletes look to make a transfer (home sick?, don’t like teammates, coach, food, etc. etc.) Those will be harder to find - but if a kid at Cal Poly or Florida Tech is blowing up and has 1, 2 (3?) years of eligibility left - they will get ATTENTION from schools / coaches who need players.

It has been proven over and over - coaches want to win (keep their jobs) and some (including assistants) will do just about anything to get the player(s) that they think they need…

So yes - I think there will be speculative lists out there - and I’ll bet coaches are already figuring out which of their own players that they might have to ‘re-recruit’.

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DaRon Holmes- Dayton
Tyler Burton- Richmond
Jordan Hall- St Joe’s
Trey Kaufman- Purdue

Playmaking forwards and athletic bigs that pair really well with traudt/Gardner (if he comes back)

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That looks like a wish list! Kaufman is favorite of mine…

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Jordan Hall is showing up in the 40s in mock drafts / big boards

I think the speculative list is probably first team all conference in the lower conferences. Especially if they play well in the tourney (like Obanor or the Groves bros). Those guys have made up a big number of the up transfers.

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Painter “You are going to back up Caleb Furst until he leaves”

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11

I know I am in the extreme of anti-RS, but the BS these coaches get these kids to parrot. My lord, it’s like a hostage video. “I’m really looking forward to a year of not playing so I can get better.” Like, do coaches have a straight face when they say this to kids? How could they possibly?

Simple question: who had a better developmental year last year: Taine, who rode the pine for the Breakers. Or Igor, who got a couple minutes with Ratiopharm, but played big minutes for Orange Academy. The RS thing would work better if there was some way that those guys could play in real games.

EDIT - just want to draw a distinction here: players at that age get better as they get older, esp. as they physically mature. But the idea that they get better BECAUSE they redshirted (i.e., that they are better than they would have been if they had played) just doesn’t resonate at all.

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12

If you can find a way to add one of those guys and keep Igor I’m all for it

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How good is Igor? I don’t ask that snarkily. For me, it’s a legit question, and I wish we had a better answer than we do. I thought we would have a better idea of his capabilities at this point. I feel like I have a better idea of what he can do at the college level from his Orange Academy tape or the few B/W highlights than anything we’ve seen in game action.

I was just trying to find some Igor highlights from UVa and it’s a desert. (I really wish I had a synergy account).

And then, to finish the thought: if we are definitely keeping Papi around and giving him minutes, and Shed’s back (as we all hope, I think). Then, it’s basically Igor v. Traudt for minutes next year.

I think I’m with Hooandtrue that I’d prefer a bouncy, athletic big in the mix somewhere. But where? I like the idea of Igor and Traudt as the offensive minded 4s or small 5s, and Shed + portal big, as our post next year, but I just don’t see it in the cards.

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Not sure but with Traudt arriving next year we might never get the chance to see it at UVA

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I think Igor is very refined offensively BUT being in UVas system hasnt been great for him so far. Hes a guy that is solid in transition and very good with open space, I think. Needs to become comfortable in the system and flourish from there. Lot of new guys spend early time thinking and not just playing (cause you kinda have to). We saw some exciting flashes early in the season and I think we see more

As fast as you need to go at this level it becomes more important to slow things down takes time

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Yeah, good points. I think this all relates to what you were saying yesterday about how the bench guys break through to get more PT. He doesn’t have enough reps in the system to be comfortable, and he’s not doing enough of anything else to break through. Yet.

I think the change in how Bennett has operated since 2012-13 or so, is either (1) the bar to “break through” is higher than it used to be, or (2) seems odd to say, given that the talent level on our team is not that high, we have more competent talent on our team now than we did in 12-13. Anderson, Nolte, and Tobey played right away because they had to. (Or, some combo of 1 and 2).

But to repeat something I may have said already: the reason why 13-14 was so much better than anyone expected it to be was that we had guys reaching a certain threshold of college minutes, all at the same time: Akil and Joe were the base, but Malc, Justin, Nolte, and Tobey (plus Gill at SC) getting big enough minutes in their true frosh seasons gave us the lift we needed for things to click, early in 2014.

NOT playing Igor, Taine, Murray, and/or McCorkle, is delaying that click moment for next year. In my opinion. (Which, to be fair, is sometimes wrong).

There isn’t going to be a click moment for Papi or Kody or Malachi. Or, (close your eyes everybody), Jayden Gardner**. So seeing those guys get so many minutes is ultimately a bit frustrating, to me.

** to clarify my Gardner thoughts on the “click”. IMO, Gardner won’t be ever be a key piece on a very good UVa team. He could be a role player on a very good UVa team. He has shown he can be a key piece on a meh to not that good UVa team. But I can’t see him being a key piece on a very good UVa team.

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In your opinion is likely correct though.

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18

Can you tell this to my wife? My boss? :joy:

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It just hit me. Igor is a much better version of Clemson’s Hunter Tyson who went off on us. Igors celing way higher and he is taller/ bigger but I like the general comparison. Tyson is having a very very good college career

And Hunter plays very freely in Clemsons system as an upper classman

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I’d like to see Taine get some playing time but NOT Murray. No way, no thanks!

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