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NCAA Basketball: Which teams need grad-transfer point guards?

By Brad Cavallaro

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Chris Mack of the Xavier Musketeers reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars during semifinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Chris Mack of the Xavier Musketeers reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars during semifinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: Head coach Bob Huggins of the West Virginia Mountaineers reacts in the second half against the Murray State Racers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: Head coach Bob Huggins of the West Virginia Mountaineers reacts in the second half against the Murray State Racers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) /

West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia has enormous shoes to fill in the backcourt as Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles have graduated. Both players were four-year starters which only exacerbates this issue.

James Bolden played well as an offensive spark plug for West Virginia, but it is unclear how he would handle full-time PG duties. Brandon Knapper missed all of his freshman season and Jordan McCabe is borderline Top-100 freshman so inserting a veteran presence would be ideal.

Unfortunately, West Virginia has not been mentioned with any fifth-year point guards. There is still plenty of time, but options are starting to dwindle. Adding a veteran PG and shifting Bolden to the off-guard position would make the Mountaineers a consensus top 25 squad.

Northwestern Wildcats and Texas Tech Red Raiders

I am grouping these two teams together because they are both pursuing one of the hottest grad transfers on the market, Matt Mooney. Mooney averaged 18.7 ppg and 3.1 apg for South Dakota but is being pursued as a lead guard by both teams.

Texas Tech has a huge hole at PG since Keenan Evans graduated, but is deep and talented at every other position. Rising sophomore Davide Moretti is definitely a rotation piece, but would be the weak link as a full time starting PG. CJ Roberts has yet to play college basketball yet and Josh Webster was sporadically used last season so there is a clear opportunity for Mooney.

Mooney would have the same opportunity at Northwestern where Bryant McIntosh’s graduation has left freshman Jordan Lathon as the projected starter. While Texas Tech has some inexperienced lead guards, Northwestern does not have any proven capable PGs.

Both teams could crack the top 25 by adding a PG of Mooney’s caliber and Mooney would get plenty of shots and minutes at either destination. The school that misses out should definitely dive back in the grad-transfer market as adding a veteran PG is crucial.

Next: Ranking Matt Mooney's transfer options

These are the seven teams that need a grad transfer PG the most. There are some additional options whose recruitments have been quieter or are being pursued by teams that do not need a veteran PG as bad as these seven teams.

These players include Khwan Fore, Tre Campbell, Robert Cartwright, Zaynah Robinson, Jayln Patterson, and Christen Cunningham. It is worth noting that Cunningham is visiting Oregon State, a team that just missed this list and could be NCAA tournament-caliber with a quality PG.

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