NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing grad transfer Justin Turner’s finalists

Iowa State Cyclones

The injury to Tyrese Haliburton effectively ended the Cyclones campaign this season and with he and multiple seniors leaving, the program is going to be in rebuilding mode a bit. Of course, landing a talent like Turner would be as great a stopgap as one can ask for in terms of keeping Iowa State competitive in the Big 12.

He would be working alongside leading scorer Rasir Bolton and forward Solomon Young, with Troy transfer Javan Johnson coming off a redshirt season. But unless another top-tier transfer comes forward to join Turner, it’s hard to see Iowa State both finishing in the top-6 of the conference but also making the NCAA Tournament. He’d get plenty of playing time though.

Louisville Cardinals

Production from the guard position was a weak spot for the Cardinals last season and based on the early work in the transfer portal, head coach Chris Mack plans on solving that issue. But in terms of making it work with a player like Turner, it all could depend on what Jay Scrubbs decides to do. The No. 1 rated JUCO prospect in the 2020 class has declared for the NBA Draft but could return. If he does, he and sophomore Samuell Williamson would be on the 2/3 positions on the court.

This is also assuming that leading scorer Jordan Nwora also goes pro this offseason but the situation with the draft process may have him stay after all. Louisville is hurt a bit by the upcoming decisions but Turner, who played nearby at Bowling Green could still end up wanting to play for a top-tier ACC program.