NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing grad transfer Matt Haarms 10 teams

Arkansas Razorbacks

There’s a running joke on social media that Eric Musselman gets notified every time a new player enters the transfer portal. And considering how many different players have Arkansas among their finalists, that’s probably the case. The Razorbacks already landed a pair of grad transfers in guard Jalen Tate from Northern Kentucky and Vance Jackson from New Mexico.

But Arkansas already has a 7’3 big man on the roster in Connor Vanover, who sat out last season after leaving Cal. Haarms would certainly be an upgrade over the sophomore big but I worry about the recruiting consequences of getting another player after one was sitting out. It also could bury top-75 incoming center Jaylin Williams on the depth chart as well. You can’t count out Musselman in the offseason but I’m not sure this is a good fit for either side.

Arizona Wildcats

With the graduations of both Chase Jeter and Ston Gettings, Arizona is in massive need of a frontcourt player who has some kind of offensive game. Both Ira Lee and Christian Koloko are good defenders and rebounders but neither can score much. That doesn’t include Jordan Brown, a former five-star transfer from Nevada who played sparingly. He’s a natural power forward so it doesn’t negatively affect Haarms on the roster.

The Wildcats do have some firepower on the perimeter with Brandon Williams coming back from injury, along with UConn transfer guard James Akinjo and Seattle U grad transfer guard Terrell Brown, who scorer over 20 ppg this past season. Coach Sean Miller has done well with bigs and could help develop the big man’s game. Also, Haarms being a foreign player helps because grad transfers from the East don’t travel out west much, so that alone increases the odds for the Wildcats.