NCAA Basketball: Analyzing transfer Marcus Santos-Silva final 6 teams

The inclusion of Marcus Santos-Silva into the NCAA Basketball transfer portal gives teams another shot at a quality big. Who is in the running for the former VCU forward?

With Purdue big man Matt Haarms going to BYU and off the list of possible NCAA Basketball transfer free agents, the pool of impact frontcourt players got more shallow. However, teams still looking for a starting big man for next season are encouraged by the news that VCU center Marcus Santos-Silva has entered the portal.

The 6’7, 250-pound big man has been a starter for the Rams in the past couple of seasons. This year, he led the team in both points (12.8 ppg) and rebounds (8.9 rpg). He started out with a dominant 21-point and 18-rebound performance against Saint Francis (PA) and had several other big games, including going for 26 and 12 versus George Mason and 24 points against Duquesne.

More of a throwback frontcourt player, Santos-Silva doesn’t space the floor or shoot from the outside but instead, is an efficient big from inside and can be dominant when given the ball. Considering how slow-paced VCU can be on offense, the junior forward’s numbers could be even better in another situation.

https://twitter.com/Marcus7345/status/1253403612648259587

We’ll find out next season, now that Santos-Silva has moved on from the Rams. And he’s already announced a list of six teams in the running to land him. It was interesting to see the Kentucky Wildcats, who missed out on Haarms, not be one of the programs in the running. But maybe they can come out of nowhere to grab him, as Louisville did with Charles Minlend.

Which of the teams are in the best position to land him? Here’s a closer look at the pros and cons of each potential situation, along with how much Santos-Silva would benefit.