NCAA Basketball: Analyzing 2021 forward James Graham III top 9 teams

Marquette Golden Eagles

While the Golden Eagles focused on acquiring great guards via the transfer portal, they did a great job rebuilding the frontcourt with a trio of four-star forward recruits. Dawson Garcia is the perceived best of the bunch, while Osasere Ighodaro and Justin Lewis are both more than capable of having an instant impact inside as well.

And that creates the problem for someone like Graham. While it’s unknown for now if he’s better than any of those four-star commits, it’s a major risk to only be one year behind them. He’d basically need one of them to either go pro early or be a bust and transfer out. Even though Marquette is one of the two local options on this list, it’s hard to see them landing a talented frontcourt prospect in next year’s class.

Maryland Terrapins

Between transfers and Jalen Smith going pro, Maryland’s frontcourt situation for the next season looks dire at the moment. But between Jairus Hamilton definitely being able to play (looking for a waiver after transferring from Boston College), and top-100 power forward commit Julian Reese joining the team, the Terps will be in better shape.

Of course, they could still use a developmental talent such as Graham. And unlike Marquette, he’ll be joining a frontcourt that’ll be upperclassmen heavy. Head coach Mark Turgeon has sent multiple frontcourt players to the NBA and would be great with developing the versatile athlete.