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

Memphis Tigers

It’s already been a great past week for the Tigers, recently landing five-star center prospect Moussa Cisse for next season. He’s the fourth five-star commitment in Penny Hardaway’s short tenure, with the team already looking towards an elite 2021 recruiting class. If Evansville transfer Deandre Williams gets a waiver and plays in 2020-21, then both he and Cisse likely won’t be around by the time Graham would potentially arrive.

But that also means that Memphis will be aggressive in both the transfer market and on the recruiting trail. There’s plenty of interest by players for this team and for a 3/4 star prospect such as Graham, he could easily be over-recruited at any time. That makes it a risky situation for him to join unless he can be an instant impact player out the gate.

Michigan State Spartans

Having an opportunity to play for Tom Izzo will always be hard for players to pass up, especially those who come from the Midwest region. And the fact that he does play upperclassmen on the roster serviceable minutes is a good selling point for a player such as Graham that may fear getting over-recruited.

While Xavier Tillman will be gone no matter what, there are still several frontcourt players on the projected 2021-22 Michigan State roster that’ll get more minutes than Graham. That includes Malik Hall, Marcus Bingham, and even Thomas Kithier. This doesn’t even include Virginia transfer Joey Hauser and incoming top-40 center recruit Mady Sissoko. If Graham is willing to wait until his junior season to have a real impact, then Michigan State could have a real chance in this race.