NCAA Basketball: 5 keys to a successful and continuing HBCU movement

What more transfers should start doing

Key #4: Players must bypass transferring to power 5 programs, and started making the shift to HBCUs. 

Many 3-4 star prospects decide to commit to power schools out of high school because they think that those schools will help them reach their full potential, but sadly it does not always work out that smoothly. When they are unable to find their footing, they often enter their name into the NCAA Transfer portal and look to see which power 5 programs will enable them to play their style of basketball.

In other cases, some players (who played at a mid-major or power 5 school) simply decide to transfer because they recently graduated, and want to finish out their college careers at the school of their choice.

When those players announce that they are officially on the market, it is important to start recruiting them right away, because they won’t be available for very long. To me, HBCUs would be able to take their respective programs to the next level, if they are able to snag more of the coveted graduate transfers before the power 5 programs get to them.

However, getting graduate transfers can be extremely difficult, because the power 5 schools tend to go after them the hardest, and they typically succeed at obtaining them. So realistically, I think that if HBCUs are to land more former 3-4 star recruits, who have experience at a power 5 or mid-major school (even if it isn’t a whole lot ), they should be alright.

Look at guys like Trace Young, Blake Harris, Kwe Parker, Troy Baxter, and Ty Graves for example. They were all either 3 or 4- star recruits in high school, who transferred to HBCUs after they were unable to make things work at the mid-major and high major level.

Young is a former 3-star recruit, who recently transferred to Alabama State University, after playing one season at Wyoming (where he averaged 6.8 points per game and shot 37% from three), and one at John A. Logan College. Harris is a former 4-star recruit, who spent his first collegiate season at Missouri (where he only appeared in 14 games and averaged 3.8 points and 3.1 assists per game), and his second at NC State (where he averaged 3.1 points and 1.5 assists per game), before transferring to North Carolina A&T before the start of the 2019-2020 season.

Parker is a former 3-star recruit, who played one season at Tennessee (where he averaged just 1.0 point per game), and one season at Cape Fear Community College, before transferring to North Carolina A&T (where he averaged 7.2 points per game, and shot 38.8% from three last season). Baxter is a former 4-star recruit who played one season at UNLV (where he averaged 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game), and one at Florida Gulf Coast (where he averaged 7.5 points and 2.9 rebounds a game), before transferring to Morgan State (where he averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game).

And finally, Graves is a former 3-star recruit, who played alongside Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat starting Power Forward, and 14th pick in 2017 NBA Draft) during his senior year of high school, and only appeared in 11 games at Boston College, (where he averaged 4.8 points and 1.6 assists per game) before transferring to Saint Louis (where he never appeared in a game), and then making one final stop at North Carolina Central. (where he averaged 6.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per game last season)

These are the kinds of players that HBCUs should be trying to target aggressively more often because they could potentially be game-changers if they are utilized correctly. It’ll be especially interesting to see if more power 5 transfers decide to follow in Eastern’s footsteps, and make the transition from power 5 schools to HBCUs if they get a chance to play with potential one and done prospects.

Multiple HBCUs should look at programs such as North Carolina Central and Texas Southern (who had a few former 3-4 star recruits on their rosters last season, that played at a mid-major or power 5 school previously) if they wish to elevate their own programs.