NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest offseason takeaways heading into 2020-21 season

Transfers, Waivers Galore

Even though a lot of the offseason news was viewed in a negative light because of the pandemic, the transfer market was still thriving as much as ever. With more than 880 transfers on this offseason’s list, there was sure to be some top talent going to top schools. Factor that with the fact that the NCAA seemed as if it was giving more waivers for immediate eligibility than it ever has, then we may be looking at the wildest transfer market ever seen.

Olivier Sarr, arguably the best transfer on the market, was finally granted eligibility for Kentucky this past week. Sarr, who averaged 13.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game for Wake Forest last season, inarguably boosts the Wildcats’ preseason ranking.

Carlik Jones, the former Radford star, keeps Louisville in the mix despite the loss of Jordan Nwora to the NBA. Former Harvard big man Seth Towns hopes to fill the loss of Kaleb Wesson and keep Ohio State in the Big Ten mix.

I could go on for hours listing transfers who could elevate teams into NCAA Tournament contention. The bottom line is that it is a good thing for the top teams in the sport that talent is flowing into their programs from other schools.

It is unfortunate for mid-major schools, though. These programs are losing players to power conference teams at inopportune times. Especially with the waiver situation this year, it must be hard for these teams to suffer these losses with nothing back in return. The transfer situation is good for the NCAA Basketball heavyweights, but one cannot talk about the market without talking about how some of the smaller teams suffer from it.

All said and done, NCAA Basketball seems to be coming back in just about a month. Fans have been craving to see their teams in action since the unforeseen shutdown in March. Remarkably, the season is only days away, and there is tangible national excitement leading up to Thanksgiving.