NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing 3-star guard TJ Caldwell top 8 teams
Mississippi State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs landed several transfers this offseason, including guard pickups, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts. Both of them have multiple years left of eligibility so that could cause a logjam for players like Caldwell in the future. They’re also transfer-happy and could very well add more guards next offseason instead of trying to develop underclassmen.
But head coach Ben Howland does have a good history of developing talent, including last season’s leading scorer Iverson Molinar. And with there not being anyone committed in the 2022 class, Caldwell could end up in the rotation early if the Bulldogs don’t add multiple guards next offseason.
Ole Miss Rebels
One of the younger teams in the SEC, the Rebels freshmen class includes talented top-30 point guard Daeshun Ruffin, along with four-star shooting guards, James White and Grant Slatten. And there’s former top-30 prospect Matthew Murrell, who will get a larger role in the offense now that Devante Shuler has moved on.
That’s already tough enough for someone like Caldwell to find meaningful minutes when he joins the program, and Ole Miss currently has a shooting guard commit in Nick Krass in the 2022 class. I just don’t see a clear pathway for the recruit in question unless several players leave early or transfer out.
Oklahoma Sooners
There’s a ton of current depth for the Sooner’s backcourt but after next year should clear out. There are four seniors on the roster, although both Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless could take a 5th year if they wanted to. It’s more important that top-50 freshman shooting guard CJ Noland is likely to start for a couple of years, forcing Caldwell to back him up unless he goes pro or struggles altogether.
New head coach Porter Moser is used to working with under-the-radar prospects such as Caldwell and with his development, could possibly turn him into a future star. At the same time, Oklahoma has been aggressive in targeting top-tier class of 2022 prospects and in a few months, could have already over-recruited Caldwell.