NCAA Basketball: 50 under-the-radar mid-major transfers for 2021-22 season
G Robert Green III – Robert Morris Colonials (Horizon League)
2020-21 stats: 16.0 ppg and 3.7 apg
The 5’10 guard had a breakout sophomore season at Bryant and was part of the 4th-highest scoring offense in the country last year. He wasn’t the most efficient, shooting just 37% from the field overall but is difficult to stop when he’s hot, including a career-high 33-point effort at UMass.
Robert Morris wasn’t good last season and lost its 20 ppg and 10 rpg star AJ Bramah to Nevada. But they did add several transfers, including Ferron Flavors and Rasheem Dunn from Oklahoma State and St. John’s respectively. But they’ll need a go-to option on offense to have the scoring needed to be a threat in the Horizon League.
F Marcus Larsson – Illinois-Chicago (Horizon League)
2020-21 stats: 8.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg
The 6’11 big man only played 14 games last season for Incarnate Word and overall wasn’t as consistent. But Larsson has potential, having three double-doubles and five games of at least 10 rebounds.
The Flames needed a big man itself after losing last season’s starting center Braelen Bridges to Georgia. He averaged 9.9 ppg and 4.8 rpg with UIC so if Larsson can just replicate that, his pickup will be viewed as a success.
F Quinn Slazinski – Iona Gaels (MAAC)
2020-21 stats: 6.2 ppg and 3.6 rpg
The 6’8 forward started eight games at Louisville last season and had five games of double-digit scoring. While he’s not a prolific scorer in the frontcourt, Slazinski still can be an effective starter at the MAAC level and has spacing potential as well.
While Tyson Jolly and Elijah Joiner got much more fanfare as incoming transfers this upcoming season, the former Cardinal bolsters an already strong frontcourt featuring center Dylan van Eyck and forward Nelly Junior Joseph. That kind of depth will make the Gaels very difficult to beat in league play.
G Jose Perez – Manhattan Jaspers (MAAC)
2020-21 stats: 3.1 ppg and 0.7 rpg
It was simply a disastrous experiment for Perez at Marquette but don’t forget how good he was in two seasons at Gardner-Webb, where he averaged 15.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, and 3.6 apg. The MAAC is much more comparable to the Big South than the Big East in terms of talent so the hope is that Perez can get back into form.
If that happens, it could genuinely propel Manhattan to the top tier of the conference. Including Perez, the entire roster is all juniors or seniors and returns the top six scorers from last year. The former Golden Eagle can give them another capable scorer and two-way player capable of defense and considering who Iona added this offseason, may end up being the most valuable Jasper this season.
G KJ Walton – Akron Zips (MAC)
2020-21 stats: 16.4 ppg and 5.9 rpg
We have a rare 6th-year intra-conference transfer here in Walton, who had played a total of 125 NCAA Basketball games at both Missouri and Ball State. He’s coming off a career year in leading the team in scoring and had at least eight points in every game last year, including a career-high 32 points against Eastern Michigan.
What makes Walton very interesting is that while he’s 6’3, the veteran guard doesn’t shoot the ball from deep at all. And despite that, opposing defenses still struggle to slow him down. He’ll be the hopeful replacement for All-MAC player Loren Jackson, who moved on after scoring 22 ppg. Akron was one of the top three-point shooting teams last year but if Walton becomes the focal point of the offense, will have to change things up a bit.