NCAA Basketball: Top 10 takeaways from first week of 2022 offseason
It’s been just one week since Kansas defeated North Carolina to win the 2022 NCAA Basketball national championship. And that signified the official start into the offseason, with hundreds of transfer, recruiting, and NBA Draft decisions to be made.
Just seven days in and there have been a ton of big transfer announcements, including the departures of mid-major stars, Norchad Omier, Kenneth Lofton Jr., and Johni Broome. Several key names have picked new teams, including Neal Quinn to Richmond, Jackie Johnson Jr. to UNLV, and Arizona State landed brothers Desmond and Devan Cambridge.
But what else is going on? Here’s my ranking of the 10 biggest pieces of news that have occurred.
10. Bryant lands NCAA Tournament star Doug Edert
After the historic run to the Elite 8, Saint Peter’s is going through a complete rebuild a couple of weeks later. Head coach Shaheen Holloway is off to Seton Hall, while several key players have entered the portal, including guard Doug Edert, who averaged 9.5 ppg on over 41% from three-point range mainly off the bench.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me throughout my transfer process. I am super excited to announce that I have COMMITTED to Bryant University!!! #GoBulldogs pic.twitter.com/nPvJ0wuwA1
— Doug Edert (@DougEdert2) April 10, 2022
The man with the famous mustache didn’t have a long recruitment, ultimately landing at Bryant, coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance of its own. With the nation’s leading scorer Peter Kiss likely going pro, the Bulldogs are reloading as they head to the America East. Charles Pride is a 20 ppg scorer in his own right, while incoming transfers, Antwan Walker, Kvonn Cramer, and Sherif Kenney are also set to join.
As big a name as Edert became in March, it was never realistic that he would end up at the high-major level. Bryant is a very solid option and he’ll get minutes there, as well as a solid chance at getting back to the NCAA Tournament.