NCAA Basketball: Current ranking of top 100 transfers in 2022 offseason
By Bryan Mauro
As soon as Kansas was crowned the NCAA Basketball national champion the focus could then shift to the offseason for every program. That means that over the next few weeks we are going to see a ton of coaching changes and as coaches start meeting with their current players, we will continue to see names end up in the transfer portal with players looking for a new school. There are going to be a lot of players who change teams this year.
Just to reset a bit, Murray State and LSU have changed coaches and their entire teams have entered the transfer portal, there are some other schools who have either recruited over a current player or the coaching staff has decided they no longer need the players’ services. I know that sounds crazy, but it happens all the time.
One thing to keep in mind this year, which is likely going to cause a frenzy for the next couple of weeks, is the deadline to be eligible for next season without a waiver is May 1st. The players must be declared and in the transfer portal by that day to be eligible for next season without a waiver.
The May 1st deadline is going to give everyone including coaches a clear picture of their roster before the live periods that start here in a few weeks. The other thing to keep in mind is that the Covid year is still going to affect rosters across the country as players who should have graduated last year are going to still be playing. Super Seniors are still a thing and that is also having a huge effect on the transfer portal and players entering.
There are currently over 1,200 players in the portal, and it will grow likely in the next few weeks before it levels off. There are a ton of names in the transfer portal and not all of them are going to get a scholarship offer, most of them will and others will drop down to Division 2 and some won’t play basketball anymore.
I have taken the liberty of sifting through all these transfers and have found the top 100 uncommitted transfers in the portal. This list is through 04/11/2022 at Midnight Central Time. Everything that has happened up until then is outlined in the list below. If a player commits after that date, I will update their record with their commitment. The committed transfers will be outlined in another article.
100. Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu – Junior
You would be hard-pressed to find another list of transfers that has Kao on it, but this is the first one and I love Kao. Not only does he have one of the best names in all of NCAA Basketball he is an athletic freak who can jump out of a gym. In his time at Texas Arlington, he had games where he would not score at all but would make an impact on the glass and blocking shots.
The big man is one of the best shot blockers in the transfer portal and he is going to get looks because of his ability to rebound and block shots. When he does try to score, he shoots almost 70% from the floor. Kao will do well with a change of scenery and will still be one of the best shot blockers in the country.
99. Andrew Carr – Sophomore
There were not many people who knew about Andrew Carr prior to the run by Delaware in March. Carr was a crucial piece for the Blue Hens’ run to the NCAA tournament and played well in their opening round game against Villanova. Carr is stretch four that is extremely efficient from the floor. He shoots over 40% from deep and over 56% from the floor.
Carr is also a sneaky good defender and rim protector. In the right offense and with the right coaching staff, he can be one of the best players on the team.
98. Callum McRae – Junior
Anyone who has watched UC Riverside play basketball understands what I am about to say. McRae with his 11-point-per-game average dominated the game for them on offense. The Highlanders didn’t score much and did most of their damage on the defensive end. The 7’1″ center was also a problem for opponents on that end of the floor as well.
He didn’t have a ton of blocked shots, but he is a big body who plays sound defense and makes it tough to score in the paint. He cleaned up the misses and is a tremendous defensive rebounder. The junior big man will be a nice help off the bench for whichever team he chooses in the portal.
97. Kamari McGee – Freshman (Committed to Wisconsin)
The guard is a transfer from Green Bay. The Phoenix was not a very good team last year and McGee elected to transfer. He had a good freshman season that saw him stuff the stat sheet. However, no one is going to be enamored with his shooting percentages and his efficiency. He is a talented player who is going to improve on those numbers, and he is going to get a long look in the transfer portal as he is oozing with potential.
McGee can in the play power five, but he likely won’t play it right away out of the portal, wherever he goes expect to see a large improvement in efficiency. McGee is going to start and be expected to score wherever he goes.
96. Hassan Drame – Junior
The Junior big man from Saint Peter’s is going to come as a package deal with his twin brother who is also in the transfer portal. Drame is not going to provide much defense and he may not fill up the stat sheet every game but what he will do is play great defense and rebound and make winning plays. Drame isn’t going to be the reason that a team loses a lot of games; he rebounds the ball well and is good from the line.
Keep in mind that Shaheen Holloway the former coach at Saint Peter’s is now the coach at Seton Hall so there could be a potential reunion there. If not, then Drame may move up a level to a mid-major instead of a low major. He will be a defensive force where he ends up.
95. Cameron Parker – Senior
There really is no reason to think that Parker cannot help a mid-major or lower-level power five school. He doesn’t score much but he is a great passer and defender on the perimeter. The senior point guard will now be at his third school. He started at Sacred Heart where he set the record for the most assists in a game with 24, he then decided to transfer to Montana where his assist numbers fell a bit, but he did develop a deadly three-point shot.
A team looking for a deadly shooter from deep and a pass-first point guard who doesn’t turn the ball over will be calling Parker. Parker probably won’t start but a backup point guard is often the most important player on the team.
94. Jayden Saddler – Senior
Saddler is different from any other guard in the portal because he doesn’t shoot the ball from deep very often and when he did shoot it from deep, he often didn’t make it. Last season as a member of the Southern Jaguars the guard shot almost 50% from inside the arc, he is great at getting downhill and getting to the rim. The downside is he doesn’t get fouled all that much and when he does, he is not a great free throw shooter.
Saddler is going to be an interesting player to follow in the portal because he can score, and he is efficient with the ball in his hands. He has an almost 2-1 assist to turnover ratio, but the complete lack of shooting is a red flag.
93. Fousseyni Drame – Junior
The twin brother of Hassan Drame and the better of the two brothers. He is also likely a package deal with his brother. The big man out of Saint Peters showed an ability to be a very good offensive player as he developed a shot from three this year. Drame is also a great defensive player and much like his brother is very sound on that end of the floor.
He shot almost 60% from the floor and about 40% from deep. The other Drame brother should draw some attention and should be able to start for whoever he decides to play for. Again, don’t rule out Seton Hall given his old coach now coaches there.
92. Tyson Acuff – Freshman
Duquesne was bad last year, and their most talented player is now in the transfer portal. Acuff may have only averaged a shade over 5.0 points per game last year, but he didn’t have a very high usage rating last year. Had he been a bigger focal point of the offense he would have put up double-digit points.
Acuff can really shoot and is efficient on offense. He isn’t a type of player who is going to get fouled a lot and he is better suited as an off guard and will be great as a guy who shoots a high volume of threes, he should make about 40% of them.
91. Carter Whitt – Freshman
Whitt was a high-profile high school recruit who chose Wake Forest over Nebraska. The point guard has never been able to carve out a role for the Demon Deacons and saw his playing time dwindle to almost zero when he was trying to fight for minutes behind ACC player of the year Alondes Williams.
Whitt has a ton of potential and is going to get high major offers because everyone remembers the high school tape of a great distributor, good shooter, and high basketball IQ. Whitt has not panned out yet so it remains to be seen if he can create a role with his new team, but a change of scenery is going to do him good.