NCAA Basketball: Analyzing final 3 teams for Southland POY transfer Demarcus Sharp

The Southland Player of the Year has opted to enter the NCAA Basketball transfer portal after a coaching change. Where will Demarcus Sharp end up among his final three options?

One of the biggest surprises this NCAA Basketball season was Northwestern State going from nine total wins to 22 this past season and placing second in the Southland Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Corey Gipson, who benefitted from having a few players join him from Missouri State.

One of them was Demarcus Sharp, who went on to lead the team with 19.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 5.0 apg. He was named Southland Conference Player of the Year and even had a 40-point effort on the road against 1st-place Texas A&M-Corpus Christie. After the successful year, Coach Gipson accepted a job at Austin Peay, which resulted in the entire starting lineup, include Sharp, entering the transfer portal.

We’re already down to just three options for Sharp, including the spot where his coach has gone to. Here’s a closer look at the pros and cons of each of the three reported finalists for the now former Southland Player of the Year.

Austin Peay Govenors

Sharp followed Coach Gipson to one school and it worked out well and the Atlantic Sun is a better and more competitive conference compared to the Southland. But the Govs were in last place this season and the rebuild is going to be much harder than it was at Northwestern State. In fact, the conference tournament doesn’t even include all the teams. If there’s a desire for postseason play, it’ll be hard to see this be the landing spot but the desire to stay with his coach coule overcome that.

Loyola-Chicago Ramblers

The first season in the Atlantic 10 proved to be a disaster for the Ramblers, finishing dead last after being at the top of the Missouri Valley. They’re a team in desperate need of a go-to scorer to pair with Phillip Alston on the roster. The A-10 is a step-up from the MVC but Sharp can still come in and have a sizeable impact on a bigger stage.

Missouri Tigers

The SEC is a massive leap from the Southland, ask LSU’s Kendal Coleman. But it’s easier for guards to make the move and Missouri, who made the NCAA Tournament under first-year head coach Dennis Gates, has multiple examples of mid-major transfers making the successful move.

With guys like D’Moi Hodge, Nick Honor and a couple others likely leaving, the Tigers could use an instant boost from Sharp, who’d get to also come back home to the state of Missouri for his final season of eligibility.