The NCAA Basketball coaching carousel has had a ton of impact on individual players when coaches opt to move on. The latest occurred at VCU, as head coach Mike Rhoades accepted a job at Penn State this week. The result was that many of the current Rams decided to enter the transfer portal, with the most notable being Ace Baldwin.
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, was a major impact player for VCU, starting from Day 1. He had a breakout season as a sophomore, despite recovering from a major leg injury and averaging 11.4 ppg and 5.5 apg. This past year, the Rams were the lone projected top-tier team in the A-10 to not underachieve, winning both the regular season and conference tournament titles.
Baldwin was the star of that team, leading the Rams with 12.7 ppg and 5.8 apg en route to winning Conference Player of the Year. He also had 67 steals in the season as well and won Defensive Player of the Year. While his offensive doesn’t stand out compared to some of the other guards in the portal, Baldwin is still capable of big games. He had 28 points in a win over Vanderbilt, along with a career-high 37 points on 12/15 shooting against Saint Louis.
Not too many Conference Player of the Year guys are available in the portal and Baldwin will be a great one-year rental for someone. Question is, who makes the most sense? Here’s a list of eight programs I think could be a mutually good fit on both sides.