NCAA Basketball: Caleb Love, Josh Cohen among top 20 tranfer pickups of the week
2. Ace Baldwin – VCU to Penn State
2022-23 season stats: 12.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 5.8 apg
Baldwin is the rare double-POY winner in NCAA Basketball, getting both A-10 Defensive and Player of the Year at VCU. Besides being an elite individual defender and getting a ton of steals but also can be a lethal scorer too. He had 28 points against Vanderbilt and went for a career-high 37 points versus Saint Louis.
Baldwin will be following his head coach, Mike Rhoades, to Penn State after a coaching change. It’s a completely empty roster for now but this is a great building block to attract future transfers to the Nittany Lions. The guard’s game also fits well in the Big Ten so expect an easy transition for him as well.
1. LJ Cryer – Baylor to Houston
2022-23 season stats: 15.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.1 apg
One of the best scoring guards in the entire transfer portal, Cryer was in a crowded backcourt and still managed to put up some huge stats this past season. The 6’1 guard had six games of at least 20 points, including 30 against Creighton in the NCAA Tournament. He also was part of the 2021 national championship team, though he didn’t play much in that title run.
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Cryer remains in the Big 12 but joins the newcomers in Houston. They lost two leading guards in Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark but he can slide in there without issue. Assuming he has even more of a role on offense, there’s a real chance Cryer could be a conference Player of the Year candidate.