It’s been a wild offseason so far in NCAA Basketball when it comes to the transfer portal. Over 1,500 D-I players have entered since the portal opened after Selection Sunday and hundreds have already picked new landing spots.
Many teams have landed at least one player and a bunch has gotten multiple. There’s been both quantity and quality when it comes to the moves, with several programs becoming instant contenders for the 2023-24 NCAA Basketball campaign thanks to the transfer portal.
Here’s an early look at the early winners, listing the top 20 teams in alphabetical order.
1. Arkansas Razorbacks
By going alphabetically order, I listed arguably the biggest winner in the entire transfer portal this offseason. Arkansas, who is famous for contacting just about every player that transfers, has already landed five guys, all of which are guards. El Ellis was the most recent commit, coming off averaging 17.7 ppg and 4,4 apg last season at Louisville.
Tramon Mark started 37 games at Houston, averaging 10.1 ppg. Khalif Battle (17.9 ppg) comes over from Temple as the highest scorer in the group, while Jeremiah Davenport (9.1 ppg) is a 5th-year senior coming over from Cincinnati. Keyon Menifield is the youngest as a 10.0 ppg freshman transfer from Washington but he may have the largest ceiling of any of the newcomers.
With Nick Smith, Ricky Council IV, and Anthony Black all off to the NBA Draft, it makes sense that the Razorbacks rebuilt its entire backcourt. How the minutes and roles work out will be a major question in the coming months but right now, you can’t help but be impressed at what the team has brought in.