NCAA Basketball: 20 early team winners of 2023 transfer portal offseason

7. Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State knew it had to rebuild its backcourt this offseason, with both Jaren Holmes and Gabe Kalscheur out of eligibility and Caleb Grill having already left before the postseason. Freshman guard Tamin Lipsey is a promising piece but isn’t a shooter/scorer so the team needed to add the right players around him.

They’ve done just that, landing three transfers. The biggest name of the group is Jackson Paveletzke, a 6’3 transfer guard from Wofford. As a freshman, he averaged 15.1 ppg and 3.7 apg, shooting 39% from three-point range, and had 10 games with at least 20 points.

The other two newcomers are Curtis Jones, who averaged 15.0 ppg at Buffalo as a full-time starter, making 36% of his three-point attempts. The 6’5 guard and All-MAC performer had a 32-point game against St. Bonaventure early in the season.

Keshon Gilbert isn’t the kind of scorer that the other two guards are (11.4 ppg and 3.2 apg) but the former guard from UNLV is an elite athlete and capable defender. It’s a group that has great potential next season and will pair well with five-star forward commit, Omaha Biliew. As long as the shooting translates, they’ll be in good shape next season.