Busting Brackets
Fansided

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

By Tristan Freeman

Feb 18, 2023; Malibu, California, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few yells to his team during the first half Pepperdine Waves at Firestone Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2023; Malibu, California, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few yells to his team during the first half Pepperdine Waves at Firestone Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
9 of 20
Next
NCAA Basketball
NCAA Basketball Indiana Hoosiers guard Tamar Bates Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

9. Missouri Tigers

Head coach Dennis Gates has one of the better first-year NCAA Basketball campaigns, thanks to a backcourt filled with mid-major transfers. Most of them are gone, forcing the program to go back out and land a few newcomers. This time around, these guys are already power conference talents.

Well, not all, as the first pickup comes from the Mountain West in John Tonje. The former Colorado State guard/wing led the team with 14.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg, shooting 39% from three-point range. He had seven games of at least 20 points, including 25 points against Wyoming.

For shooting purposes, Missouri also got Caleb Grill. The 6’3 guard didn’t end things well at Iowa State but can be a lethal shooter. He averaged 9.5 ppg last season and went for 31 points in a win over North Carolina. And the team also landed Tamar Bates, a former five-star prospect that spent two seasons at Indiana. He averaged 6.1 ppg in 20 mpg off the bench but did have a few big scoring outings when given minutes.

The Tigers will hope that this group of guys works out just as well as last season’s guys. On paper, they’re more talented but the SEC is a different animal. It’ll be interesting to see which of them takes a large role in the offense.

Home/NCAA Basketball News