Big 12 Basketball: Early grades for each teams 2023 offseason moves

Iowa State Cyclones – Grade: A-

Iowa State was going to lose plenty of talent but was one of the early big threats in the transfer portal. They landed a trio of guards, including 15 ppg scoring guard Jackson Paveletzke from Wofford, 15 ppg scorer Curtis Jones from Buffalo, and Keshon Gilbert, an athletic double-digit producer from UNLV.

The Cyclones didn’t do much in the frontcourt but both Hason Ward and Robert Jones are coming back for an extra year, while five-star forward commit Omaha Biliew has remained with the program this entire time and will join ISU next season. It’s another roster with plenty of shooter and athleticism that should be good in league play once again.

Kansas Jayhawks – Grade: A

The biggest haul in the transfer portal was Hunter Dickinson, an All-American caliber transfer from Michigan that’s a 20 and 10 big man. He committed to Kansas, giving them a third top-tier pickup, joining guards Nicolas Timberlake and Arterio Morris.

What stopped me from giving the Jayhawks an “A+” is the recent departures of the backup big men (Ernest Udeh Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor), along with losing the recruiting battle of five-star prospect, Mackenzie Mgbako to Indiana. Still, it’s been a near-perfect offseason for the program, which could be No. 1 in the preseason.