NCAA Basketball: Analyzing 3 new contenders for transfer guard Caleb Love

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Love has a bit of a reputation concern after last season’s disaster with the Tar Heels. So what better place to improve that than one of the most consistent teams in all of NCAA Basketball? Gonzaga, regardless of what player transfers in, has been successful.

That includes Malachi Smith, a former SoCon Player of the Year. He ended up joining the Bulldogs from Chattanooga and ended up being the WCC 6th Man of the Year, shooting a whopping 50% from three-point range. He’s currently in the NBA Draft process and could not return, leaving the team in a potential lurch.

If Smith is gone, Love would certainly be a needed piece for Gonzaga. However, he’s not joining them as a 6th man. That would then mean one of two things. Either the team has Eastern Washington transfer and Big Sky Player of the Year Steele Venters come off the bench of they play three-guard lineups, including Nolan Hickman and Creighton transfer, Ryan Nembhard.

Ultimately, this could simply force Hickman to the bench. He had an awful NCAA Tournament run this past season, including a pair of 0-point games in the last two. A duo of Love and Nembhard (with Venters on the wing) would be one of the best in NCAA Basketball and it would give the former Tar Heel a good chance at getting back to the Big Dance.