NCAA Basketball: Top 25 impact transfer pickups from 2023 offseason
By John Makuch
No. 15 Aziz Bandaogo (Cincinnati)
Elite seven-footers are very difficult to come by, and Aziz Bandaogo has solved that problem for Cincinnati after transferring there out of Utah Valley.
He ranked third in terms of shot blocking in the nation with 2.9 blocks per game and also averaged a double-double with 11.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game off 60 percent shooting from the field. Bandaogo is an absolute problem on both ends of the floor, and teams will have to play very physically in order to stop him and his athleticism.
Great big men can separate teams at the college level, and Cincinnati is looking to separate themselves in the AAC, and eventually the Big 12, so getting this big-time transfer will work wonders for their program. Bandaogo and his Wolverines beat the Bearcats in the quarterfinal of the NIT where he put up 15 and 12 in a 74-68 victory, now he will take the court in his former opponent’s jersey.
Bandaogo adds to a team that went 23-13 this past season but they were shy of an NCAA Tournament bid, they now look to run it back and make it this time around with Bandaogo holding down the paint for this unit.