Pac-12 Basketball: Each team’s best acquisition out of 2023 transfer portal

Eddie Lampkin Jr. – 6’11 Center/Forward – Colorado Buffaloes

Eddie Lampkin Jr. joins the Colorado Buffaloes in the Pac-12 following an up-and-down experience in the Big 12 with the TCU Horned Frogs. This past season, Lampkin ultimately stepped away from the team back in March then entered the transfer portal and landed a bit more West with the Buffaloes.

Off-court issues aside, when he’s on the floor, Lampkin has shown he can play a physical brand of basketball and make winning plays in the painted area when the ball comes his way. He put up 6.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 1.2 apg across 24 games, 19 starts, on 54.7 percent shooting from the floor in 2022-23.

Lampkin still managed to finish eighth in the Big 12 in rebounds (206) and offensive rebounds (67) during the 2022-23 season with the Horned Frogs despite his fluctuation in playing time. Across 33 games the season prior, he ranked second in the Big 12 in offensive rebounds with 103.

As a redshirt freshman, he put up 6.8 ppg and 6.2 rpg while shooting 60.6 percent from the floor while starting in 32 of the 33 games he appeared in. He got two games of NCAA Tournament experience under his belt that season, too. He put up 20 points and 14 rebounds on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor in his last appearance back on March 20, 2022, which ironically came against the Arizona Wildcats.

Though it hasn’t shown in the blocks column, Lampkin is a formidable paint presence on the defensive side of the floor as evidenced by his defensive rating of 97.3 across three seasons with the Horned Frogs. He’s got a big frame that he knows how to utilize to take up space and alter shots and battle for rebounds.

Colorado returns six players from last year’s 18-17 squad. With the experience of last season, their top three scorers back and a bigger presence on the interior in Eddie Lampkin Jr., fans should expect a much better result for head coach Tad Boyle and company in 2023-24.