NCAA Basketball: Top 25 offseason team winners from 2023 transfer portal

21. Loyola Chicago Ramblers

Incoming transfers: Greg Dolan, Desmond Watson, Patrick Mwamba, Dame Adelekun

It was a very humbling first year for the Ramblers in the Atlantic 10 Conference. They went from powerhouses in the Missouri Valley to a shocking last-place finish. But the team was able to add a few very good pieces to join returning starters Phillip Alston and Braden Norris for a bounce-back campaign.

Adelekun is a 6’8 skilled forward that was an All-Ivy League performer at Dartmouth. He not only averaged 13.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and 2.5 apg but he also blocked two shots a game. Known as an elite interior defender, look for Adelekun to improve Loyola’s past interior issues. Mwamba, a 6’7 athletic forward from Oral Roberts, will also add to the depth.

Another Ivy League star joining Loyola’s roster is Dolan, a 6’3 shooting guard that ranked in the top 10 in points, assists, steals, and three-point shooting last season in the league. He averaged 13.3 ppg on 43% shooting from deep as a breakout starter.

Dolan will pair nicely with Watson, a transfer coming over from conference foe, Davidson. He averaged 9.4 ppg as a starter with the Wildcats on 41% shooting from the field. Watson isn’t an elite shooter in his own right but will have better spacing around to allow him to drive to the basket more easily.

It’ll be interesting to see how much Loyola improves as a roster since there’s nowhere to go but up. But they aren’t the only program on this list that’ll be relying on former Ivy League stars to take a leap.