Anymore, adding players from the transfer portal is no longer optional it’s become as important, if not more so, than signing a highly ranked recruiting class. We are starting to see the days of long-term player development give way to retooling on the fly each offseason to become competitive immediately. And for the most part, that is how nearly every SEC program has operated over the past couple of years. Incoming freshmen are still crucial for long-term success, but having players developed and ready to go on day one has become a game-changer in college basketball.
The transfer portal has done wonders for every SEC program. Look at Florida, Alabama, and Auburn - the top teams from last season - every one of their top players where added from the transfer portal. It's easy to see why nearly every coach in the country tries so hard to add transfers to their rosters.
This offseason has been no different. Every team in the conference has interacted with the portal in some way, whether this is bringing in players or losing players. All 16 SEC teams added multiple players from the portal over the last couple of months. Though some have done a better job of rebuilding rosters. There have been a few clear winners this offseason when it comes to transfers, but there are also some clear losers - teams that could have done more or added players that could have better filled some team needs. Here are some of the losers in the SEC after an exciting transfer portal cycle.
Arkansas Razorbacks
John Calipari has built an amazing career on his ability to win games with freshmen. However, last season, his first at Arkansas, we saw him pivot to the transfer portal to build his roster - mostly out of necessity since he took over in Fayetteville mid-way through April. Even being a little late to the portal, Coach Cal signed one of the top transfer classes in the country and set his team up for success from the jump.
The mix of experienced transfers and highly touted freshmen led Arkansas to a surprise run to the Sweet Sixteen. With that kind of success, you’d expect Calipari to dabble in the transfer market a little more this offseason, but to my surprise, he reverted to trying to build a title contender by bringing in highly rated prep recruits.
However, the transfer portal wasn’t too kind to Coach Cal and the Razorbacks. The Hogs lost two huge pieces from last year's team to the portal - Zvonimir Ivisic to Illinois and Boogie Fland to Florida after his withdrawal from the NBA Draft. To replace this production, as well as what was lost from Adou Thiero and Johnell Davis, Arkansas added two transfer players this offseason. First was Nick Pringle (9.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) from South Carolina. And Malique Ewin (14.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg) followed shortly after. While both of these centers are good scorers and solid rebounders, they do little to help with the lack of experience at the guard position.
An addition of an experienced guard would have made this transfer class a solid one, but with only two portal signees, I was completely underwhelmed by the offseason movements coming out of Fayetteville.
Ole Miss Rebels
Thanks to the work that Chris Beard did last offseason in the transfer porter, Ole Miss was another SEC program to make an unexpected run to the Sweet Sixteen. Though nearly everyone from that roster is no longer on the team. Most of the roster was comprised of Seniors who were out of eligibility, and most of the potential returning players with years remaining opted to continue their careers elsewhere. Leaving Malik Dia as the only contributor from last season on the roster. This mass exodus included seven of the team's top eight scorers.
Much like last offseason, Beard hit the portal hard adding five players from P5 programs. Though that's where most of the excitement ends for this transfer class. James Scott (7.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and Koren Johnson (3.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg) came over from Louisville. Travis Perry (2.7 ppg, 0.8 rpg) signed after a season with Kentucky. Former Wisconsin star AJ Storr (6.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg) transferred in following a disappointing season at Kansas. And Corey Chest (6.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg) left Baton Rouge after a bad LSU season.
For a team in desperate need of scoring, Ole Miss didn’t add much proven scoring. Storr is the only transfer addition who has put up big numbers in his career as he averaged nearly 17 points per game two seasons ago at Wisconsin. However, after his complete drop-off at Kansas, I would be a little hesitant to put the majority of the offense on his back. Chris Beard is a good coach, but it's a little concerning that he wasn’t able to bring in some high-profile scoring to lead his team.
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina was so close to breaking through last season but wasn’t well enough equipped offensively to win close games when it mattered. Even though the Gamecocks only won two SEC games last season, they weren’t nearly as bad as their record showed. So, it would have been nice to be able to build around some of the players from last season's roster, but that wasn’t possible once the transfer portal opened. Most of the roster either graduated or entered the portal, or in the case of star forward Collin Murray-Boyles decided to head to the NBA.
The Gamecocks needed to add a ton of scoring this offseason but never landed an elite scorer. The closest South Carolina got was bringing back Meechie Johnson (9.1 ppg, 2.5 ppg) for a second stint. Johnson was the leading scorer, 14.1 points per game, for South Carolina two seasons ago when it won 26 games. Nordin Kapic (10.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg) from UC San Diego and Kobe Knox (10.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg) from South Florida put up good numbers but weren’t their previous teams’ primary scoring options. South Carolina also added Utah transfer Mike Sharavjamts (7.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Boston College transfer Elijah Strong (9.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg), and Providence transfer Christ Essandoko (4.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) - though none of these three could carve out larger roles on bad teams.
I would have liked to see more reliable scoring added, but maybe Meechie Johnson can return to form under his former coach. The rest of the roster, including these transfers, isn’t going to wow anyone, but there is a chance that these players mesh well and make this a competitive team. Lamont Paris needs this season to go well to save his job, but from the looks of his transfer portal haul, his time at South Carolina might be limited.