NCAA Basketball Recruiting: 3 teams to watch for USC Upstate transfer Mister Dean

The transfer portal doesn’t officially open for another couple of weeks. However, that still doesn’t stop players from talking about their plans for the offseason, especially players whose respective seasons are over.

One of them is Mister Dean, a 6’6 freshman guard who led USC Upstate with 15.7 ppg and 5.5 rpg, shooting 57% from the field. He’s a highly athletic big guard who got national attention with 20 points at Virginia Tech and 24 on the road at Wake Forest. Dean had 10 games of at least 20 points this past season, including 25 points and 11 rebounds at UNC Asheville.

After scoring 17 points in Upstate’s Big South Tournament loss to Gardner-Webb, Dean became the first notable D-I player to announce their plans to enter the portal in the coming weeks. The Miami area native will have plenty of options. Here’s an early look at three that make sense.

Miami Hurricanes 

As the “hometown” option, Miami will definitely be a key team to watch. They now have their head coach in Jai Lucas, coming over from Duke. They’re going to have a completely new roster to rebuild, so there’s plenty of room for someone like Dean to come in and have an impact and spot in the rotation.

OK State Cowboys

Mister has an older brother playing D-I hoops in Arturo Dean, who, after two years at FIU, is averaging 7.4 ppg and 3.2 apg at OK State. Arturo has another year left of eligibility, so there’s a chance that the two brothers could link up and play. For Mister, he could play at a Big 12 school that could offer plenty of playing time.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Another ACC team that would make plenty of sense is the Demon Deacons, who nearly lost to Dean and USC Upstate. They’re a team that’s going to lose its star guards this offseason in Hunter Sallis and Cameron Hildreth. Coach Steve Forbes has a great history of guard development with transfers and Dean could be the next go-to star for the program.