Desmond Claude was one of the last players to enter the college basketball transfer portal a week ago. He’s easily one of the best available, coming off averaging 15.8 ppg and 4.2 apg this past season at USC. The 6’5 combo guard shot career-high 48% from the field and 31% from three-point range, along with racking up assists as the lead guard.
Some developments have emerged with the former Trojan’s recruitment. Here’s a look at the four reported teams in the mix to land Claude.
Florida
The three starting guards are all gone from the national-title team this past season. They’ve bounced back from the portal with Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee and former Ohio sharpshooter, AJ Brown. Even with Thomas Haugh back and able to play the three-spot, Florida could use another veteran guard, especially one with high-major experience since they’re in the SEC. Claude and Lee could share the ball-handling duties here.
Kansas
Kansas is in an interesting spot with its backcourt, as Zeke Mayo, Dajuan Harris, and David Coit are gone. The plan seems to be having 5-star incoming guard prospect Darryn Peterson run the offense. Of course, that comes with risk in the Big 12. Claude gives them a high-level insurance policy to potentially run the offense or can simply be a high-level starter for the reloading offense.
North Carolina
With RJ Davis moving on and Elliot Cadeau transferring out, the backcourt for the Heels will look different. Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans is set to run the offense, while four-star freshmen guards, Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis, will be other ball-handlers. This is an option that could also use Claude and he would move into the featured role. But will UNC be as good as Florida or Kansas on paper?
Virginia
New head coach Ryan Odom has already landed several guards from the portal, including Dallin Hall (BYU), Jacari White (North Dakota State), and Sam Lewis (Toledo). It’s a solid core, but with Hall not being an elite scoring threat, it could limit the overall offense of the team if he’s the primary ball-handler. Claude would easily be the star and focal point of the team, and Odom’s history of guard development could be a good selling point against the more prominent names.