NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing final 5 teams for Rutgers transfer Mawot Mag

Talented defensive forward Mawot Mag is down to a few options in the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. Which one makes the most sense?

One of the better individual defenders in the NCAA Basketball transfer portal is Mawot Mag, a 6'7 forward from Australia. He spent four years at Rutgers, starting 39 games in the last two seasons. Due to a previous injury, Mag played 17 games this year, averaging 9.1 ppg and 3.8 rpg.

He's a quality athlete and defender when healthy and it looks that his recruitment has takent its next step, with five teams in the mix.

Here's a closer look at Mag's fit with each of them.

BYU Cougars

New head coach Kevin Smith was able to bring back a couple of key guards to the team in Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders. But the frontcourt currently lacks depth, with Noah Waterman and Aly Khalifa gone. They did add Utah transfer Keba Keita from Utah and has forward Fousseyni Traore back as well. Mag would get into the rotation but likely wouldn't start at this option.

Clemson Tigers

Star forward PJ Hall is gone, but starter Ian Schieffelin is back. They've added a few transfers as well, including centers Christian Reeves and Viktor Lakhin, as well as recent Illinois State transfer, Myles Foster. His recent addition gives Clemson good depth already so they might not need Mag at this point, who wouldn't be guaranteed to start unless they want to play him at the three-spot.

San Diego State Aztecs

The loss of Micah Parrish gives the Aztecs a reason to try and add Mag, who would play a similar role of a versatile defensive-forward. They bring back Jay Pal and have potential breakout candidate Miles Heide, along with the addition of forward Jared Coleman-Jones. He'd have a bigger role with the notable Mountain West program compared to the other power conference options and could expand his offensive game even more.

Southern Miss Eagles

The Eagles finished at .500 overall last season and in league play and lost a couple of key forwards in Victor Hart and Victor Iwuakor. They added a pair of forwards in DeAntoni Gordon and Denijay Harris but on paper, Mag should be ahead of them on the depth chart. They wouldn't be Sun Belt favorites with him but would certainly be able to offer the largest role to date.

USC Trojans

New head coach Eric Musselman has added a ton of transfers to the roster, including a number of forwards with versatility. Saint Thomas is a 20 ppg scorer from Northern Colorado, while Terrance Williams Jr., Chibuzo Agbo, and Desmond Claude are capable of getting big minutes at the Big Ten program.

With the addition of San Diego forward Kevin Patton Jr., there's a ton of depth for the Trojans in the frontcourt, probably too much for Mag to join and not risk being in the bench more than expected. Of all the options, BYU and San Diego State makes the most sense on paper, unless he wants to move down to the Sun Belt.