NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing the top 6 teams for Villanova transfer TJ Bamba

Louisville Cardinals

New HC Pat Kelsey has an entire roster to fill up and he’s been doing well, landing four perimeter players. The latest has been Washington transfer Koren Johnson, along with 6’6 Colorado wing, J’Vonne Hadley. Outside of former James Madison transfer Terrence Edwards Jr., this group lacks guys who can go for 20 points on a given night like Bamba can, who could easily start here.

That being said, there’s a lot of risk/reward here for Bamba, coming from a situation with a relatively new coach that didn’t work for him. If Kelsey isn’t the guy early on or the roster doesn’t pan out collectively, the senior guard could be spending his last season in an even worse situation than at Nova.

Memphis Tigers

As usual, Coach Penny Hardaway has been very busy in the portal, since he had to replace just about the entire roster. So far in the backcourt, he’s added a trio of starting-caliber ball-handlers (PJ Haggerty, Tyrese Hunter, and Baraka Okojie), along with 6’5 shooting guard/wing, Colby Rodgers.

Right now, there isn’t really room for another guard like Bamba, unless he wants to compete for minutes on an AAC team. That could change if leading scoring wing David Jones goes pro or even transfers, allowing Bamba a clear path to playing time. As long as he’s around, this isn’t an ideal option.