NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing the top 6 teams for Villanova transfer TJ Bamba
Oregon Ducks
There’s no more “Pac 12” but Bamba is very familiar with Coach Dana Altman and the Ducks. Their roster situation is a bit more different than the others, having its clear lead guard (Jackson Shelstad), while losing the other shooting guards. It’s down to Keeshawn Barthelemy and the two former five-star wings (Mookie Cook and KJ Evans) for now.
Oregon recently landed Stanford forward Brandon Angel and now needs a scoring guard to pair with Shelstad. Bamba would start at this option and get to play in the Big Ten. Not too many negatives with this option compared to others.
Stanford Cardinal
The obvious selling point for Bamba here is to reunite with head coach Kyle Smith, who went from Wazzy to Stanford this offseason. Like with other coaching changes, the Caridinal has to start all over from a roster standpoint, outside of star big man, Maxime Raynaud.
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Bamba would be the clear go-to option in the backcourt and there’s no doubt that Coach Smith would have him back as an all-league player. The concern here is that the rebuilding roster will struggle in its first year in the ACC. But familiarity, as well as the education opportunities at Stanford, are great points in their favor.