NCAA Basketball: Trey Townsend, Sean Pedulla among week's top transfer portal pickups

36. Aboubacar Traore - Louisville Cardinals

2023-24 season stats (at Long Beach): 12.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 4.5 apg

The 6’5 guard is a unique player in that he’s a quality facilitator who also rebounds very well, and doesn’t shoot the ball from the perimeter. Traore had 23 points and 22 rebounds against Cal State Fullerton, along with a triple-double (12-11-13) in the Big West Tournament against UC Riverside. He even had 14 points and 15 rebounds versus Arizona in the Big Dance. He joins a brand new Louisville roster that has plenty of needs. They can place Traore at multiple positions and he’ll make an impact.

35. Pharrel Payne - Texas A&M Aggies

2023-24 season stats (at Minnesota): 10.0 ppg and 6.1 rpg

The 6’9 big man was a solid two-way player for the Gophers, shooting 61% from the field and providing interior defense. Payne was in double figures for 15 of 32 games, including a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Rutgers. He fits the tough system at Texas A&M, set to replace bigs Henry Coleman and Wildens Leveque as a likely starter at the five-spot.

34. Mike James - NC State Wolfpack

2023-24 season stats (at Louisville): 12.6 ppg and 5.0 rpg

The 6’6 guard was a bright spot at Louisville these past two years, including four games of 20+ points. His season-high was a 26-point game in an upset win over Miami. James size and scoring ability is a need for NC State, who lost both DJ Horne and Casey Morsell this offseason.