Transfer Portal Thread

Kentucky now has 7 scholarship players, with Mintz and Brooks still havent announced that they are coming back yet, and no point guards on the roster. They are in the middle of a lot of big names in the transfer portal, but Its very interesting to say the least

I don’t think they’ll be great next year either.
 
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Jordan Brown, Arizona, Power Forward (247sports.com)

I don't follow basketball as much as most of you, mainly just follow the Vols. Saw this kid in the portal. Transferring from Arizona. Any chance we have interest and room?
He transferred to Arizona from Nevada a couple years ago. I remember thinking at the time that he was someone we should look into just based on his size and pedigree (top-20 player in his class). I had kind of forgotten about him after he chose Arizona, but looks like he had a really good year and was Pac-12 6th MOY. Unless he just wants a guarantee with regard to minutes and role, it would seem like he'd be a good fit for the spot we are looking to fill.

He averaged 9 pts, 5 rebs, and 1 blk in 20 mpg.
 
C. J. Fredrick, former Iowa player, signs with Kentucky. 46% three-point shooter. If the Wildcats sign a good point guard, they could be pretty good. (At least, better than last year’s 9-16 team).
 
C. J. Fredrick, former Iowa player, signs with Kentucky. 46% three-point shooter. If the Wildcats sign a good point guard, they could be pretty good. (At least, better than last year’s 9-16 team).
I knew it! Someone told Kentucky doesn’t like instate kids
 
I knew it! Someone told Kentucky doesn’t like instate kids
No, I said Cal doesn't like taking instate kids. And more accurately is to say that it flies in the face of his system that glorifies the one-and-done player and alienates the 3 and 4 year kid. Each successful local 3* kid ranked in the 200s takes the spot and playing time of a 5* bust he promised to make a lottery pick in 6 months.

It's fine to hang onto that notion when you're making final fours, but it wears thin on fans when you're going 9-16 with kids who couldn't care less about the university and passing on kids, proven kids at high levels on the transfer market from your own backyard.

Seems like he's getting the message. Maybe he's changing his style. Can he win at his previous high level though, when he doesn't have infinitely better talent?
 
No, I said Cal doesn't like taking instate kids. And more accurately is to say that it flies in the face of his system that glorifies the one-and-done player and alienates the 3 and 4 year kid. Each successful local 3* kid ranked in the 200s takes the spot and playing time of a 5* bust he promised to make a lottery pick in 6 months.

It's fine to hang onto that notion when you're making final fours, but it wears thin on fans when you're going 9-16 with kids who couldn't care less about the university and passing on kids, proven kids at high levels on the transfer market from your own backyard.

Seems like he's getting the message. Maybe he's changing his style. Can he win at his previous high level though, when he doesn't have infinitely better talent?

No.

Cal has always had the best talent until recently.

Now, a lot of teams have great players. Not just him.
 
I have a hard time believing there are 22 transfers better than Powell.

Powell has only played in 10 games his entire college career. Only two of those were against SEC teams. He suffered a concussion so severe in early January he hardly even practiced for the rest of the season. In other words, he is barely more than an incoming freshman. Barnes has talked about him as having a particular role in his offense, so I'm guessing he doesn't see him as high impact player, too. Not knocking the guy, just saying there are unanswered questions at this point in time. But, if Barnes likes him, then so do I.
 
Powell has only played in 10 games his entire college career. Only two of those were against SEC teams. He suffered a concussion so severe in early January he hardly even practiced for the rest of the season. In other words, he is barely more than an incoming freshman. Barnes has talked about him as having a particular role in his offense, so I'm guessing he doesn't see him as high impact player, too. Not knocking the guy, just saying there are unanswered questions at this point in time. But, if Barnes likes him, then so do I.
I do think this is some needed perspective on Powell, seems like the hype has gotten a bit large. He'll be a big help for sure and probably a really nice multi year player but I think those expecting a star in year 1 (at UT) will be disappointed
 
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Powell has only played in 10 games his entire college career. Only two of those were against SEC teams. He suffered a concussion so severe in early January he hardly even practiced for the rest of the season. In other words, he is barely more than an incoming freshman. Barnes has talked about him as having a particular role in his offense, so I'm guessing he doesn't see him as high impact player, too. Not knocking the guy, just saying there are unanswered questions at this point in time. But, if Barnes likes him, then so do I.
I’m not saying he’s top 5, but there’s not 22 transfers better than him. He’s top 15 IMO.
 
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Fatts Russel would’ve been a nice snag if We didn’t have Chandler coming in. I watched a lot of Rhode Island games this past year and Maryland will get some great production out of him.
 
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So we have 2 spots left since Fulkerson gets a free year, correct?
 
I do think this is some needed perspective on Powell, seems like the hype has gotten a bit large. He'll be a big help for sure and probably a really nice multi year player but I think those expecting a star in year 1 (at UT) will be disappointed
The majority opinion on here (which I don’t share) appears to be that he will step onto campus and immediately kick SV and Bailey a seat further down the bench
 
The majority opinion on here (which I don’t share) appears to be that he will step onto campus and immediately kick SV and Bailey a seat further down the bench

Yeah, I hope we're both wrong, of course, but I see him more as a back-up at the three, and an offensive shooter/specialist who will be adept at shooting off of screens, as Barnes implied recently. I'm guessing at all this, but I think between Vescovi and Bailey the two is covered, though I'm sure there will be times when Powell and JJJ are on the floor at the same time. Bottom line, I don't think he's a 30 minute per game player yet. Hopefully, he proves me wrong.
 
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I think Powell is a big impact for us the following season. After we lose Chandler and could lose JJJ as well. Next year I'd say BHH or Aidoo has the biggest immediate impact outside of Chandler.

Chandler likely ends up starting at the PG spot, that'll leave SV, Bailey, and JJJ playing for minutes for the 2 & 3 spots. BHH, Fulky, Aidoo, ORN playing for the other 2 spots on the court. Guys like Powell and Mashack will be off the bench players. If we're lucky they'll be really good and push for more minutes giving us a deeper rotation and better distribution of minutes among 8 or 9 players. Looks like we got 11 on scholarship at the moment, so will be interesting to see where we go to fill the next 2 spots. Tamba seems like one of them, but who fills the other?

Guards:
Chandler
Santi
JJJ
Bailey
Mashack
Quentin
Powell

Forwards:
Fulky
BHH
Aidoo
Olivier
Plavsic
 
I'm fine with toning down the hype a bit, but honestly, what do Vescovi and/or Bailey do better? I'll agree Vescovi catches more grief than probably deserved from our fans, but he has earned quite a bit of it, as well. And Bailey is merely a spot-up shooter, and a streaky one at that.

Powell's stats come from an admittedly small sample size, but what you see on the floor is pretty evident. He's already, at worst, an equal ball-handler to either Bailey or Vescovi. He is bigger and better at getting to the rim on drives. He's a better rebounder than Bailey and at least as good as Vescovi, if not better considering their relative size. As noted, a limited sample size, but he appears to be just as good of a shooter, and his size lends to his advantage there, again. Bailey and Vescovi may both be better FT shooters, but Powell shot 76.5% on 34 attempts, which is probably enough to justify that he isn't going to fall completely off that mark. It's hard to imagine he'd be a worse defender than Bailey and I'd imagine is at least close to Vescovi, who isn't great, himself.

I'm fine with the belief that Powell won't come in and take their playing time with little effort, but I just don't see where Vescovi and Bailey are clear upgrades unless you think Powell's 10 games at Auburn were a total fluke.
 
I think that Vescovi has had a huge transition to make. He arrived late December 2019 or early 2020 and had been basically playing AAU/All Star type of basketball for years. How long had it been since he had played actual team oriented basketball instead of highlight film games? Plus he didn’t get the benefit of off season practice… he was out of the country again last off season. Vescovi could be the most improved. He passes pretty well when he’s under control and could be a perfect complement to Chandler. I think that Chandler can make JJJ a more effective offensive threat as well. Plus Fulk’s best offensive game was often the transition game and running the court. Having enough playing time to go around might be the biggest obstacle in 2021-22.
 

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