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Eye On College Basketball
Kentucky, BYU, Louisvile, UNC + more: The 9 big portal stories in the first 9 days of the offseason
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This is Gary Parrish from CBS Sports here to tell you that I used to think travel pants meant sacrificing style. Like sure, they're comfortable, but you'd never actually want to wear them anywhere nice. But I don't think that way anymore. And that's because of the jetsetter pants from Jack Archer. These are hands down the easiest pants I own. They're great for my back and forth flights to NYC during the college basketball season. The fabric is wrinkle free and stain resistant, which is huge when you're commuting, traveling or just living life. I can wear them all day and and they still hold their shape. No sagging, no stretching, no looking sloppy by the end of the day. And they're also the ultimate travel pant. I can pack one pair, wear them on the plane and show up looking put together without ironing or changing and the fit is fully customizable. You choose your waist, your length and your fit, whether that's athletic, slim or straight, tall guys, short guys, everyone's covered and Somehow they're just $89, which feels like a steal for pants this versatile get 15% off your first order with code getjack@jackarcher.com again, that's promo code getjack@jackarcher dot com for 15% off your first
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A
Hey there. I am Gary Parish. Welcome back, CBS Sports Ion college basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, Dodo birds. Leaky Black Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube honor brandon day, smash the like button. If you haven't yet subscribed to the I Own College Basketball podcast, please do that wherever you subscribe to pods like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. It's been nine days since the transfer portal opened. It's been busy. So with that in mind, what we've decided to do is pop through nine transfer portal developments that have generated headlines over the past nine days. And I want to start with a big one from earlier today. Rob Wright. He has rejected an offer from the University of Kentucky to remain at BYU. Norlander, how concerned should UK fans be? A year after reportedly spending $22 million on a roster, the Wildcats are still transfer less nine days into this off season.
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Hi, J.P. good to see you again. Right out. Right, right to business right away. It's great.
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Around today. I'm not playing around today.
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B
Yes, you're not, are you. Are you playing a round today?
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A
No, no, no, no, no, no.
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B
He's not playing around today and he is not playing a round today.
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A
But, but I am. I'm taking, I'm taking producer Josh out to TPC Southwind tomorrow.
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B
Well, look at that. Okay. Good times. I wonder if his. Yeah, Josh isn't doing the show right now. He's getting a few days away. We'll have to get him back eventually. He play. He played in the media pickup game at the Final Four. I still want him to speak to that. We'll get to that. You know what? Maybe that'll be part of the mailbag episode, like the full final for CBS Media recap. We're gonna do a mailbag show before too, too long. We'll save all those goodies for that. If he is as good on the chorus as he was on the on the court, then, then maybe he'll beat you.
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A
Well, I'm a little worried, man. Like doctor doctors, kids tend to be pretty good at golf.
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B
That's true. That's good. That's a good point.
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You know, I'm a son of a meat cutter, all right? I didn't grow up with golf lessons. I didn't grow up in a country club, all right? I just grabbed it like it was a baseball bat and started swinging it. Now I've subsequently gotten a little better, but I'm a little nervous. I feel like I might get worked by a younger man because I imagine he, I imagine he was holding a golf club at an early age.
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B
Okay. Yeah. Well, we'll see. Feel free to email shouts to cbsgmail.com any of your mailbag questions, any predictions like GP beats Josh by three strokes, Josh beats GP by 13 strokes. Whatever you want, let us know. And by the way, as we dive into the portal stuff, I don't want to, I don't want to neglect mentioning this because I wasn't on the previous show. I've been traveling a lot. I did mean what I said on the title game recap episode. So I scooped up some confetti, some amazing blue confetti and you can go back and look at the live chat. So every Michigan fan that was in the live chat, well after 2am Eastern the night of the title game, we will link up and I will make sure that you are mailed that championship confetti. But you had to be on the show in real time and I think there are three or four of you that were participating. You will get your championship confetti scooped up by yours truly off the hardwood. It was the last thing I did before I left Lucas Oil Stadium that night. Let's dive into the portal stuff and yeah, the Rob Wright News has come down within an hour of us going live. Let's talk about it from both ends. Here's what I can tell you and what I have in advance of all this stuff because and I think it is important for our audience to, to be aware of how this media ecosystem works with the portal. Like what is, what is essentially happening here. Often, not every time, but oftentimes is players are communicating their intentions to a coaching staff days before it is, it is publicly revealed what is actually happening. Like I'm not going to give you the coaches and I'm not going to give you the players. But right now there are three or four players that would be considered top 30ish recruits right now that I have been told are going to go to a certain school. But that is not reportable yet because what is happening is the coaches are talking to either the players or their families and the players are saying yes. And then the agents are getting involved and trying to redline some stuff, work contracts. And so that is a three, four, sometimes five day process. And so with that being in mind, it's never a guarantee, but it is why you, if you are truly dialed in on A level that frankly I think GP and I are on the same page with this. Like we're here to talk about the news. I enjoy, I enjoy talking about the movement. I cannot and do not get invested in all of these portal players coming off the season that we had just no interest in it. But it is why when you see a player announce he's going to a certain school, five reporters at the same time are all getting it because everyone knows the deal and everyone is essentially holding it waiting for the contracts to clear. With that in mind as the backdrop to the Rob Wright situation at BYU in Kentucky, I was told days ago, even before he went to Kentucky, that Rob Wright's ultimate desire was not to leave BYU and that the people around him were trying to drive up his price and get him an even bigger deal north of 4 million, potentially 4.5 million just to play college basketball next season. Now BYU, from the very jump and Kevin Young were not going to come close to that number. They were going to hold firm, they were not going to shift off it. They wanted him back. But if he was going to be able to go and get a bigger bag elsewhere, by all means, more power to you. See if you can do that. Denzel, Aberdeen, the same exact situation, coincidentally enough, Kentucky was involved in that one with Florida a year ago. We talked about it on the show. He went into Todd Golds office, asked for, I believe the number. I was told at the time was 2 million. They said can't go there, sorry, thanks but no thanks. Best of luck. And look what happens. Aberdeen goes to Kentucky, has himself a nice year, he's returning on back to Florida. They welcomed him with open arms with Rob Wright. He might have very well enjoyed his time at Kentucky and enjoyed the visit and all that was attached to that. Tyron Stokes recently took a visit. Kentucky fans were all excited that they might be able to, right? And Stokes and as we talk here right now, they don't have either. And instead Rob Wright decided and his camp was with them, that yeah, we're gonna go back, we're gonna go and remain at byu. I was told Rob didn't really have a massive desire to play at three schools in three years. And this is also a little bit of, it's a little bit of both. It's the market at play and doing what it's supposed to do. And it is, it is an instance where, you know, a player may have had a true desire to stay at a place that he really liked. Like I went out to byu, GP I actually, I Sat down. I talked with Rob Wright when I went there in January and super easy dude to talk to. Great spirit, good liveliness to him. I personally don't view him as some sort of mercenary that's looking to get the absolute biggest bag. And I think that is represented here because while it has not been told to me directly, I think it stands to obvious reason that Kentucky probably offered Rob either more than he was going to get or is getting for BYU for his third year of college basketball or was at the same level financially and decided, no, I'm going to return to byu. That's a really, really good thing for byu. But at the same time, I don't think it would have been a great thing if Kentucky had, say, paid 4, 4.25, 4.5 million for Rob Wright. He's a really good player. There's no assurances he'll be an All American next season. So he winds up sticking in Provo, which is probably the best for him and probably the best for both sides. Oh, gp you are muted real quick. I just see the mute on there. So hold on. There you go.
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If you wonder why I muted myself and then had to get up for a second. I just popped in the studio after another show was being done and everything was left on my. I should have checked. And so I just heard a million different shows coming through. I don't know if other people were hearing them through the mic.
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Good. We didn't hear it all. You're all okay, good.
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But rather than deal with that for the next hour, I just had to get up and go, turn, turn it off. So we're straight now. So obviously good news for byu. I don't think we can call it devastating news for Kentucky, but we can accurately say this is not going well as planned. There's a lot of pressure on Mark Pope heading into next season. And that pressure, like, it started the minute the transfer portal opened. All right. You need a breakthrough season or you won't get a year.
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4.
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Get to work. Build the team. And we're nine days into this thing and they have nothing so far from the transfer portal and just got very publicly rejected by a high profile target. It gets to a point where, like, at a place like Kentucky, like, there are only so many difference makers out there to be gotten and some of them are already off the board.
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Yeah.
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And this is getting, like, if I'm Mark Pope, I start to get real worried right now because you needed, you needed the first nine days of this to go better than they have gone.
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Would agree. Not the only ones. Kansas is weirdly in the non player so far. Duke. That doesn't mean they won't get players. I also like the Portal Hall. Like, you know, we'll get to some of the guys that haven't committed yet. We'll, we'll see on all of that. We are in day nine. But I understand a lot of Kentucky fans in this moment are like, we didn't get Stokes. Are we even going to get Stokes? Will Kansas get Stokes? Are we going to get Stokes? Who the heck knows? And there's no even indication on when Stokes, who's the number one player in next year's freshman class this graduating year of high school, where he will wind up committing, when he will wind up committing. And then you don't get Rob Wright. You've got the, the Syracuse, France or Freeman who's on campus now. There's, there's so many players I can't keep up with. There's another. Who's the other one? Oh, Zoom Diallo is the other one that Kentucky is trying to, to land here. And so now there's a question of can Zoom, can Kentucky get Zoom Diallo to commit literally by the end of today, if not tomorrow? And Zoom Diallo played at Washington like he was just. All right, fair enough. Solid enough. I don't know. We'll see. You're not, you don't necessarily win the national title. You don't go to the Final Four because you had one of the very best transfer classes. There's a lot that goes into it. You know, look at what Dusty May in Michigan did. They did have a really good transfer class. Don't get me wrong. They had Yaxel, who was the center of it all, but Adai Mara was an underdeveloped big at ucla and Elliot Cado was considered a disappointment when he came out of North Carolina with all of that. So you know, you can, you can get it done in a variety of different ways. But yes, to your broader point, Kentucky right now, although I will maintain it's not just Kentucky. Kentucky is just a high profile one right now because it's Kentucky and his fan base is the most online fan base that's out there. But we haven't seen movement from Duke yet. And Duke has lost some players to the Portal. Might it lose some more players to the Portal? We haven't seen like Kansas has been oddly a little bit quiet considering all the momentum attached to Bill Self saying he was not going to retire, he was going to return another year. So we Wait on that. But yes, Kentucky is at the forefront and I know that fan base particularly is gripping right now because as you go and look at the top 20, 30, 40 transfer rankings at 247 at CBS Sports wherever you are, not seeing a UK logo on those pages yet. And when you're more than a week out from the portal having opened, that's going to cause some real anxiety.
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So UK is not in the top 25 and one right now. By the time we get to opening day, do you think they will be?
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I mean, who the hell knows?
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Because if you're not, if you're not,
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if it's a major problem, if you're not, I agree, I agree with that. If Kentucky is not A preseason top 25 team in year three under Pope after having made the NCAA tournament as a single digit seed in back to back years, yes, that is, that is a significant problem. And I am already walking back my take that I made on the show. Who the hell knows how long ago it was. I know it was sometime in March where I essentially said I don't know if Kentucky would actually fire Mark Pope after year three if he didn't make the tournament after what he did in year one, Year two. I've, I'm now walking that back. Kentucky fans like, but, but we are so far from, from that, from that end game, there's. But Kentucky, I'm going to say Pope somehow finds a way to recruit a roster that is deemed top 25 worthy, even though it's not off to the best of starts.
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I would assume so too. Just, you know, with, with the amount of money they should be able to throw around. But the idea that it's even a reasonable question I could ask you is an indication that this is not going well. And the reason I asked the question the way I asked it is because at Kentucky, as we know, based on what happened in year one and year two, just being good isn't good enough. Just making the tournament isn't good enough. Just making the tournament and advancing isn't good enough. You need to look the right way and then you need to be awesome. Like it is not good for Kentucky fans. Like I don't know that they miss John Caliperi, but they do miss having a Darius Acuff and they used to have them every year and now they don't get those guys anymore. They didn't have one last year and right now they don't have one on the roster either. And so my point is, if he doesn't build something that looks and we're being generous with top 25. It probably needed to be something closer to top 10, but whatever. If he doesn't build something like that, that looks that way on paper, it just complicates the whole process. Then, then when you take the early loss, it won't just be a bump in the road, it'll be an indictment of what you didn't do the entire off season. And then it just piles up on you and that's how you end up, like, thinking about resigning in the middle of the season like that. It just can really overwhelm you. And yeah, I'm not ruling anything out, but if I were a Kentucky fan, I would have wanted, I would have hoped when the Ion College Basketball pops on on April 15, hope everybody got the taxes done. Or filed an extension. Or filed an extension. If I were a Kentucky fan, I wanted the Ion College basketball podcast coming on on April 15th and leading with look at what Mark Pope and his staff have gotten done. Yeah, this is, it's the opposite.
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It's the school and state that's actually making the moves. And boy, oh boy, have they ever.
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And we will, we will, we will get to that in a second. So, yeah, these are weird times at Kentucky. We'll see where it goes from here. But so far, not so good. Like I said at the top, the way I want to do this, I think, is just pop through nine different storylines that have emerged through the transfer portal in some form over the past nine days since it opened. Because in truth, I think this is right. Northern Night podcasted after the championship game and then I came home. He's been on the road a little bit. You might have saw social media pop down to St. Louis for the USBWA. That was cool with Magic Johnson, all of that. So we're just getting back together for the first time in a while and felt like this was the best way to just sort of recap the bigger things that have happened since the last time we talked. So the second story I want to get to, let's call it quinellis at St. John's obviously, among the storylines connected to the Johnny's last season was that Rick Patino, by his own acknowledgment, did not recruit an elite point guard. Now, by all accounts, they've got one. You probably never heard of this dude before yesterday. Unless you're Sam Bassini or do a podcast with Sam Bassini, but he's a 6 foot 5 point guard from England, been playing professionally since 2019 in some form by all accounts, he's a great pickup. What can you add, if anything, about this 23 year old 6 foot 5 point guard who has won back to back Italian cup titles and was the Italian Cup MVP in 2025.
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How about that? I can add a few things. GP's got Johnny's. I checked it. You're sick. You are a sick man. You've updated your rankings six times in like eight days. Johnny's now up to 13 where we think that's going to top out, by the way. I don't think you dare put him in the top 10, do you?
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I mean, I, I'll do, I'll do whatever I want, but, but, but I have do it again, I'll do it again. I don't care. I'll do it again. But I, I, I, I have been accused of underrating St. John's in this preseason based off how I was burned last preseason. But in truth, that, that's not really a part of it. In the past, I guess, 24 hours, they add Quinellis, then Dylan Darling immediately pops into the transfer portal again.
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B
Dylan Darling knew yes. Days in advance that he was coming aboard. They had to get the deal done. It gets announced. These things are extremely connected.
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A
Yes, of course they're connected. And then just on Sanon has also entered, reportedly entered the transfer port. I think Jonathan Gavoni had that. So a lot of moving parts here. But I think the way I wrote it in the top 251 update this morning was I think based on like, I'm not gonna act like.
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B
Yeah.
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So I was set at Peach Jam and watch Quinellis play seven times in one day. I'd never seen this dude other than what I've seen on my computer screen right via YouTube and Stuff. But by all accounts, best I can gather, lose darling, loose San and add Ellis is a net positive. And I moved St. John's up a couple of spots to number 13 in the top 25.
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B
We are not going to hash out the, we're not going to arbitrate your ran right now. But they, they lost someone who I literally voted as a first team all American. They're too high right now. Like, we're gonna get to Texas. Texas has a better roster than St. John's right now, but whatever. You've got 113, 114 again or not. I refuse.
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If you're gonna, if you're gonna nitpick on April 15, buddy, you're gonna have to do it with somebody else.
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B
I'm not doing that. But you asked me, I'm look, I literally looking at it right now, it is a really good sign that they got, they get a player like this. It was reported and in all transparency like I sent, I sent a note earlier today. I just haven't heard back. It was reported that this situation here is essentially alone and that Ellis will play for St. John's but that his rights are going to be retained at the Euroleague level and he will be able to return playing overseas, I guess purportedly in Europe when the season is over. I have asked for specific clarification on that, but it has been pointed out by someone who literally covers stuff overseas, Alessandro Luigi Magi, whose bio says he's, he's a journalist who covers overseas basketball in general. So I'm going to. He's got, he's got plenty of followers. He's followed by some people that I follow in the basketball world. So I'm just passing along what he is, what he has put out there. If that is indeed the case, that is a fascinating and new wrinkle to this ever changing landscape.
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A
Is this like in soccer when they put somebody on loan?
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Yeah, exactly. That's. That's in the most basic of terms, that is how I am interpreting it. Whatever. If he's going to wear St. John's uniform for six months of the year and be someone who's reliable at the point, then Rick Patino might have gotten a guy that can help unlock him, make another great run in the Big east and ideally take even one step further in year three in the big bracket. You know, year one they get to the second round, year two, they get to the Sweet 16, they give Duke a real push. Maybe they can get even more. They're going to need more pieces than that overall, but that's it. Say this for St. John's and Patino, like the one glaring thing about last year's roster was that they did not have a true out and out starting point guard, highly talented, good size, the whole thing. Right. Well, that's the first thing they take care of in this year's cycle and as a result, or at least positioning themselves initially and they'll get a couple more pieces here in the not too distant future to be a team that is quite easily and understandably ranked in the preseason top 20.
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A
All right, let's go to story number three. You hinted at it earlier. Looks like Louisville's still rich. Dude, looks like Louisville still got all the money. Flori Badunga from Kansas, Jackson Shelstad from Oregon. Earlier today, Carter Knox from Arkansas, add it all up. Put it. What do you think that.
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B
Wait, I have extreme confidence. That is a minimum of $10 million on three players. Dream confidence. Extreme confidence. That. That's. And listen, by all means, the real question is, is Louisville now does it have a deeper bag than Kentucky? Like are they. Will they wind up spending more on their roster than Kentucky did on this? Again, no guarantee that that is going to equate to anything we, when it comes to on court results next season. I feel like we won't be able to say that enough over the next six, seven months of this off season. But quite clearly, to me, your biggest April winner is Pat Kelsey in the Cardinals. Badunga sets up as potentially one of the three best big men in the country next season if he continues to get better and, and become all the more impactful. I mean, that's massive. Shellstad was quiet Oregon, there was a lot of transfer rumors around him a year ago. He wound up staying and then Oregon had a really bad season. But if he can regain a lot of that form from his first couple of years in Eugene and, and Pop as among the better transfer guards in the country this season, like, wow. And then Carter Knox, like real player, real talent. Like you're, you're paying a pretty penny for these players, but you're also bringing them on with the idea that they're all going to, it's all going to work like they're going to gel both, you know, on the floor, but as personalities as well. There's no guarantee of that ever happening. As every coach will tell you, you don't, you don't get the answer to that until like December at the earliest. You just don't know. You just hope it works and you trust your, trust your instincts or the people that you rely on as you're making these decisions. But good God, Louisville fans, I, I completely get it. Like you're, you're, you're the off season champs right now and that doesn't guarantee you anything. But whatever. Like, Kelsey has done a really nice job through two seasons and now here, after going 24 11, getting a six seed, you did get a win in the tournament. You lost to Michigan State and I understand it didn't go the way you wanted there, but Kelsey's done a really nice job through two years. I think that Louisville is positioning itself to be a preseason top five team at this point. There's so much still to be settled. I don't want to get over my skis on that entirely. GP but surely you would Agree with me that no team has done more to help its off season, stature, hype, reputation, all of it than the Cardinals.
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A
Of course now like in version one of the top 25 and one, I don't believe Louisville was even in there. But now I've got them up to 17. You know, part of they've gotten more done than most people is tied to. They needed to, you know, they, they like they're barely bringing anybody back so they had more work to do than say, you know, a different type of school. But they're getting it done. Like Kentucky's got a lot, you know, just to keep it in state. Kentucky's got a lot of work to do and they ain't getting it done yet. But Louisville has added three like guys who have been impactful, productive players at the high major level. I've got them 17th in the top 25 and one right now perhaps. But like I don't love that they're bringing back one player.
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B
You know, I, I, I got fair, I got you. It's like he's kind of starting all over again. But we'll see, we'll see, we'll see where you get this. Well, next thing we know we'll look up in the middle of May and GP's got him at number two or something. Not that you should, but I, I do think they are trending toward having preseason top five viability. Still got to bring more on. Let's see who the next if there is a next relatively big name, if they can add one more like clear cut big time player, then I don't think it will be arguable to be a preseason title top five team.
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A
All right, up next we'll get to story number four. I, I guess it's Norlander's favorite new team, Texas, what Sean Miller is doing down in Austin. But before we get to that, let's get our first word from
- [26:05]
C
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- [28:01]
A
So story number four Nine days into the transfer portal being open. Let's go. With Sean Miller building a nice roster down at Texas, he's gotten David punch from TCU. That's 14.1, 6.8 boards per game. Got Isaiah Johnson out of Colorado 16.9 points per game as a freshman. Like, I know Colorado wasn't good. I know the freshman class was amazing. But there's another freshman who was, you know, averaging more than 16 points per game. I've got Texas number 14 in the top 25 and one. I guess you think that's too low too. I guess you think I'm underrating everybody this year.
- [28:34]
B
Well, they also return Modest Volcatitis who was, you know, a very impactful big across the entire season. He was inconsistent. He only had two rebounds against Arizona. I saw it up close and personal. They needed more from him overall in that game. Can be foul prone unquestionably, but he's a, he's a key returning piece in year two for Sean Miller. It's, it's showing early that they, that they're going to position themselves to be a top 15, if not a top 10 team going in. And yeah, I, I like the initial, the initial stuff that we, that we have here. Especially, you know, he make they, they squeaked into the tournament. I don't, I don't want to forget that part of it. Like they got in but they went to the first four and then they go from first four to sweet 16 and then they get, they get bopped out obviously right away in the sweet 16. But hey, on the whole, Miller did a nice job and now he's loading up. I was told they're going to have more money to work with this year than they did last portal cycle. That seems to be indicating itself at this point there. But, but yeah, no, I, I do like it. And Punch, like I would consider him to ultimately be. I'll tell you, my prediction on Punch is that we do this all transfer team every year at CBS Sports. And actually real quick, let me bring that up here real quick GP just so everyone can get a refresher on that. Tell you, the five best transfers here it is 25, 26 here according to us, collectively, the transfer of the year. And then Bennett starts at Iowa, Jacoby Gillespie at Tennessee, Nick Boyd at Wisconsin, and Silas Emery.
- [30:13]
A
That's a pretty good list.
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B
Yeah, I didn't vote Demery. I, I, oh, who did I have.
- [30:18]
A
Oh, hold on. That was the postseason. This, this, I thought you were saying this is where we ranked them heading into the season. I was like, oh, this is lining up pretty good.
- [30:28]
B
O
- [30:31]
A
no, this is postseason memory was
- [30:32]
B
also really, really good. I thought there was, oh, my forgetting it doesn't matter. I had someone else that didn't have Demery. Those were that. But collectively as a staff, we've said those were the five best, last, most impactful transfers in the country this season. I put it at like a healthy percentage that David Punch will be one of the five that we have next year. He was a very like, very good player for tcu. Very smart, physical, knows the floor well. I just, that is, he is the kind of player that to me alters Texas's season from like, if you, if you take the roster that they're ultimately going to have and swap out David Punch with an average transfer, like, I think he will matter to the tune of three or four victories. I think he's that good. And that's why I'm really in on Texas.
- [31:18]
A
And if you remember last, I guess it was last season, there were two questions sort of connected to all this stuff that people would ask. How could Texas move on from Rodney Terry after he just made the NCAA tournament and like, you know, was just
- [31:34]
B
joined the Vandy staff, by the way.
- [31:35]
A
Oh, yes, that was today.
- [31:36]
B
Yeah, he got back on Saturday.
- [31:37]
A
Congrats to rt. So people would ask two questions. How can you fire Rodney Terry after he just made the incidental tournament a year after he went to the Elite Eight or whatever? It was right.
- [31:48]
B
And then they would.
- [31:48]
A
And then they would also go. And if you're Sean Miller, how can you. How can you leave Xavier after just one year? Well, the answer to both of those questions is right here. Why do you move on from Rodney Terry even though he's doing a good job? Because you think there's somebody available to you that can take it to another level, and that's what he's doing. And why do you leave Xavier after only one year? It's not ideal, but you knew the Texas job is a different level of everything. And you can take your career to a different level by being the coach at that place as opposed to the coach at Xavier. I say all of this respectfully to both Rodney and Xavier, but. But that's that we're watching why those things happen. Because Texas said we can do better and Sean said I can do better. And now they're together and they're. They're both doing better. That seems clear.
- [32:41]
B
Yes, I will say I don't. I don't know what Xavier's gonna wind up with, but just. And not that you're directly inferring this, if you actually dug into the books, it would not surprise me if there wasn't a million dollars total separating how much Xavier and Texas will wind up spending on their rosters this year. Not that you were. I'm just for those that might be inferring what you were saying. We'll see. But yes, generally speaking, the positions they were in after year one, you can understand the decision.
- [33:07]
A
They're just different jobs. They're very regards to what the payrolls look like in this year. They're very, very different jobs. Story number five, Michael Malone assembling a staff at North Carolina. Also getting into the transfer portal. They go stay in the acc, go to Virginia Tech, get Neoclis Abdullas, who sort of fell off the radar a little bit. Like, he got off. He had that big game early, like 33 against Providence, and then ended up averaging 12.1 points per game for a team that missed the NCAA tournament, whatever. But talented guy. I've got North Carolina 16th in the top 25. And one, Michael Malone has already added Chuck Martin long. Like, Chuck's worked everywhere at big brands. So he knows what everything. David Cobb and I talked about this last week. Like, you. If you're Michael Malone and you're on a college campus for the first time in 25 years, you need somebody like Chuck Martin next to you for, like, big things and small things. There's nothing that Michael Mullen is going to run into that Chuck isn't going to be able to pull from an experience. Hey, what'd you do when you had a academic advisor problem with this kid? Okay, here's the way we handled that. All right. Listen, what did you do? Hey, where did, where, where do you get the peach cobbler at Peach Jam? Where's that room at? It's right up here, Coach. Come on. Just. Every little thing. Every little thing. You get the point.
- [34:29]
B
You can ask you for that, but I know what you're saying.
- [34:32]
A
You. You need somebody like that. I thought it was.
- [34:34]
B
You're right. Your general voice, correct? Yeah, absolutely correct. And, and we will have a coaching carousel, recap stuff. We'll get kind of more into that. I know you talked about the h. General coaching stuff. Just want to give a heads up to our audience. I think we're going to actually try and tackle that at some point next week. Kind of go over every high major flip that we had and a few of the notable mid major stuff as well as it pertains to Carolina with the portal. You said you got him top 20 hp, right?
- [34:59]
A
16th.
- [35:00]
B
So Jaren Stevenson's back. Henry Vasar has had the pitch sent to him that is not yet been decided or determined. I, I think he should come back and try and be one of the three best bigs in college basketball. If he can pull that off or top five big in college basketball. That would be nice. Abdelis coming aboard. Let's see if they can get some more out of him. You had Dylan Mingo decommit. I was told he actually got hurt again in March. He's been hurt for a long time. He was incoming five star prospect and so essentially they were going to need to almost probably red shirt him next season. And whether he was or was not on board with that, he has decommitted as a result. And you know, you've just got a, you've got a regime change and they're in the midst of trying to land some other fairly big names here at Carolina. We'll see what, what emanates with that over the next couple of days or if, if Malone kind of works it even longer. There's. There's a big. I know they have been involved with Juke Harris. We'll see if they can wind up winning that or not. They. They ha. They were in. They're out. Maybe they're back in. We'll see on that. Juke Harris has obviously been pretty, pretty highly courted. Considered one of the top five or 10 players in the portal. I know Michigan was in there plenty as well in addition to some other teams. But I, as it's been laid out to me, Malone has come in guns blazing like let's do this. And the reviews have been terrific. I, I had, this is, this is a paraphrase but for, for any Carolina fan looking for even more optimism and everything that comes with getting a new coach. The same way that Kentucky fans were sitting there two years ago when they got Pope and Louisville fans were two years ago when they got Kelsey. Once, you know, the news settled and you started to look forward to the first season, the first off season, it seems that Carolina has been at the very minimum in contact with, if not involved with the majority of high end transfers. Just to get a sense of like who Malone is, the Carolina cachet and prestige, they're kind of getting that program to get a, just a, a major boost like it is a huge reset and, and early indications are that things are going well there. As they start to assemble a roster, we'll see what they ultimately end up with. But the vibes are very good in
- [37:16]
A
Chapel Hill right now, as always. We'll see how it goes. But it's clearly off to a, a good start. And I didn't understand the initial like the immediate reaction to this. I made this point last week where some people were just dismissive of it out of hand, like this is crazy or like this is bananas and I'm like, really? Like why, why is it you've got a world class coach like that? Like, you know, I know his reputation as a basketball coach is great. All right. He's surrounding himself with college people. Kim English Chuck Martin there's already parts of a roster in place. He's got money to further roster build and he's got a general manager to help him do that. And if you just deliver him a roster, I don't understand why he wouldn't be able to coach it effectively. This might not have worked 10 years ago or 20 years ago, but in a transactional business to this degree, you don't need relationships to roster build. You need money. He's going to have money, he's going to have somebody to help him do that. I just, I would bet on this working right now. I would bet you look up in three years and you go man, that was, that was, it wasn't their first choice, might not have been their second, but, but they got it right. I, I, I'm confident that this is, it is going well and I, I won't be Surprised if it, if it turns out being one of the better hires, if not the best hire from from this entire off season. Story number six Arizona trying to get back to a Final Four Repeat as Big 12 chance. They've added a couple of transfer portal guards. Derek Dixon from North Carolina, J.J. mandiquit from Washington. Both were like top 75, 85 prospects in the class of 2025. I don't know that either had the freshman year they were anticipating but they are still like former top 100 prospects who you know, we're rotation players in power conference schools. This past season I've got Arizona, you know, in the top 10 and you know, I don't know that their backcourt is going to be as good next season as it was this past season. But, but these two transfer portal additions certainly help.
- [39:26]
B
I sneaky really like this one. JJ was coached by Tommy with. Yep. So they have a relationship there and he is just, he has always screamed like really solid 4 year high major point guard to me and so yeah, you know Washington was a non player, non factor irrelevant this past season. So you know, almost no attention was paid to the Huskies but new place, maybe you can find some, some, you know, some spot to thrive. Dixon actually had some flashes here and there at Carolina. That seems good to me. And the expectation is that Yvonne Karchenkov will be back. You know he's like, he's like a true power, you know, power wing. You can play him, you can play him in the front court or the back court. He's interchangeable and could grow into one of the best defenders in the sport next season. So you have him. I think Mo Creavis will return. That word is not in but there's enough pieces here. Tommy knows what he's doing. They've obviously lose Bradley, they're gonna lose buries, gonna lose Pete. Barring a stunner, gonna lose Pete by
- [40:33]
A
the way, that I would really be thinking about.
- [40:37]
B
Apparently he did now apparently he did more than enough to change the conversation from like 16 to 23 to 9 to 18 that people think he's going to go over the final month of the season. GP but I'm with you because next year's class isn't nearly as strong and if Pete could develop more of a, of a, of a jumper like dude could turn into a top five pick in 14 months from now. But the, and the indications at this point are that he has played his last college game.
- [41:09]
A
Yes, that is my understanding as well. I'm just saying if I were him I know you enter your freshman season already with one foot out the door. Like you assume you're going to be one and done. But then it unfolds the way it unfolds. The mock drafts look like they look the money available to college players is what it is. I, I don't think it's crazy to think he could make more money next year. Now I understand there's other things to consider. Starting your clock to get to the second contract. A two year guaranteed deal if you're a first round pick. I got it. But I don't think it's crazy to think if he wanted to play college basketball next season, he would make more money next season than he would based on his rookie slot.
- [41:51]
B
Yeah.
- [41:51]
A
Of wherever he's picked. Because if you start looking at this like the 15th pick, you know what you sign? A two year $8.5 million deal. That's what you sign. Nothing is guaranteed beyond that. At the 20th pick is a two year 6.6 million. The 25th pick is a two year, 5.2 million. The 30th pick is two years 4.9 million. So once you get to around the 20th pick, you're talking about, you know, $3.3 million per year. Koa Pete could get that playing college basketball if you wanted to.
- [42:21]
B
He could. And then the question becomes the clock and the second deal, whatever. But keep in mind they've got Caleb Holt coming in, really good player. And Cam Holmes. Arizona's set up well. I will not be surprised if you and I get to October and we, and Arizona's preseason top 10. They've got a lot there. And oh by the way, mid all the tournament stuff, they kept Tommy Lloyd. We can keep it moving with the portal stuff but they, they kept Tommy around which you know, just seemed to always make the most sense to me. As coincidence would have it, we're talking Carolina and Arizona back to back here and, and keeping Tommy there and, and they will have plenty of money to work with. He's got some, some new empowerment just in terms of his role and, and not reporting to the AD anymore and just you know, tinkering the things that need to be tinkered with and, and, and assuring that Tommy stuck around there. Arizona done well for itself. I'm curious if how done they are or are not in the portal. They, they actually have some really good pieces set up. I don't know, we might get one more really notable name. But they to the average fan, Arizona has more on the roster right now in terms of incoming talent at the freshman level than you, than you might be led to believe. And, and I'm interested to see if they, if they take one more big swing at a big name or not. But if they don't and just kind of supplement from from there on out, I still think that's definitely a top 15 roster. Unquestionably particular with the idea that Crevas returns.
- [43:40]
A
I've got Arizona eighth right now in the top 25 and one when we come back, we will check it on PJ Haggerty. Hey, we'll play. We'll play our favorite annual game. Where's P.J. hagerty going to play basketball next season for millions of dollars? We'll do that next. First, let's get a last word from our partner.
- [43:57]
B
You don't wash your jersey during a win streak. You don't switch seats when your team's up big. And you definitely don't shave during the playoffs. When things are working, you don't change them. That's why when you drink Jagermeister, you drink it ice cold. Anything else, well, that'd just be bad luck. Drink it cold or don't drink it at all. Jagermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jagermeister Liqueur, 35% alcohol by volume. Imported by Mast. Jagermeister US White Plains, New York.
- [44:27]
C
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You know those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips? That's the energy State Farm brings to insurance. With over 19,000 local agents, they help you find the coverage that fits your needs so you can spend less time worrying about insurance and more time enjoying the ride. Download the State Farm app or go online@state farm.com Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
- [44:53]
A
E.J. haggerty is set to play a fifth year of college basketball at a 50th fifth different university. He started at TCU, then he went to Tulsa. After one year there, he played at Memphis. After one year there, he went to Kansas State. And after one year there, he is now going to be a part of Bucky Ball. PJ Hagerty is going to Texas A and M, where given the style of play and his ability to score, he just might lead the whole thing in scoring next season.
- [45:21]
B
Yeah, he really might. If you're wondering why five years he played only six games his first season in Fort Worth with the Horn Frogs. And so more power to you. This actually, famous last words, this actually feels like the best fit for who he is and what they're going to do and how they play and his style. So I don't know how much money is getting paid. I'd be surprised if it's less than 3 million. Honestly, I would genuinely be surprised if Texas A M settled for under 3 million. If you did, then that's a great job negotiating by Bucky McMillan. I wouldn't bank on that. If you told me they paid pj I'm not saying they did. I'm saying if they told me they paid PJ Hagry as many, as much as like 4.5, I'd believe you can absolutely fill it up. He'll be the favorite going into the season to lead the nation in scoring alongside probably Tyron Stokes, depending on Stokes's situation and the program he ultimately picks. But that's a good, that's a good get for, for A and M who had some good gains year one under McMillan. Like the fun team made the tournament, some ups and downs, but they, they got it done. And, and, and that's a, that's theoretically a quality get. I will say you can make the case though that Hagerty just straight up his scoring ability doesn't equate to winning whatsoever. Like wasn't he was. Got his at Kansas State, but didn't shoot well. From three his career. He's a 33.8 three point shooter. Memphis didn't win a tournament game. He was a key factor on the Memphis team that did, you know, get a five seed. But overall played at Tulsa. That team was outside the top 180 at Ken Palm. So it's a good get. But there's no assurance that by bringing PJ Hagerty onto your roster, that's going to mean that Texas A and M is going to be better next season than it was this past season.
- [47:09]
A
Story number eight, you're not gonna believe what Illinois did. Went out and added another European, Stefan Vox, transfer from Providence. I guess if it's not broken, don't fix it. Go get somebody from estonia who is 6 foot 7 and average 16 points per game this season for the Friars. I've got Illinois. They're gonna be good again. Up to number three.
- [47:33]
B
Up to number three. Okay, let's hold on. Let's do a reset on this roster here. GP they lost Wagler, right? I didn't miss something.
- [47:41]
A
They definitely lost Wagler.
- [47:43]
B
Oswald's gone. One of the itches transferred out. Right.
- [47:50]
A
Who left right now the. I think right now the. I think lineup would be something along the lines of you get both Evacues back.
- [48:01]
B
Yep.
- [48:01]
A
You get Mirkovich back.
- [48:03]
B
That's big.
- [48:04]
A
Stojakovic back, Stefan Vox. I mean, Jesus. Like, that's Vox, Dojakovic, Mirkovich.
- [48:14]
B
Yeah. Jake Davis coming back? Yes, I would think so. Right?
- [48:19]
A
Yes. Where's he going?
- [48:23]
B
Country? An offensive rating 146.6. Wow.
- [48:26]
A
Legend.
- [48:28]
B
Not that I don't think Illinois should not be top three or top five. I just wanted a quick reset. A lot of. Again, a lot of teams, a lot of transfers. Underwood does have a really nice setup here. That is. That is good.
- [48:38]
A
Fox.
- [48:40]
B
Yeah, he's a. He's a nice kid. We'll see what role he feel like he might just be wanting to step in and be like, yeah, if. Can you just. Can I. Can I add 14 and a half a game on what hopefully can be the. An amazing offense. Again, the question of Wagler. So who's the head of the snake? How do you, you know, what do you do in that regard? And. And who's gonna have the ball in their hands the most? But Vox is a good ad. And Illinois coming off of the fun of a Final four run, you figure they are. They are well positioned to be, you know, in the thick of it again, not just at the top of the sport, but in the Big Ten, you know, race heading into the season. Michigan obviously figures to be heavily involved there. Big Ten in general will have some really strong strength at the top. Uh, box was a really good get. I'm curious on what his role ultimately is though. Like, is he going to be some. I know he's regarded right now as like a top 15 level transfer. I'm not saying he won't be, but as this inevitably goes, like, half the guys that are top 20 don't wind up even being like, top 45, top 50 in their overall impact. So I'm curious to see how Underwood net staff utilize Vox in on the roster.
- [49:46]
A
Nexus story number nine. Let's wrap it with the Huskies. Yukon lost Eric Riba to the transfer portal, but got back Silas Demery. And I guess the question now is, like, what does Braylon Mullins do? Because Dan Hurley has, I think, publicly made the case, like, you know, hey, you got to figure out what you want to do, but, you know the same thing I was talking about with Copied, like, where is Braylon Mullins going to be picked? Is it. Is it 12th or is it 22? I looked at Fake's latest mock draft. I think he's got him 30th. That's a pretty wide range.
- [50:25]
B
Yeah, I can't see 30 and I can't see 12.
- [50:28]
A
Yeah, I think it's somewhere in the, I think it's somewhere in between there. But like, that's where you start to get into this range of, of, of picks where you can maybe make more money in college short term than you can make in the NBA short term. I, I sat down with Braylon Mullen's parents at the Final Four with Adam Zucker. We had him on a show in advance of the championship, in advance of the national semifinals. And they were great. They didn't tip their hand in any sort of meaningful way. But I, I didn't, I didn't get, I didn't get the sense that they were planning on having a college sophomore next year. But then I do think it was interesting that Dan was like, hey, you know, like, these are the type of things you need to. We used to just say, hey, if you're a first round pick, you got to get out of here. And now like, is that true? It's not true. It's not true anymore. And I understand all of the reasons why. If you are sure you're going somewhere in the first round, just get on with it. But I totally also understand that it's kind of fun to be an awesome college basketball player at an awesome college basketball program. And if you can make the same amount of money or even more doing that as opposed to, I do this all the time with prospects, so I'll keep it short this time. But like, what does Braylon Mullen's life look like next year in the NBA?
- [51:51]
B
I don't know.
- [51:52]
A
Maybe he's con canipple and he sets a new record for NBA. Made three pointers. Like, I don't know. But more likely he's sitting at the end of a bench that, that, that, that's not, you know, that that's more.
- [52:03]
B
And just ping ponging back and forth.
- [52:05]
A
That's right. Yeah.
- [52:05]
B
Yes.
- [52:08]
A
I just think players like Braylon Mullins and co opied important, awesome college basketball players for big brands, I think they have real decisions to consider in ways that players exactly like them five years ago did not.
- [52:27]
B
Yes.
- [52:28]
A
And oh, by the way, part of this, I don't mean to bury the lead on all this stuff, but it's pretty clear we don't have a salary cap, isn't it?
- [52:37]
B
Yes, it seems that way. Yes. They're still like consternation among some folks out there though, that are basically just tea of a whole other topic. All right, let me try and boil this down as much As I can. Right. So revenue sharing was agreed upon by the terms of the house case settlement. Okay. And with that, schools have a certain allotment of money that they can just distribute to literally pay directly their athletes across the board at the schools. Right. And so that was 20.5 million for this past cycle. Jumped like what, 22 or whatever for the next cycle. It's literally year over year over year. So what's happening now is at particularly like non biggie schools, school like programs are getting. I've had, I've had power conference coaches tell me, depending on the school GP like some are like, I have 2.4 in rev share, some will be like, I got 4 like Carolina. I think they're just under 7, if not 7 exactly in rev share. That's a great thing for Carolina. It's still not enough. I think the average high major roster this, this time around will probably run you. I guess the average, average I'd say is probably 10 and a half, maybe 10 million. But there are schools spending way more than that. I bring all that up as, as, as the setup to say these schools are signing these deals with these players and it is based upon money that they do not have right now. They don't have the money. Like top 10 transfer prospect signs for 3.3 million. That school is not paying him 3.3 million. Now. He will not be getting all that money in May. He will not be getting all that money by October. They have to go out and actually fundraise the money. And then as things stand right now, they still have to run it through this college sports commission. It still has to go through all that. So there's a little bit of like, just hold on everybody and hope this really works.
- [54:30]
A
Oh, somebody's gonna go.
- [54:31]
B
We don't look up in February and a player that we sign for 2.7 million has only received 1.2 of it and doesn't get the rest of it. And then we're staring down like a really publicly embarrassing situation where they call us out or they take us to court over it. So gp, like is there a salary cap? No, but I'm just telling you there's a lot of staffs out there that are kind of almost like riding blind faith on the idea that this will just continue to push through and we won't find some real resistance.
- [54:54]
A
That's all the staffs that are getting things done right now are operating as if there is no salary cap. No police, no anybody.
- [55:00]
B
Yes. That doesn't mean they're not nervous as hell about what the reality will be eight months from now. But that is how they're operating. Yes, right.
- [55:06]
A
But what, what, what is going to happen? One of these things is either going to happen. Either the governing body that is supposed to be signing off on these deals and rejecting them at a rate we were told would be above 90% based on the shit that they had been seeing. Either they're going to do what they said. They're going. Either they're going to ignore everything they've said and just allow these things to happen, or. Or we're going to look up and there are going to be countless players who say things like, I only pick this school because I was promised $2.4 million and I am. And now they're telling me they can't give it to me because they're telling them they can't give it to me. What the f. That's gonna happen? Either. Either you don't enforce your rules or that's what's coming.
- [56:01]
B
Either.
- [56:02]
A
Either one's messy. Either one is messy. And why I. I ain't right about everything, but every time we ever talked about this, what did I tell you? This is going to be a disaster. This will not work. How they say it will never come close to what they're doing. Well, you know they're going to get people to sign these. Remember, Remember, they're going to get people to sign agreements that say you have to follow the rules and if you don't, you could be kicked out of your league. And I said, you think the Big Ten is going to make Ohio State sign something or threaten to kick them out of the league? What are you talking about? And here we are. It's a disaster. We were better off with no rules than we are with fake rules. These are fake rules.
- [56:42]
B
Fake rules is incredible to the question of UConn, of Braylon Mullins. Oh, yeah, I would really. Man, I'd really enjoyed if he can't. Like to have someone like him who hit one of the. What feels like one of the 10 biggest shots in the history of the tournament, even though you kind of win the title. 8. Like it propelled him to the title game amidst a three out of four year run of making the championship game. Man, that'd be. That'd be a fun boost for the sport. I have no read no one and I have no insight into that. I don't even think Dan Hurley does at this point, to be honest. We kind of wait and see on that. But they bring back enough pieces where if they if they can bring back Mullins, they're unquestionably top 10, I think even without those. And we'll see who else they bring on. I was told they're involved in like a top 15 transfer, which isn't surprising, but it was. I was told it and I was told I can't share the name. Whatever. Maybe it comes out in the next day or two. But we'll see if they even get that player. It's a notable name for sure. We'll see what happens there. They lost Riba, who's seeking playing time elsewhere. But no, Yukon's a another notable team that. That is going to retain a ton of. But we'll see what's the next big name that can bring in because Silas Demery, who they got a year ago and is going to return unquestionably like he was a huge portal git because he changed them into being a final four level or capable kind of team.
- [57:53]
A
So we can put a period on that one. New paragraph. Biggest names out there right now. What are the next things that could pop that would bring us back in front of these cameras again?
- [58:05]
B
I'm going to look at. So I'm going to. I'm going to rely on the 247 list of top portal names at this point. The uncommitted guys here. So if you're looking at this right now, like Milan Momchilovich who has been connected to Florida, but I've been told that's not really a sure thing at all. Like one, he could wind up going to the NBA. I think he'll go into the NBA, but if he doesn't, where does he go? People think that's Florida as a fait accompli. I've been told that is not necessarily the case, but. Well, as always, as always, we will see John Blackwell from Wisconsin. That's a dagger for the Badgers. Man, he was so good for them. I know there's been some Illinois smoke there. We'll see on that. Gonna command a big price. Really fun, really, really good player. Alan Grace from Santa Clara, who you and I could not have picked out of a lineup a week ago. But the metrics love him. I he's 4 at 247 and I know Trotter has built out a lot of this. I will push back on that good player. I don't know if he's the fourth best player in the portal. He's one to keep an eye on. Masamba job out of Arizona State, number five, Debo. If we can keep Scrolling here. Let's look through a few more of these names. See we got here. Haggerty's committed. Juke Harris is a big one to watch. I wonder when that is going to happen. He is going to go through the draft process no matter what. So juke here. What will happen with Juke Harris is he will at some point. It could be literally today or it could be by the end of the week. He will commit to a school is what I've been told. But when he does that, he's going to keep his name in the draft process. So we will not know his ultimate fate until May. My guess is this is my guess is that the school that he announces that he will commit to or whatever agent leaks it, that will be where he plays next year in college. We've got Polyus moroscus out of St. Mary's who I think is an awesome, awesome player. We wait and see on him. Aiden Terrell expected to go to Indiana from Alabama. Mustafa Chom is another name to watch out of Cincinnati. I think he could be one of the biggest breakout players to keep an eye on there. Let's keep scrolling. Donnie Freeman is the Kentucky is the hope there from syracuse. Terence Hill Jr. Who came off the bench for VCU top 20 player in the portal. Interested to see where he lands? I. I love his game. I think he could be one of the 10 most impactful transfers next season in the country. Just a few more here. By the way, Miami got a Caden Lewis and Samta. That was. That was a great one too. They're not done. By the way, I don't think you have the canes in your top 25 and one right now. This is a guarantee GP will have Miami in his top 25 and one before long. They're going to have too many ads. Jay Luke is doing a really good job there.
- [60:46]
A
They're literally the first team out right now.
- [60:48]
B
Okay. Yeah, they will. They will pop in there for sure. Let's scroll down just a little bit more here, see who else is uncommitted. Jalen Harrison to Tennessee is expected. Zoom Diallo, Kentucky. Can they get that done? Cruz Davis out of Hofstra. I haven't heard a thing about him, but he was fun as hell and we've got him top 30. That's interesting. Kaden Mingo, Dylan's older brother. Do we have a. I don't know if we do. Do we, do we or do we not have a Packers deal? He's leaving Penn State. So we see on that.
- [61:13]
A
And then somebody's offering one.
- [61:16]
B
Why not? And then Caliperio, by the way, didn't talk. Arkansas, they're doing just fine for themselves. They pick up Jeremiah Wilkinson, who was 31. I'd actually, I think I'd have him like top 20, but a good player there. Nick Hamenia from Duke. I've been told he's almost exclusively talking to like top 10 ish, top 15 ish level programs there. He wants to land at the good spot. And then Bryson Tiller is one to watch. I think there's some smoke. I mean, he's leaving Kansas. I think Tiller, like, I think Tiller can be a top 15 producer from this year's transfer class. I think there's real smoke at Missouri right now, given the rivalry. That's relatively intriguing as well. So that's just a few. A few general transfer names as well. I think that's mostly portal stuff, right? I mean, touched on most of it. I did have one more thing for you before we got out of here. You got anything else on. On the portal?
- [62:04]
A
Not a. Not a single word.
- [62:05]
B
Not a single word. It's all this stuff. Updates. I'm literally gonna check right now. Has anything happened since we. Since we. Since I last checked 20 minutes ago, it looks like.
- [62:13]
A
I'm sure. But nothing.
- [62:15]
B
Yeah, nothing too. I want to give. I. We. We do our CBS Sports bracket games for the podcast every year and I need to give shouts to our top five finishers. Oh, need to figure out. Here are the top five. Ian Harkins won. Congrats to Ian. Zach Randolph.
- [62:35]
A
Yeah,
- [62:42]
B
unquestionably one of us finished second.
- [62:45]
A
The most of us. Nobody's ever been more us than Zebo.
- [62:50]
B
You've heard of the last of us. Zebo is the most of us. Exactly.
- [62:55]
A
Zebo. Real legend. Like really?
- [62:57]
B
Yes.
- [62:58]
A
Real legend.
- [62:59]
B
Yes. We appreciate him hopping in and, and picking Michigan, by the way. Not. Not even going with. Not even going with the Spartans. So good on. Good on him for doing that. Andrew Crowley finished third, Ella Tyler finished fourth. And then I, Tyler Career finished fifth. I recognize that name. He has emailed us multiple times and had a question or two appear on our mailbox or in our mailbag shows. So congrats to. To all of you. We're gonna. I'm genuinely gonna try and brainstorm and figure out what we can do for. For our first place winner. Second place, maybe top five, all of you. We guarantee. Think of a question for a mailbag. We'll get you in there. I want to actually send something of. Of real tangible something to our 1, 2, and 3. Ian, Zach, and Andrew, who finished 1, 2, and 3. You have my word, if, you know, whatever it can be. I don't know if any of you are Michigan fans. You just pick Michigan. And on that note, the highest placed finisher in our bracket games that didn't pick Michigan. Trivia time. Okay, so we had. How many people did this damn thing? How many people did this pool? It was like 3, 800 or something like that. Okay. I said no, here we go.
- [64:14]
A
Total.
- [64:15]
B
Oh, so there were 3, 800 entries only. Only a little more than 1600 of you actually logged the bracket. That's disappointing. We need a bigger. We need a bigger push next year. What do you think?
- [64:27]
A
I'm about to start playing the Oscars music on you. That's enough.
- [64:30]
B
What do you think the highest placed person was that didn't pick Michigan to win? They picked Yukon. Where do you think they were overall?
- [64:38]
A
7th. I don't know.
- [64:41]
B
I think top 10 was on the screen. I don't.
- [64:44]
A
I wasn't looking
- [64:47]
B
234.
- [64:49]
A
I don't. I don't mean to disappoint you. I'm not that interested in who. Who won our bracket.
- [64:53]
B
Well, that's because one of us cares about our viewers and listeners and cultivating and the other one's like, whatever I'm want to say. We can close up shot. I'm trying to give back to the.
- [65:01]
A
To the people that were shouting at
- [65:03]
B
you on the streets of Indianapolis. The people that were showing you love. I'm trying to. I'm trying to give back the love.
- [65:10]
A
Okay, we'll show them love. Just do it a little more quick. Just. Just speed it up a little bit.
- [65:14]
B
Oh, you want. You want to wrap it up? You want. You want to be done?
- [65:18]
A
My kids are in the car rider line right now.
- [65:20]
B
Oh, really? Oh, you gotta go. You gotta leave. You gotta pick them up.
- [65:24]
A
I'm fine.
- [65:25]
B
Hold on. Why did this podcast start late? It wasn't me.
- [65:28]
A
It really wasn't me.
- [65:29]
B
It wasn't me.
- [65:30]
A
It wasn't me. This is. This. People call this GP Studio, but it's not actually mine. Other people do work in here, and sometimes they work in here from 12 central to. To, like 1 central. And. And I. I go. So I go, hey, is it. Are y' all gonna be out by one and, like, definitely buy one? I'm like, definitely by one. Like, definitely by one. It was 104. It was 104.
- [65:56]
B
Yes. And a drastic plot twist. We started late because GP couldn't get it going on time? What do you want from me anyway? Congratulations to Keenan Knox, not Carter Knox picked Yukon234. I'm always fascinated by how high you can finish. If you don't pick the champion, everyone else ahead of him. I finished 11, 24th. That can't be true. Maybe it is. I'm assuming Parish is worth. I don't know.
- [66:21]
A
I'm assuming I was better.
- [66:23]
B
Well, we both at Houston. How'd that go for us?
- [66:25]
A
Damn it.
- [66:26]
B
Oh, we have a poll. We have a poll. Well, we'll wrap it up so GP doesn't get accused of being an absentee. Father's children just waiting there at school. Just standing there on spring break right now. So they're literally waiting for me downstairs. Yeah, you know, you know.
- [66:40]
A
You know the guy that's on those commercials and stuff? Yeah. He never picks his kids up on time,
- [66:49]
B
but he's there eventually.
- [66:50]
A
I'm there eventually. I never forget. I never forget.
- [66:54]
B
That's what counts. We have a poll who will play live. Poll who will play better in golf tomorrow.
- [67:02]
A
I really have no context for how good Josh is. I just assume he.
- [67:07]
B
I think he's gonna beat you.
- [67:08]
A
I think he's gonna beat me.
- [67:09]
B
The pulse is 51, Josh. 49. GP.
- [67:11]
A
All right, we'll. We'll keep an honest score. We'll keep an honest score.
- [67:14]
B
Hey, honest score. No, no fluffing in the rough. No, none of that.
- [67:20]
A
The.
- [67:20]
B
The. The. The gimme putt's got to be within a putter. The putter's grip.
- [67:25]
A
All right, Norlander, relax a little bit, okay?
- [67:28]
B
This is. This is what the people say. That when they don't want their. Their true score.
- [67:32]
A
I like to have a good lie.
- [67:33]
B
Gentleman's game. Damn it.
- [67:34]
A
I like to have a good lie. You know, I prefer my lies to be good. You know, sometimes. Sometimes I might want to say, hey, won't you go over there for a minute?
- [67:45]
B
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [67:47]
A
Once you go over there for a minute, I gotta look at my lie.
- [67:49]
B
Yeah, well, everyone loves playing golf with that guy, let me tell you.
- [67:54]
A
I'll. I'll size him up and then I'll figure out whether I need good lies or not to stay competitive. That's the way we'll do it.
- [67:59]
B
We will give you an update at some point next week. And yeah, I'm pretty sure the plan is we'll give you two pods next week. But. But we wanted to catch up here and then we got some stuff going on. So barring like significantly major news, we'll talk to you again on Monday and we'll have plenty load up coaches, carousel recap and then whatever else the news brings, we'll be here for you.
- [68:19]
A
That's a show. We're gonna call that a show. Shout out to Devin Downey, Chester, S.C. terry Teagle legend Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again watching Listening to the I Own College Basketball Podcast. Not subscribed. Go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to podcast Apple Spotify more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So do it. We'll talk to you again real soon. Till then, take care. You can't reason with the sun. Trust us, we've tried. This summer, it's time to put that angry ball of fire on mute. Columbia's Omnishade technology is engineered to protect you from the sun's harsh rays that can burn and damage your skin. The sun is relentless, but so is our gear. Level up your summer@columbia.com to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe lotion. You're welcome, Columbia. Engineered for whatever.