The coach of the year finalists are out, the transfer market is heating up and there was still a notable commitment last week as the college hoops world ground to a halt.
MORE: Coaches, prospects forced to make adjustments
2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position
2022 Rankings: Top 75
Earlier this week, there were four finalists announced for this year’s Naismith Coach of the Year with Baylor’s Scott Drew, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton, Dayton’s Anthony Grant, and San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher making the final cut. How in the world could you possibly pick among these four? All four programs had remarkable seasons and it’s a really tough call, but my choice after much consideration is Hamilton.
Any time you win the ACC outright you deserve to be considered for this award. The league obviously wasn’t as strong as it has been the last few years, but that doesn’t make it any less of a great accomplishment. Hamilton’s program lost some really valuable pieces off last year’s team such as Terrance Mann, Mfioundu Kabengele, David Nichols, Phil Cofer and Jean Marc Christ Koumadje and didn’t miss a beat this season with a 16-4 ACC record.
It’s a shame we couldn’t see if this was the team that could finally get him over the hump to a Final Four and maybe even a national championship.
There are hundreds of prospects already in the transfer portal this cycle, but I wanted to share some news on a few of the higher profile players to hit the wire.
Darius Perry, who averaged 5.2 points and 2.5 assists this season, announced earlier this week his intentions to leave Louisville as a graduate transfer. The junior point guard started the majority of the season for the Cardinals but saw his playing time drop off late in the season. Style of play will be a key factor in where he ends up as he’s looking for a guard-friendly system. Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Gonzaga, Iona (Rick Pitino signed him out of high school), Iowa State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Seton Hall and Wichita State are among the schools that have reached out to the former four-star prospect out of Georgia.
Jordan Bruner graduated from Yale and has multiple options on the table. The 6-foot-9 forward out of South Carolina is heavily considering going pro but is keeping his options open at the college level. Coming off averaging 10.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, it’s no surprise that he’s had a long list of suitors, which includes Duke and Kansas.
Trey McGowens should be one of the hottest commodities in the transfer portal right now coming off a sophomore season at Pittsburgh where he averaged 11.5 points, 3.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. Arkansas, DePaul, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa State, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Seton Hall, TCU, UConn, USC, Wichita State and Xavier have reached out so far. His younger brother Bryce recently committed to Florida State as a four-star prospect in the 2021 class, but right now the Seminoles do not have room.
The tricky part about these three transfers as well as every other available prospect is obviously when visits can take place. It looks like at minimum it will be a few weeks before any prospect can get on a college campus for a visit. With that in mind, unless a prospect has been on the campus and has familiarity with the coaching staff already, don’t expect a lot of decisions to be coming soon.
Right as the coronavirus pandemic took over the country last week, USC’s coaching staff secured a commitment from a valuable piece to its program, with Boubacar Coulibaly making his decision official. The Trojans had been looking for some frontcourt depth for next season.
The early expectation is for the three-star center to see some playing time next year as he develops into the caliber of player that could potentially start for Andy Enfield as an upperclassman. The Trojans were smart to lock him down now as Colorado and Washington State had started ramping it up with him.