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Rivals Roundtable: Key targets, grad-transfers, mythical Final Four

It’s the weekend so that means the Rivals.com national analyst team of Eric Bossi, Corey Evans and Dan McDonald are discussing the most current topics. Who can’t afford to whiff on a remaining priority target and much more is discussed.

MAKING THE CASE: Jalen Green | Ziaire Williams | Greg Brown | Josh Christopher | Cliff Omoruyi

2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position

2022 Rankings: Top 75


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1. Which of the top uncommitted seniors is most crucial to one of his finalists?

Jalen Green
Jalen Green (GoFlashWin.com)

Bossi: Whether it be Jalen Green or Greg Brown, I feel like Memphis has to score with a big-timer from 2020. Penny Hardaway and his staff put together the top-ranked class in 2019 and have yet to scratch in 2020. I know that last season didn’t go as hoped for the Tigers, but I still believe Hardaway can prove the naysayers wrong in 2020. A bona fide star like Green or Brown would be incredibly helpful in doing so. Missing on both, though, would be a big blow.

Evans: Auburn needs to snag Green. While he would be phenomenal wherever he goes, the Tigers have the biggest need for him. They will lose Samir Doughty and J’Von McCormack to graduation, and while Jamal Johnson and Allen Flanigan are good pieces, they are not the type of guys that the Tigers have become so reliant upon in recent years as a primary scorer.

Sharife Cooper, for as good as he might be, also needs help. He is talented enough to carry the Tigers at times but having a running mate who he has great chemistry with like Green would keep Auburn in the upper tier of the SEC, while also giving Bruce Pearl a roster that he could really compete with come March.

McDonald: If Josh Christopher ends up choosing Michigan, that could be the most impactful commitment of the remaining group of seniors. Not only does it solidify Juwan Howard as a top recruiter capable of going anywhere to sign a player, he would give Michigan’s backcourt a significant jolt that complements the frontcourt talent already on board in the 2020 class.

2. Are grad-transfers making an impact at the highest level?

Christian Keeling
Christian Keeling (AP)

Bossi: I really think the mileage varies. For instance, Chris Beard and Texas Tech have done really well in the grad transfer market and nearly won a National Championship in 2018 while featuring a few seasoned transfers.

However, for the most part, I don’t see grad transfers making a huge impact at the highest level. Isaiah Moss was a solid role player for No. 1 Kansas this season, but it’s no surprise he came from another high major. Many of these guys people are breaking their necks for are not only coming from the low and mid-major levels, but from below average to average teams.

Will there be exceptions to the rule? Of course. But, at some point coaches have to take a hard look at whether or not the one-year hole-fillers are worth the potential roadblocks they are putting the way of their younger players' development.

Evans: No, and most coaches would say so. There is so much said about these type of transfers because they are both the unknown, as in what they could do for a program, but also the known, as far as what they have already been able to achieve at their previous stop.

More times than not, though, these grad-transfers are playing up a level compared to where they began their college careers. We saw it last year at North Carolina where two standouts from Charleston Southern and William & Mary averaged just 11 points combined. Two years earlier Albany’s Joe Cremo’s production took a drastic hit when he spent his final season at Villanova.

There are anomalies like Kerry Blackshear but, for the most part, coaches are forced to the grad-transfer route either because someone left their program unexpectedly or they missed on a few of their top high school targets during the winter months.

McDonald: It’s a very hit-or-miss way of filling out your roster. Not only are most grad transfers moving up a level of competition, but it’s always a challenge to get these players up to speed in a system in time for them to make a real difference in the one season in the program. For example, Christian Keeling struggled much of the year at North Carolina, but towards the end of the season he started to make big strides. If he had another year in the program, he could be a good player for the Tar Heels.

3. This is Elite Eight weekend. Pick eight teams you think would have survived, and then four that would have reached the Final Four.

Bossi: It feels like I have to throw at least one or two wildcards in there because this year more than ever, things might have been a little crazy. So, I’ll go Dayton, Duke, Houston, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and Virginia as my hypothetical Elite Eight. By the end of the weekend, though, I think we would have ended up with a fairly predictable Final Four in a unpredictable year with the Blue Devils, Jayhawks, Spartans and Wildcats making their way to the ATL.

Evans: I cannot see Kansas not making the Elite Eight. Dayton is there, and so is Florida State, Michigan State, Maryland, Gonzaga, Oregon and BYU. The Cougars were absolutely rolling at the end and the dynamic production of Yoeli Childs would have carried two WCC units to the Elite Eight.

From there, call me stubborn, but it would have been my Final Four from the beginning of the season: Florida State, Kansas, Maryland and Michigan State. The Terps were my biggest concern, but a veteran led team with oodles of guards and a tremendous big man in Jalen Smith usually succeeds in March, hence why they would have been dancing in Atlanta.

McDonald: I’ll go with Kansas, Baylor, Florida State, Dayton, Kentucky, Creighton, Michigan State and because there is always at least one surprise I’ll take Illinois. Kansas, Florida State, Dayton and Kentucky would have been the Final Four.

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