Rivals Roundtable: Transfer moves, coaching carousel, Rivals150

College basketball’s offseason has officially arrived, but the sport has provided no shortage of discussion topics in the wake of the season. Today in the roundtable, Rivals analysts Rob Cassidy and Jason Jordan broach three of those conversations as they dive into the coaching carousel, the transfer portal and the upcoming 2024 Rivals150 refresh.

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Cassidy: Dug McDaniel to Kansas State seems like a nice addition to me just because McDaniel fits the mold of what Jerome Tang seems to like in a point guard – and I’m not talking about being under 6-foot. McDaniel is at his best when permitted to play through mistakes and make decisions. His game is predicated on freedom and creativity, something Tang seems to afford his guards. Yes, McDaniel will take some bad shots, but his floor vision and ability to score from all three levels will make him a dynamic weapon for Tang, who seems to trust his guys when the lights come on. If McDaniel continues to mature before he starts his junior campaign and cuts back on bad shots because of it, he could take a massive next step and become a star in the Big 12 from the jump.

Jordan: I like Zeke Mayo’s move from South Dakota State to Kansas. He’s a crafty combo guard who can fill it up and is a high IQ playmaker with a 3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio this past season. I feel like his game translates in Bill Self’s system really well, and fills a scoring void in the backcourt that could pay off big next season. Mayo is the Summit League Player of the Year, posting 18.8 points a game this season. He plans to test the draft waters, but in all likelihood he’ll be suiting up for the Jayhawks next season and that’s a strong reason for excitement in Lawrence.

Cassidy: I’ve thought about John Calipari loading his dog into a stroller and going for a walk down a busy Lexington street just as news about him taking the Arkansas job was begging to break 10 times a day since it happened. The news itself was incredibly shocking, and it’s clear Calipari was playing into that fact as he strolled in public with one hand on his phone and the other on a stroller. I’ve covered the sport long enough to know that everything Calipari does is thought out and intentional. This man does not fly by the seat of his pants. So while I can’t guess the exact motivation behind his decision to stroll down an extremely busy street while the entire city was discussing him and his future, I have to think it scratched some kind of itch for him. The image is one that will pop into my head every time I think of the coaching change, and that’s fine by me. I’ve always said college basketball is at its best when it’s making people laugh, after all.

Jordan: Without a doubt, it’s Scott Drew staying put in Waco. He turned down the lure of Lexington to bunker down in the house that he built, what a story. This type of thing resonates with families going forward and should help him on the recruiting trail, where he’s already a major player. Plus, how legendary does it make Drew that he turned down Kentucky and Louisville in the same cycle? Sheesh.

Cassidy: I’ve talked a lot about Syracuse signee Donnie Freeman over the past two weeks. So while he’s the obvious answer I’ll go in another direction and talk about Florida signee Isaiah Brown, whose body of work certainly looks like that of a top-100 prospect. The Orlando-based wing is all of 6-foot-5 and gets to the rim with incredible regularity. His length provides him with incredible defensive versatility and his motor runs well on that end of the floor. The more often you view Brown, the fewer holes you see in his game. He certainly deserves a healthy bump in ranking next week.

Jordan: I’ll say Asa Newell. He’s been consistent and steady all year after having a dominant summer on the circuit. Newell missed out on the McDonald’s All-American game only because of the rule that one high school team can’t have more than three players picked, but he was absolutely deserving. Even while playing with a frontline that included Derik Queen and Cooper Flagg this season, Newell carved out his own identity and carried Montverde to wins because of his versatile skill set and rebounding ability. Newell is already sitting pretty at five-star status, checking in at No. 16 overall, but a slight bump is necessary in my eyes.