2023 Transfer Portal

[scottdude8]

New best player in the portal...

Max Abmas from Oral Roberts. One of the top scorers in all of college basketball.

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/sta...01660287991811

Something tells me he might stay away from the ACC to avoid running into Tyrese’s D again

[tommy]

New best player in the portal...

Max Abmas from Oral Roberts. One of the top scorers in all of college basketball.

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/sta...01660287991811

Oh my … to add him to our backcourt …

[SouthernDukie]

Something tells me he might stay away from the ACC to avoid running into Tyrese’s D again

I’ll call it right now and say he actually goes to UNC. Just a bad gut feeling.

[cbarry]

I’ll call it right now and say he actually goes to UNC. Just a bad gut feeling.

Same thought I had.
please let it not happen.

[scottdude8]

I’ll call it right now and say he actually goes to UNC. Just a bad gut feeling.

Same thought I had.
please let it not happen.

I feel like pairing him alongside Davis would pose the same problems that a Cadeau reclass would. Obviously Abmas would be a better player next year, but pairing two diminutive point guards that need the ball in their hands together seems like a recipe for defensive disaster and offensive tension.

[Southgate0809]

Same thought I had.
please let it not happen.

If a player from Oral Roberts is the best they can get, they're in for a long season.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

If a player from Oral Roberts is the best they can get, they're in for a long season.

Did you see the guy play? Yes, he is undersized, but he is better than a lot of the Power 6 players out there. Might want to do a little homework before providing your "expert" hot take.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Did you see the guy play? Yes, he is undersized, but he is better than a lot of the Power 6 players out there. Might want to do a little homework before providing your "expert" hot take.

Abmas was held in check the two times he played high-quality competition. Against both Houston and Duke, he was a non-factor. Abmas might be best paired with a bigger guard that is more pass-first and can defend rather than another diminutive ball dominant guard like RJ Davis.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Abmas was held in check the two times he played high-quality competition. Against both Houston and Duke, he was a non-factor. Abmas might be best paired with a bigger guard that is more pass-first and can defend rather than another diminutive ball dominant guard like RJ Davis.

His support system, though, was not "high-quality competition". I suspect when he's playing on a team with universally more skilled players, he will be much more productive.

[Southgate0809]

Did you see the guy play? Yes, he is undersized, but he is better than a lot of the Power 6 players out there. Might want to do a little homework before providing your "expert" hot take.

I watched him go 4-15 against Duke. What did you see?

I also didn't proclaim myself an expert. I don't think to be one to know that it would be extremely rare for a player from a school like that to be worthy of being afraid of in the ACC. Ja Morants don't come along very often, and the scoring average of a player from Oral Robert's conference doesn't mean a damn thing.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Abmas was held in check the two times he played high-quality competition. Against both Houston and Duke, he was a non-factor. Abmas might be best paired with a bigger guard that is more pass-first and can defend rather than another diminutive ball dominant guard like RJ Davis.

Is he going to carry UNC to a championship? Probably not. Is he capable of being a significant contributor to a Power 6 team? I think so.

The prior poster's tone made it sound like it is impossible for a player from Oral Roberts or another school at that level to contribute significantly to a top team. Baylor Scheierman transferred from the same conference to Creighton (Big East) and made a big impact this year - we were all drooling over him last year when we thought he might consider Duke. And there are plenty of others in the past who have done so.

Hot takes (I'm sure he will deny this is one, but it is) and vague generalizations like that don't usually fly around here.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Hot takes (I'm sure he will deny this is one, but it is) and vague generalizations like that don't usually fly around here.

More and moreso.

[DavidBenAkiva]

His support system, though, was not "high-quality competition". I suspect when he's playing on a team with universally more skilled players, he will be much more productive.

He'd probably be a lot less productive at a high-major. His usage rate at ORU was very high. If he transferred to a high-major, his usage rate would probably decline just because there would be other players capable of scoring the ball on the court with him. Instead of being a guy that gets 26 pts a game or whatever, he would be a 15-18 pts/gm scorer in a better-case scenario. Plenty of mid-major types like Abmas transferred up and then saw a big decline in their scoring and efficiency as they had to adjust to being a secondary or tertiary scorer. That happened to Baylor Scheierman after transferring from South Dakota State to Creighton. Scheierman was a guy that scored 16+ pts/game at SD St on 46.9% 3P% to 12.8 pts on 36.4% shooting (and more 3PA per game, too). Moving to a new role and playing tougher competition isn't a formula for success for a lot of these mid-major studs.

EDIT: Ha, we both looked up Scheierman as an example. He was good but hardly the same type of player as he was at SD St. Scheierman also has the advantage of being a bigger guard/wing while Abmas is not big enough to guard most high-major players. Roach completely outplayed Abmas in that game. Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark for Houston did as well when they played ORU and held Abmas to just 3 points.

[CDu]

He'd probably be a lot less productive at a high-major. His usage rate at ORU was very high. If he transferred to a high-major, his usage rate would probably decline just because there would be other players capable of scoring the ball on the court with him. Instead of being a guy that gets 26 pts a game or whatever, he would be a 15-18 pts/gm scorer in a better-case scenario. Plenty of mid-major types like Abmas transferred up and then saw a big decline in their scoring and efficiency as they had to adjust to being a secondary or tertiary scorer. That happened to Baylor Scheierman after transferring from South Dakota State to Creighton. Scheierman was a guy that scored 16+ pts/game at SD St on 46.9% 3P% to 12.8 pts on 36.4% shooting (and more 3PA per game, too). Moving to a new role and playing tougher competition isn't a formula for success for a lot of these mid-major studs.

That isn’t the most compelling argument. Scheierman saw a 3 ppg drop in scoring going from SDSU to Creighton.

And 15-18 ppg would make him an All-ACC candidate. So again to the point, not exactly a compelling case against any ACC team recruiting him.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

That isn’t the most compelling argument. Scheierman saw a 3 ppg drop in scoring going from SDSU to Creighton.

And 15-18 ppg would make him an All-ACC candidate. So again to the point, not exactly a compelling case against any ACC team recruiting him.

Agreed. A simple google search found this article from before the tournament started of mid-major players who are contributing at big time schools this year. A few of them happen to be playing right now. They all made significant contributions this year. Yes, Abmas is smaller so it isn't exactly the same situation, but to vaguely write off players from these schools doesn't fly.

Also, Abmas scored 29 against #2 seed Ohio State in the 2021 tournament.

https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/...ch-approaches/

[DavidBenAkiva]

That isn’t the most compelling argument. Scheierman saw a 3 ppg drop in scoring going from SDSU to Creighton.

And 15-18 ppg would make him an All-ACC candidate. So again to the point, not exactly a compelling case against any ACC team recruiting him.

In my edit I address another reason that Scheierman is a success story. He's a 6'6" G/F that wasn't even the leading scorer on his team at SD St. Abmas is a 6'0" lead guard that is the overwhelming majority of his team's offense. There are a few reasons why he would probably struggle translating his game against higher levels of competition. Could he contribute? Sure, but how good is he going to be as a catch-and-shoot third option?

[Southgate0809]

Is he going to carry UNC to a championship? Probably not. Is he capable of being a significant contributor to a Power 6 team? I think so.

The prior poster's tone made it sound like it is impossible for a player from Oral Roberts or another school at that level to contribute significantly to a top team. Baylor Scheierman transferred from the same conference to Creighton (Big East) and made a big impact this year - we were all drooling over him last year when we thought he might consider Duke. And there are plenty of others in the past who have done so.

Hot takes (I'm sure he will deny this is one, but it is) and vague generalizations like that don't usually fly around here.

Saying that he'd have a big impact is just as much of a hot take as saying he wouldn't, so I dont get your point.

If you were drooling over Scheierman last year (I sure wasn't), I promise you UNC wasn't sitting there saying "oh I hope Duke doesn't get Scheierman. Wouldn't want to have to play against him."

[CameronBornAndBred]

If he transferred to a high-major, his usage rate would probably decline just because there would be other players capable of scoring the ball on the court with him. Instead of being a guy that gets 26 pts a game or whatever, he would be a 15-18 pts/gm scorer in a better-case scenario.

Scratching my head as to how that's a bad thing?

[CDu]

In my edit I address another reason that Scheierman is a success story. He's a 6'6" G/F that wasn't even the leading scorer on his team at SD St. Abmas is a 6'0" lead guard that is the overwhelming majority of his team's offense. There are a few reasons why he would probably struggle translating his game against higher levels of competition. Could he contribute? Sure, but how good is he going to be as a catch-and-shoot third option?

There have been plenty of 6’0” guards who have been terrific scorers at major colleges. I see little reason to assume that Abmas - with better talent around him to take the pressure off - couldn’t be an All-ACC caliber player.

Is he likely to score 25 ppg on a good ACC team? No. But that doesn’t mean he is likely to struggle, either.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Scratching my head as to how that's a bad thing?

I wouldn't take that knowing what he's like on the other side of the court.