MBB: The 2025 Transfer Portal

My guess is after they lost on Dybansa, they panicked a bit and paid a big premium for Caleb Wilson.

Then after losing out on their top four Center targets in the portal last offseason, they panicked a bit and overpaid for Henri Veesaar.

I wouldn't be surprised if $7M of their $14M is tied up in those two guys.

Duke gets the NBA-development discount on our recruits while Jim Tanner is having to pay the NBA non-development premium.
 
My guess is after they lost on Dybansa, they panicked a bit and paid a big premium for Caleb Wilson.

Then after losing out on their top four Center targets in the portal last offseason, they panicked a bit and overpaid for Henri Veesaar.

I wouldn't be surprised if $7M of their $14M is tied up in those two guys.

Duke gets the NBA-development discount on our recruits while Jim Tanner is having to pay the NBA non-development premium.
Yep, they FOMO'd their way to meh.
 
Yes, but we don’t have enough information to do more than speculate and opine. It’s not like we have a detailed list of team payrolls to work with.
No, but connected national reporters like Jeff Goodman and Matt Norlander have done some reporting on this and offer at least informed speculation that Kentucky has the #1 payroll with somewhere around $18-$22 million, and they've identified half a dozen others they believe exceed $10 million. While it's not openly verifiable, I think those guys are connected enough that their reports are close to accurate
 
No, but connected national reporters like Jeff Goodman and Matt Norlander have done some reporting on this and offer at least informed speculation that Kentucky has the #1 payroll with somewhere around $18-$22 million, and they've identified half a dozen others they believe exceed $10 million. While it's not openly verifiable, I think those guys are connected enough that their reports are close to accurate
Sounds like an opinion about an opinion. What could possibly be wrong in that?
 
"The Tar Heels brought in five respectable additions but none that Rob Dauster thought were UNC-caliber players:"

I could see Dauster saying "high claiber" or "elite", but what the hell is "UNC-Caliber"? A guy who's not quite good enough for the NBA but great for 6 years of college?
I was thinking the same thing. This deplorable roster of players is exactly what "UNC-caliber players" look like! LOL!
 
Reigning National Champion got a high potential backcourt from the transfer portal.
On paper an outstanding pair.
Boogie Fland and X. Lee from Princeton
Florida and Houston are favorites to make the Final Four.Duke can get there if our team peaks in March.
 
We're having so much fun piling on Hubert that I think we're glossing over today's scapegoat. Isn't this an epic fail by Jim Tanner to get this little talent for that much money?
Yeah, it's a case of someone feeling they need to do something, anything, to justify their 850K a year. So he signed whoever he could.
 
For only the second time in this thread, I’m going to make a plea to the Duke coaching staff to pursue a specific transfer. (The first time was for Miami’s non-scholarship player Xander Alarie. Tall, legacy, great hair, and the Crazies get a hero at the end of the bench to replace Spencer Hubbard. Coach Scheyer and Company failed to listen to me, and Xander transferred to Northeastern.)

From The Portal Report:

I didn’t watch the video, and I didn’t research him at all, because they had me on the words “Shelton Williams-Dryden has decommitted from Green Bay”.

1. He has the good sense to quickly recognize a mistake -- in this case, getting away from Green Bay’s head coach Doug Gottlieb.

2. After the near-miss from Shelton Henderson, we didn’t get the resulting Shelton vs Sheldon vs Shelden spelling struggles. Duke bringing in an actual Shelton Williams would be the ultimate troll job to DBR, and I am here for it.
 
Eamonn Brennan joins the chorus wondering how UNC got the roster it did with $14 million:


"It’s a decent roster! It’s likely a pretty good team! If you’re starting Evans, Seth Trimble, Bogavac, Wilson and Veesaar, you’re likely to be close to the top of the ACC. But it is not a roster that screams “Wow, UNC really dominated the transfer portal, these guys are the obvious employers of choice” — even on an $8 or $10 million budget. Hearing that UNC spent $14 million makes you wonder where the Darrion Williamses, J.T. Toppins, Boogie Flands and Ja’Kobi Gillespies are."
 
Ian Jackson on why he transferred from UNC…
"I feel like at Carolina, it just wasn't for me. It was some things I couldn't show or do on the floor that I feel like I could've done."
Well, that is basically the exact same thing Drake Powell said about leaving for the NBA draft. Ouch!

This puts an extra burden on Carolina when it comes to recruiting. Maybe one reason they paid $14 mil for a so-so roster is that they have to overpay to get guys because if the money is similar ain’t nobody picking UNC.
 
Ian Jackson on why he transferred from UNC…

Well, that is basically the exact same thing Drake Powell said about leaving for the NBA draft. Ouch!

This puts an extra burden on Carolina when it comes to recruiting. Maybe one reason they paid $14 mil for a so-so roster is that they have to overpay to get guys because if the money is similar ain’t nobody picking UNC.
ESPN ranks the top transfer classes, and Carolina's $14M doesn't buy them a spot in the top 13. (Wuffies make it, though.)
Jackson is the poster player for the article.

 
Here are the ins and outs of the ACC so far. If anyone copies this list to another website (hint hint, Syracusefan.com board), please provide credit and a link to DBR.

March 31, 2025:
The transfer portal has been open for a week now. Verbal Commits shows 1,546 Division I players who have entered.

April 7, 2025:
After 2 weeks, Verbal Commits has 1,919 Division I players in the portal.

April 14, 2025:
It's Week 3 and Verbal Commits is up to 2,154 Division I players.

April 21, 2025:
With the portal closing tomorrow, Verbal Commits says 2,320 Division I players have entered.

April 28, 2025:
The portal is closed, unless there's a coaching change. Verbal Commits shows 2,541 Division I players.

May 5, 2025:
Verbal Commits lists 2,546 Division I players.

May 12, 2025:
Still adjusting? Verbal Commits lists 2,558 Division I players.

May 19, 2025:
Verbal Commits lists 2,569 Division I players.

May 26, 2025
Verbal Commits lists 2,570 Division I players.

June 2, 2025
Verbal Commits lists 2,570 Division I players.

June 9, 2025
Verbal Commits lists 2,576 Division I players.

There are 16 eligible ACC players who have yet to decide upon a destination for next season.

Jaden Goodall, California to ??
Stephon Marbury II, California to ??
Vladimir Pavlović, California to ??
Hugh Vandeweghe, California to ??
Jackson Roberts, Clemson to ??
Stanley Borden, Duke to ??
Bostyn Holt, Florida State to ??
Kiree Huie, Miami to ??
Emmer Nichols, Georgia Tech to ??
Patrick Antonelli, Louisville to ??
Cole Sherman, Louisville to ??
KJ Keatts, NC State to ??
Desmond Roberts, Virginia to ??
Peter Carr, Virginia Tech to ??
Conner Venable, Virginia Tech to ??
Mason Hagedorn, Wake Forest to ??

Players with an asterisk (*) do not appear to have any remaining eligibility.



Boston College MBB

OUT

Joshua Beadle (to Coastal Carolina)
Dion Brown (to Saint Louis)
Chas Kelley III (to Georgia Tech)
Elijah Strong (to South Carolina)

IN

Jason Asemota (from Baylor)
Chase Forte (from South Dakota)
Boden Kapke (from Butler)
Aidan Shaw (from Missouri)



California MBB

OUT

Devin Curtis (to Southern Indiana)
Jaden Goodall
Gus Larson (to Queens)
Spencer Mahoney (to Temple)
Stephon Marbury II
Joshua Ola-Joseph (to Loyola Chicago)
BJ Omot (to Minnesota)
Vladimir Pavlović
Andrej Stojaković (to Illinois)
Christian Tucker*
Hugh Vandeweghe
Jeremiah Wilkinson (to Georgia)

IN

Darrin "Dai Dai" Ames (from Virginia)
Chris Bell (from Syracuse)
John Camden (from Delaware)
Nolan Dorsey (from Campbell)
Dhiaukuei "DK" Manyiel Dut (from Georgia State)
Miloš Ilić (from Loyola Maryland)
Mantas Kočanas (from Florida Atlantic)
Justin Pippen (from Michigan)
Sammie Yeanay (from Grand Canyon)



Clemson MBB

OUT

Myles Foster*
Jake Heidbreder (to Fresno State)
Del Jones (to Radford)
Christian Reeves (to Charleston)
Jackson Roberts
Ian Schieffelin*
Asa Thomas (to Furman)
Chauncey Wiggins (to Florida State)
Jaeden Zackery*

IN

Nick Davidson (from Nevada)
RJ Godfrey (from Georgia)
Efrem Johnson (from UAB)
Jestin Porter (from MTSU)
Jake Wahlin (from Utah)
Carter Welling (from Utah Valley)



Duke MBB

OUT

Stanley Borden (link)

IN

Cedric Coward (from Washington State -- link) NBA Draft
Jack Scott (from Princeton -- link)
Ifeanyi Ufochukwu (from Rice -- link)



Florida State MBB

OUT

Taylor Bol Bowen (to Alabama)
Daquan Davis (to Providence)
Jerry Deng (to NC State)
Malique Ewin (to Arkansas)
Bostyn Holt
Chandler Jackson (to Arkansas State)
Waka Mbatch (to Montana State)
Christian Nitu (to Washington)
Anastasios Rozakeas (to Mount St. Mary's)
Justin Thomas (to Bowling Green)
Jamir Watkins (to NBA Draft)

IN

Lajae Jones (from St. Bonaventure)
Kobe Magee (from Drexel)
Robert McCray V (from Jacksonville)
Shahid Muhammad (from Massachusetts)
Martin Somerville (from UMass Lowell)
Alex Steen (from Division II Florida Southern)
Chauncey Wiggins (from Clemson)



Georgia Tech MBB

OUT

Naithan George (to Syracuse)
Emmer Nichols
Doryan Onwuchekwa (to Tulsa)
Duncan Powell (to Providence)
Ibrahim Souare (to Syracuse)
Darrion Sutton (to Missouri State)

IN

Kam Craft (from Miami OH)
Chas Kelley III (from Boston College)
Peyton Marshall (from Missouri)
Lamar Washington (from Pacific)



Louisville MBB

OUT

Patrick Antonelli
Koren Johnson (to Ole Miss)
James Scott (to Ole Miss)
Cole Sherman

IN

Ryan Conwell (from Xavier)
Isaac McKneely (from Virginia)
Adrian Wooley (from Kennesaw State)



Miami MBB

OUT

Xander Alarie (to Northeastern)
Jalil Bethea (to Alabama)
Jalen Blackmon*
Paul Djobet (to UAB)
Kiree Huie (to UTSA ??)
Isaiah Johnson-Arigu (to Iowa St. Thomas)
Nijel Pack (to Oklahoma)
AJ Staton-McCray (to Seton Hall)
Austin Swartz (to Creighton)
Divine Ugochukwu (to Michigan State)

IN

Marcus Allen (from Missouri)
Tre Donaldson (from Michigan)
Jordyn Kee (from Georgia)
Malik Reneau (from Indiana)
Ernest Udeh Jr (from TCU)
Tru Washington (from New Mexico)



NC State MBB

OUT

Ismaël Diouf (to Northern Iowa)
Bryce Heard (to Dayton)
Marcus Hill (to Texas A&M)
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield*
Mike James (to Vanderbilt)
KJ Keatts
Ben Middlebrooks*
Dennis Parker Jr (to Radford)
Trey Parker (to Seton Hall)
Breon Pass*
Dontrez Styles*

IN

Terrance Arceneaux (from Houston)
Alyn Breed (from McNeese)
Quadir Copeland (from McNeese)
Jerry Deng (from Florida State)
Tre Holloman (from Michigan State)
Colt Langdon (from Butler)
Ven-Allen Lubin (from North Carolina/UNC)
Darrion Williams (from Texas Tech)



North Carolina/UNC MBB

OUT

Elliot Cadeau (to Michigan)
Ven-Allen Lubin (to NC State)
Ian Jackson (to St. John's)
Cade Tyson (to Minnesota)
Jalen Washington (to Vanderbilt)
Jae'Lyn Withers*

IN

Kyan Evans (from Colorado State)
Jonathan Powell (from West Virginia)
Jarin Stevenson (from Alabama)
Henri Veesaar (from Arizona)
Jaydon Young (from Virginia Tech)



Notre Dame MBB

OUT

Tae Davis (to Oklahoma)
JR Konieczny (to Florida Gulf Coast)

IN

Carson Towt (from Northern Arizona)



Pittsburgh MBB

OUT

Marlon Barnes Jr (to Evansville)
Amsal Delalić (to DePaul)
Guillermo Diaz Graham (to San Francisco)
Jorge Diaz Graham (to Oregon State)
Papa Amadou Kante (withdrawn; back to Pittsburgh)
Ishmael Leggett*
Jaland Lowe (to Kentucky)

IN

Barry Dunning Jr (from South Alabama)
Nojus Indrušaitis (from Iowa State)
Dishon Jackson (from Iowa State)
Damarco Minor (from Oregon State)



SMU MBB

OUT

Jerrell Colbert (to McNeese)
AJ George (to Cal State Bakersfield)
Yohan Traore (to SMU)

IN

Jaron Pierre Jr (from Jacksonville State)
Sam Walters (from Michigan)
Corey Washington (from Wichita State)



Stanford MBB

OUT

Derin Saran (to UC Irvine)
Oziyah Sellers (to St. John's)

IN

Jeremy Dent-Smith (from Division II CSU Dominguez Hills)
AJ Rohosy (from Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)



Syracuse MBB

OUT

Chris Bell (to California)
Jaquan Carlos*
Kyle Cuffe Jr (to Mercer)
Jyáre Davis*
Eddie Lampkin Jr*
Petar Majstorović (to Long Beach State)
Naheem McLeod*
Elijah Moore (to Utah)
Lucas Taylor*
Chance Westry (to UAB)

IN

Tyler Betsey (from Cincinnati)
Naithan George (from Georgia Tech)
Nate Kingz (from Oregon State)
William Kyle III (from UCLA)
Ibrahim Souare (from Georgia Tech)
Bryce Zephir (from Montana State)



Virginia MBB

OUT

Darrin "Dai Dai" Ames (to California)
Christian Bliss (to Delaware)
Blake Buchanan (to Iowa State)
Jacob Cofie (to USC)
Dante Harris (to Memphis)
Isaac McKneely (to Louisville)
TJ Power (to Penn)
Desmond Roberts
Anthony Robinson (to Xavier)
Andrew Rohde (to Wisconsin)
Elijah Saunders (to Maryland)
Ishan Sharma (to St. Louis)
Jalen Warley (to Gonzaga)

IN

Martin Carrère (from VCU)
Dallin Hall (from BYU)
Sam Lewis (from Toledo)
Ugonna Onyenso (from Kansas State)
Malik Thomas (from San Francisco)
Devin Tillis (from UC Irvine)
Jacari White (from North Dakota State)



Virginia Tech MBB

OUT

Rodney Brown Jr (to Loyola Marymount)
Ben Burnham*
Peter Carr
Ryan Jones Jr (to Liberty)
Brandon Rechsteiner (to Colorado State)
Connor Serven (to Mercer)
Conner Venable
Patrick Wessler (to UNC Wilmington)
Jaydon Young (to High Point North Carolina/UNC)

IN

Jailen Bedford (from UNLV)
Amani Hansberry (from West Virginia)
Izaiah Pasha (from Delaware)



Wake Forest MBB

OUT

Churchill Abass (to New Orleans)
Davin Cosby (to Kennesaw State)
Parker Friedrichsen (to Davidson)
Mason Hagedorn
Ty-Laur Johnson (to San Diego)
Efton Reid III*

IN

Sebastian Akins (from Denver)
Nate Calmese (from Washington State)
Myles Colvin (from Purdue)
Mekhi Mason (from Washington)
Cooper Schwieger (from Valparaiso)


 
EvanMiya likes the Wolfpack's work in the portal:

"I’d argue that no team has had a flashier offseason than NC State. New head coach Will Wade quickly hit the recruiting trails hard, putting together the third-best incoming transfer class in the entire country, according to EvanMiya.com. Darrion Williams is the big catch, as Williams is the best player to enter the transfer portal this offseason, according to EvanMiya.com. Williams is good enough to be a first- or second-team All-American this year. The rest of NC State’s roster is probably underrated by most as well. Tre Holloman, Ven-Allen Lubin, Terrance Arceneaux, and Quadir Copeland are all substantial additions. NC State’s roster ranking range is pretty wide: between 5th and 20th best in the country."

He also discusses Purdue, Kansas, UConn, and Tennessee. https://blog.evanmiya.com/p/five-te...ect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
 
For only the second time in this thread, I’m going to make a plea to the Duke coaching staff to pursue a specific transfer. (The first time was for Miami’s non-scholarship player Xander Alarie. Tall, legacy, great hair, and the Crazies get a hero at the end of the bench to replace Spencer Hubbard. Coach Scheyer and Company failed to listen to me, and Xander transferred to Northeastern.)

From The Portal Report:

I didn’t watch the video, and I didn’t research him at all, because they had me on the words “Shelton Williams-Dryden has decommitted from Green Bay”.

1. He has the good sense to quickly recognize a mistake -- in this case, getting away from Green Bay’s head coach Doug Gottlieb.

2. After the near-miss from Shelton Henderson, we didn’t get the resulting Shelton vs Sheldon vs Shelden spelling struggles. Duke bringing in an actual Shelton Williams would be the ultimate troll job to DBR, and I am here for it.

Once again, the Duke coaches aren't listening to me and missed out. Portal Updates says that Shelton Williams-Dryden withdrew and is returning to West Georgia.




I do have a third suggestion for an incoming Duke transfer, but if neither Coach Scheyer nor anyone from his staff are reading DBR -- how could they not? -- I may be wasting my time.

Emmer Nichols (bio, stats) is a deep reserve from Georgia Tech. He was a double major in Economics and International Affairs, graduating in 3 years with highest honors. He played a total of 8 games in two seasons, so he'd be a grad transfer with 2 years of eligibility, time that could be well spent at Fuqua.



Among his intangibles: the hair is not quite on a Neal Begovich/Xander Alarie level, but it's pretty good. More importantly, he's already had his Marshall Plumlee moment.

 
Shots fired in the other Triangle rivalry, as new NC State coach Will Wade questions the brain trust in Chapel Hill for how they used Ven-Allen Lubin. (Remember, Lubin transferred from the Heels to the Wolfpack.) From On3:


“The other school was too dumb to play him,” Wade said. “When [Lubin] plays 28-plus minutes — he’s done that in 23 [career] games — he averages 15 [points] and eight [rebounds]. I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him but we’re gonna play him, so he’s gonna average 15 and eight.”

...Lubin averaged 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 68.4% from the field
[at UNC last season]. Lubin’s numbers increased when he saw more time on the floor.

 
Shots fired in the other Triangle rivalry, as new NC State coach Will Wade questions the brain trust in Chapel Hill for how they used Ven-Allen Lubin. (Remember, Lubin transferred from the Heels to the Wolfpack.) From On3:


“The other school was too dumb to play him,” Wade said. “When [Lubin] plays 28-plus minutes — he’s done that in 23 [career] games — he averages 15 [points] and eight [rebounds]. I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him but we’re gonna play him, so he’s gonna average 15 and eight.”

...Lubin averaged 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 68.4% from the field
[at UNC last season]. Lubin’s numbers increased when he saw more time on the floor.

Uh oh, Wade is letting everyone in on the secret about Hubert...
 
Shots fired in the other Triangle rivalry, as new NC State coach Will Wade questions the brain trust in Chapel Hill for how they used Ven-Allen Lubin. (Remember, Lubin transferred from the Heels to the Wolfpack.) From On3:


“The other school was too dumb to play him,” Wade said. “When [Lubin] plays 28-plus minutes — he’s done that in 23 [career] games — he averages 15 [points] and eight [rebounds]. I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him but we’re gonna play him, so he’s gonna average 15 and eight.”

...Lubin averaged 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 68.4% from the field
[at UNC last season]. Lubin’s numbers increased when he saw more time on the floor.

Pass the popcorn!
 
Shots fired in the other Triangle rivalry, as new NC State coach Will Wade questions the brain trust in Chapel Hill for how they used Ven-Allen Lubin. (Remember, Lubin transferred from the Heels to the Wolfpack.) From On3:


“The other school was too dumb to play him,” Wade said. “When [Lubin] plays 28-plus minutes — he’s done that in 23 [career] games — he averages 15 [points] and eight [rebounds]. I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him but we’re gonna play him, so he’s gonna average 15 and eight.”

...Lubin averaged 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 68.4% from the field
[at UNC last season]. Lubin’s numbers increased when he saw more time on the floor.

Personality-wise, he seems like the basketball equivalent of Spurrier. As long as he doesn't do badly (and so far the recruiting looks very good), I think State fans are going to love him.

I think the side effect is that they'll pony up bucks for him to build really good rosters.
 
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