11/6/2023 basketball Edit

Hoops: Transfer portal team rankings for 2023 released

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman (Arkansas Athletics)

Russ Wood

Rivals.com

With the return of college basketball tonight, the NCAA transfer portal player movement in the 2023 cycle has officially ended. This year the final wave of portal activity happened late in the summer with multiple players entering the portal after their school’s final summer school session ended.

Arkansas finishes the 2023 transfer cycle as the No. 1 team for portal recruiting, while West Virginia and St. John's landed at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

There is a solid chance that transfers will score more than half of all points scored in Division I men’s basketball this season, as recruiting the transfer portal has become a vital part of building a program.

Here is a look at the 10 best transfer portal classes in the nation.

MORE HOOPS TRANSFER PORTAL: Rivals150 transfer portal rankings | FAQ on team rankings point system

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FOOTBALL FINAL 2023 TEAM RANKINGS: Comprehensive (overall) ranking | High school/JUCO ranking | Transfer portal ranking

HOOPS 2024 HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS: Rivals150 | Team | Position

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1. ARKANSAS (4,151 points)

Arkansas transfers:

Khalif Battle (No. 16)

Tramon Mark (No. 23)

Keyon Menifield (No. 50)

El Ellis (No. 61)

Jeremiah Davenport (No. 107)

Chandler Lawson (three-stars)

The top recruiting class belongs to Arkansas and Battle is the headliner. An aggressive scoring guard who gets threes off the bounce, running in transition and off screens, Battle has deep range on his jumper.

Mark was an integral part of Houston’s Final Four team in the 2020-21 season. A shoulder injury shut down his sophomore season in December after seven games. He started all 37 games for a team that began the season ranked No. 3, never fell out of the top five and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Do not sleep on Ellis, who earned honorable mention All-ACC honors despite Louisville going 4-28 last season.

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2. WEST VIRGINIA (4,009 points)

West Virginia transfers:

Kerr Kriisa (No. 4)

Jesse Edwards (No. 13)

Raequan Battle (No. 65)

Jose Perez (No. 134)

Akok Akok (No. 145)

Kriisa was the top point guard in the portal and is an all-conference type player. The Arizona transfer was the first Pac-12 player to lead the conference in assists in back-to-back seasons in more than 20-years. Kriisa will miss nine games this season due to an eligibility issue.

Edwards is a rim protector with offense. He averaged a double-double last season for Syracuse and was named to the All-ACC Third Team and All-ACC Defensive Team. Battle was All-Big Sky Conference First Team last season for Montana State. A two-time transfer, he will need the NCAA to approve his waiver request in order to play this season. Perez left West Virginia for Arizona State in October.

Bob Huggins landed a terrific portal recruiting class then a DUI charge in June ended his tenure at West Virginia and Josh Eilert will coach the Mountaineers this season.

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3. ST. JOHN’S (3,556 points)

St. John's transfers:

Jordan Dingle (No. 5)

RJ Luis (No. 52)

Chris Ledlum (No. 59)

Daniss Jenkins (No. 63)

Zuby Ejiofor (No. 100)

Nahiem Alleyne (three-stars)

Sadiku Ayo (three-stars)

Glenn Taylor Jr. (three-stars)

Cruz Davis (three-stars)

Rick Pitino brought his luggage with him in the form of four transfers from Iona. Pitino’s most impactful transfer will likely be Dingle. The Penn transfer led the NCAA in scoring last season at 23.4 points per game.

Ledlum was a great late pick-up for the Red Storm. His scoring and rebounding will take pressure off the Red Storm’s returning center, Joel Soriano. Jenkins followed Pitino from Iona and will likely be St. John’s starting point guard in its season opener on Tuesday.

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4. KANSAS (3,177 points)

Kansas transfers:

Hunter Dickinson (No. 1)

Nicolas Timberlake (32)

Arterio Morris (55)

Parker Braun (three-stars)

The best basketball conference in the country cleaned up this transfer portal cycle with four teams in our Top 10 portal classes, and Dickinson is one of the most accomplished players to enter the transfer portal – ever. A three-time All-Big Ten selection at Michigan, Dickinson should thrive in the Jayhawks' offense because the space it creates reduces double-teams. We expect him to be in the Big 12 POY conversation at the end of the season.

Timberlake gives Kansas a three-point specialist who can make them in bunches.

Bill Self took a chance on Morris, whom Self recruited out of high school, but Morris was dismissed from the team stemming from an arrest on allegations of rape. He played in exhibition games during KU's trip to Puerto Rico, and counts as part of the transfer class, although he will not be playing for the Jayhawks moving forward.

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5. MISSISSIPPI (3,125 points)

Ole Miss transfers:

Brandon Murray (No. 11)

Allen Flanigan (No. 81)

Jamarion Sharp (No. 83)

Moussa Cisse (99)

Austin Nunez (149)

To say expectations in the Ole Miss fan base rose when the Rebels hired Chris Beard in March would be an understatement. Beard added impact talent to his roster but, for two of those players, it remains to be seen when the impact will occur.

Murray (LSU and Georgetown) and Cisse (Memphis/Oklahoma State) are both two-time transfers and need an NCAA waiver to play for the Rebels this season. Flanigan is a lefty wing who really goes to the glass for rebounds and is a physical and athletic driver.

Sharp, a 7-foot-3 center, was Conference USA's defensive player of the year the last two seasons at WKU. Nunez is somewhat overlooked but he could get the start at point guard.

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6. TCU (3,078 points)

TCU transfers:

Ernest Udeh Jr. (No. 15)

Jameer Nelson (No. 19)

Avery Johnson (No. 68)

Essam Mostafa (No. 133)

Trevian Tennyson (three-stars)

Udeh Jr. is a former McDonald's All-American who appeared in 30 games as a freshman, but in limited playing time, at Kansas.

Mostafa averaged 12.4 points and led the Sun Belt Conference with 10.0 rebounds. He also made 55.2 percent from the field. Nelson is a guard who fills up the stat sheet. He led the Colonial Athletic Association with 20.6 points and 2.4 steals per game last season and also averaged 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists.

Tennyson led Texas A&M Corpus Christi in scoring last season with 15.7 points per game, including 18.6 in Southland Conference games. He also made 40.2 percent of his threes last season. Johnson, a Texas native, comes to TCU after four seasons at Oklahoma State. He gives the Horned Frogs another solid point guard.

Head coach Jamie Dixon aims to take TCU to the NCAA Tournament for three years in a row for the first time in program history.

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7. ALABAMA (2,963 points)

Alabama transfers:

Grant Nelson (No. 3)

Aaron Estrada (No. 33)

Latrell Wrightsell (No. 88)

Mohamed Wague (three-stars)

Nelson, a 6-foot-11 forward, was one of the most sought-after players in the portal after three seasons at North Dakota State. His 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game earned Nelson first team all-Summit League honors.

Estrada is a lefty combo guard who can get buckets on all three levels (20.2 ppg last season) and is a good finisher at the rim. He earned CAA Player of the Year honors for the second year in a row.

Wrightsell, who averaged 16.3 points and 4.5 rebounds at Cal State Fullerton last season, is another scoring guard joining Nate Oats’ high-octane offense. Wague fits an immediate depth need at the center position for the Crimson Tide.

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8. PENN STATE (2,894 points)

Penn State transfers:

Ace Baldwin Jr. (No. 20)

Zach Hicks (No. 116)

Puff Johnson (No. 135)

D’Marco Dunn (three-stars)

Favour Aire (three-stars)

Zach Hicks (three-stars)

Nick Kern (three-stars)

RayQuawndis Mitchell (three-stars)

Leo O’Boyle (three-stars)

Qudus Wahab (three-stars)

New head coach Mike Rhoades added 10 transfers in 59 days upon being hired at Penn State. Baldwin, a two-time all-conference pick and the 2023 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, followed Rhoades to State College and will make an impact at point guard for the Nittany Lions.

Hicks led the team in in three-point field goals in both of his seasons at Temple. He can be used as a space-four or small forward. Johnson played three seasons at North Carolina including in the 2022 NCAA championship game.

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9. GONZAGA (2,866 points)

Gonzaga transfers:

Ryan Nembhard (No. 10)

Graham Ike (No. 24)

Steele Venters (No. 58)

Nembard, the No. 4 point guard in the transfer portal, is the type of floor general other players want to play alongside. He is unbothered by tough competition averaging 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in 14 games against ranked teams last season with Creighton, which advanced to the Elite Eight.

Ike missed all of last season with a lower leg injury. He has a throwback game to a bygone era of basketball. The 6-foot-9, 252-pound lefty has very good footwork, great touch around the basket and can finish with either hand. Ike also has a nearly impossible-to-defend turnaround jump shot.

Venters comes to Gonzaga after a Big Sky MVP season at Eastern Washington. He will be counted on to fill the role vacated by Julian Strawther, who entered the NBA Draft and is with the Denver Nuggets.

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10. TEXAS (2,805 points)

Texas transfers:

Max Abmas (No. 12)

Kadin Shedrick (No. 25)

Ithiel Horton (three-stars)

Chendall Weaver (three-stars)

Ze'Rik Onyema (three-stars)

After four seasons at Oral Roberts, Abmas brought his Division I active career scoring leader (2,562 points) and career scoring average leader (20.8 ppg) game to Texas. In the 2021 NCAA Tournament he led Oral Roberts to victories over a No. 7 seed and a No. 2 seed before losing in the Sweet 16.

Horton probably should have made the Transfer Portal Rivals150. He brings experience (UCF and Pittsburgh), will attack off the bounce and uses ball screens well. Shedrick is a rim-running big at 6-foot-11 and 220 pounds.

Weaver earned Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors at UT-Arlington last season and has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

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