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Transfer Portal Deadline Winners (IOWA, Maryland) & Losers (Minnesota). Approx. 2,000 entered the Portal!

Franisdaman

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Nov 3, 2012
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Heaven, Iowa
If Tony Perkins was worth $400,000 on the open market, imagine what Owen, Josh Dix and Payton would have commanded. Hat tip to Fran for keeping these 3 important pieces.

Here are some excerpts from the linked story that says Iowa is winner at the portal deadline:

Outside of a few stragglers who waited until the last minute to get their paperwork filed, the college basketball transfer portal is finally, mercifully closed. That sound you just heard is college basketball coaches throughout the country exhaling. No more worrying or fretting about some last-second departures. The NCAA's new updated rule forces graduate transfers to hit the transfer portal by May 1, even if they are going through the NBA Draft process.

The tally of total transfers from the 2024 cycle will be finalized in the coming days, but it's flirting with 2,000 total names.

Let's dive into the winners and losers from the transfer portal deadline. Which programs kept key players and which programs lost key stars? We'll sort through all the additions later. This exercise is focused solely on retention. A few teams were able to keep some studs out of the portal. A few others were not so lucky.

Winner: Iowa Hawkeyes

Iowa
was not immune to the transfer portal. Patrick McCaffery left for Butler. Second-leading scorer Tony Perkins bounced for Mizzou. Rotation guard Dasonte Bowen jetted off to St. Bonaventure.

But it could have been so much worse.

Iowa survived the transfer portal deadline without Josh Dix, Owen Freeman or Payton Sandfort tossing their names into the fray. Sandfort is currently going through the NBA Draft process. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound wing is one of the top pure snipers in the country, period, and heavy-hitters were strongly interested. Fellow NBA Draft prospects like Coleman Hawkins, Trevon Brazile and Cam Christie entered the transfer portal in the final hour to keep their options open. Sandfort did not. If he plays college basketball next season, it'll be at Iowa. That's enormous for Fran McCaffery.

Keeping Josh Dix and Owen Freeman out of the portal is just as significant. Dix is a midrange assassin who can get to his spots against anybody. The polished three-level scorer would've had a huge market, but he's primed for a usage rate bump without Perkins in the mix. The Big Ten didn't have many impactful freshmen, but Freeman was a major outlier. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 assists per game on his way to earning co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Iowa didn't have any semblance of rim protection until Freeman steamrolled his way into the starting lineup.

Iowa has plenty of hoops to jump through. It's still in the thick of it for UMass transfer Matt Cross to fill the frontcourt forward. It's still waiting to see Sandfort's feedback from the NBA personnel, but at least it knows Dix and Freeman are officially locked in for an important 2024-25 campaign.



Winner: Maryland Terrapins

Even after a highly disappointing, 16-17 season, Maryland has managed to keep both Julian Reese and DeShawn Harris-Smith out of the transfer portal.

That's enormous for Kevin Willard as he looks to get back on track.

There were rumblings around Reese potentially cashing in on a glitzy payday, but Maryland kept him locked in. Harris-Smith could've easily dipped for a fresh start after a freshman season that did not go to plan, both personally and from a team perspective. He's also sticking around.

Replacing Jahmir Young would've been hard enough. Being forced to replace an All-Big Ten point guard, an All-Big Ten big man and a top-30 freshman from the 2023 class would've been brutal.

Maryland avoided that worst-case scenario.


Loser: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Ben Johnson
helped Minnesota jump from No. 216 on KenPom after Year 2 to a respectable No. 76 after Year 3. The Gophers made tangible progress, and Tom Izzo remarked that Minnesota would be near the top of the Big Ten standings in 2024-25 if it kept its corps together.

That has not happened.

Starting point guard Elijah Hawkins transferred to Texas Tech in the final hour after initially announcing he was returning to the Twin Cities. Intimidating big man Pharrel Payne is off to Texas A&M. Rotation wing Joshua Ola-Joseph transferred to Cal. Isaiah Ihnen is going to Liberty, and Braeden Carrington is still in the transfer portal.

To make matters worse, prized freshman Cam Christie entered the transfer portal on Wednesday. Christie is going through the NBA Draft process, and the portal is on the back-burner for now. If that changes, Christie will be heavily recruited by anybody and everybody. The 6-foot-6 wing is a complete deadeye from downtown.

It's a grueling runout for Johnson. Instead of loads of continuity and potentially a Big Ten contender, Minnesota is forced to retool.


 
If Tony Perkins was worth $400,000 on the open market, imagine what Owen, Josh Dix and Payton would have commanded. Hat tip to Fran for keeping these 3 important pieces.

Here are some excerpts from the linked story that says Iowa is winner at the portal deadline:

Outside of a few stragglers who waited until the last minute to get their paperwork filed, the college basketball transfer portal is finally, mercifully closed. That sound you just heard is college basketball coaches throughout the country exhaling. No more worrying or fretting about some last-second departures. The NCAA's new updated rule forces graduate transfers to hit the transfer portal by May 1, even if they are going through the NBA Draft process.

The tally of total transfers from the 2024 cycle will be finalized in the coming days, but it's flirting with 2,000 total names.

Let's dive into the winners and losers from the transfer portal deadline. Which programs kept key players and which programs lost key stars? We'll sort through all the additions later. This exercise is focused solely on retention. A few teams were able to keep some studs out of the portal. A few others were not so lucky.

Winner: Iowa Hawkeyes

Iowa
was not immune to the transfer portal. Patrick McCaffery left for Butler. Second-leading scorer Tony Perkins bounced for Mizzou. Rotation guard Dasonte Bowen jetted off to St. Bonaventure.

But it could have been so much worse.

Iowa survived the transfer portal deadline without Josh Dix, Owen Freeman or Payton Sandfort tossing their names into the fray. Sandfort is currently going through the NBA Draft process. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound wing is one of the top pure snipers in the country, period, and heavy-hitters were strongly interested. Fellow NBA Draft prospects like Coleman Hawkins, Trevon Brazile and Cam Christie entered the transfer portal in the final hour to keep their options open. Sandfort did not. If he plays college basketball next season, it'll be at Iowa. That's enormous for Fran McCaffery.

Keeping Josh Dix and Owen Freeman out of the portal is just as significant. Dix is a midrange assassin who can get to his spots against anybody. The polished three-level scorer would've had a huge market, but he's primed for a usage rate bump without Perkins in the mix. The Big Ten didn't have many impactful freshmen, but Freeman was a major outlier. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 assists per game on his way to earning co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Iowa didn't have any semblance of rim protection until Freeman steamrolled his way into the starting lineup.

Iowa has plenty of hoops to jump through. It's still in the thick of it for UMass transfer Matt Cross to fill the frontcourt forward. It's still waiting to see Sandfort's feedback from the NBA personnel, but at least it knows Dix and Freeman are officially locked in for an important 2024-25 campaign.



Winner: Maryland Terrapins

Even after a highly disappointing, 16-17 season, Maryland has managed to keep both Julian Reese and DeShawn Harris-Smith out of the transfer portal.

That's enormous for Kevin Willard as he looks to get back on track.

There were rumblings around Reese potentially cashing in on a glitzy payday, but Maryland kept him locked in. Harris-Smith could've easily dipped for a fresh start after a freshman season that did not go to plan, both personally and from a team perspective. He's also sticking around.

Replacing Jahmir Young would've been hard enough. Being forced to replace an All-Big Ten point guard, an All-Big Ten big man and a top-30 freshman from the 2023 class would've been brutal.

Maryland avoided that worst-case scenario.


Loser: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Ben Johnson
helped Minnesota jump from No. 216 on KenPom after Year 2 to a respectable No. 76 after Year 3. The Gophers made tangible progress, and Tom Izzo remarked that Minnesota would be near the top of the Big Ten standings in 2024-25 if it kept its corps together.

That has not happened.

Starting point guard Elijah Hawkins transferred to Texas Tech in the final hour after initially announcing he was returning to the Twin Cities. Intimidating big man Pharrel Payne is off to Texas A&M. Rotation wing Joshua Ola-Joseph transferred to Cal. Isaiah Ihnen is going to Liberty, and Braeden Carrington is still in the transfer portal.

To make matters worse, prized freshman Cam Christie entered the transfer portal on Wednesday. Christie is going through the NBA Draft process, and the portal is on the back-burner for now. If that changes, Christie will be heavily recruited by anybody and everybody. The 6-foot-6 wing is a complete deadeye from downtown.

It's a grueling runout for Johnson. Instead of loads of continuity and potentially a Big Ten contender, Minnesota is forced to retool.


But doesn't Iowa have just about the worst talent in the B1G? ;)
 
It seems like an overstatement to say Iowa is a "winner" in the transfer portal. This article points out they didn't lose as bad as they could have, but that is different than net adding which hasn't happened so far (still could).
 
It seems like an overstatement to say Iowa is a "winner" in the transfer portal. This article points out they didn't lose as bad as they could have, but that is different than net adding which hasn't happened so far (still could).
So far, it is basically a swap of Thelwell for Perkins. Tony was good when he seemed motivated, but Thelwell was the leader on a winning team. We will see how that swap plays out. Patrick leaving is addition by subtraction IMO. I believe Bowen has talent, but he was parked on the bench for the last half of the season for some reason. If Payton were to leave, that would make next year much more uncertain.

We still need another guard, and an experienced 4/5 definitely could help.
 
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It seems like an overstatement to say Iowa is a "winner" in the transfer portal. This article points out they didn't lose as bad as they could have, but that is different than net adding which hasn't happened so far (still could).
Based on what I’ve been reading about Thelwell, in terms of having players on the roster who have the mental approach to play winning basketball at the Big Ten level, it absolutely has been a net positive.
 
I agree it seems like a stretch to call Iowa/Fran a portal 'winner'. Now, is losing Patrick, Bowen, and Saucy P and gaining Thelwell, a net gain for the roster? You bet. Besides a few weak rumors about Dix leaving, did Fran really have to beg and plead Dix, Freeman, and Payton to come back? I am def. happy all 3 appear to be coming back, but the writer (Illini guy) seemed to give Fran too much credit keeping his players who seemingly never were portal bound for greener pastures anyway....IMHO.
 
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I agree it seems like a stretch to call Iowa/Fran a portal 'winner'. Now, is losing Patrick, Bowen, and Saucy P and gaining Thelwell, a net gain for the roster? You bet. Besides a few weak rumors about Dix leaving, did Fran really have to beg and plead Dix, Freeman, and Payton to come back? I am def. happy all 3 appear to be coming back, but the writer (Illini guy) seemed to give Fran too much credit keeping his players who seemingly never were portal bound for greener pastures anyway....IMHO.

Not sure he's giving anyone credit; to me, it's more like he's looking at all of the player movement around the country and in his opinion Iowa came out as a winner and teams like Minnesota came out as a big loser.
 
I agree it seems like a stretch to call Iowa/Fran a portal 'winner'. Now, is losing Patrick, Bowen, and Saucy P and gaining Thelwell, a net gain for the roster? You bet. Besides a few weak rumors about Dix leaving, did Fran really have to beg and plead Dix, Freeman, and Payton to come back? I am def. happy all 3 appear to be coming back, but the writer (Illini guy) seemed to give Fran too much credit keeping his players who seemingly never were portal bound for greener pastures anyway....IMHO.
You’re attributing a post to me that I didn’t make.
 
The more important comparison would be if Iowa did enough with the roster to make a difference for next season?
Thelwell for Perkins may be a wash. If the rest of the roster stays as it looks now I don't expect them to be much different than this last season as far as overall record and post season performance.
 
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Not sure he's giving anyone credit; to me, it's more like he's looking at all of the player movement around the country and in his opinion Iowa came out as a winner and teams like Minnesota came out as a big loser.
Yeah, I see what you are saying - I guess I find it hard to believe that there aren’t many other programs out there who are retaining players from a better than a second round NIT loss showing. If this guy follows college basketball closely, he would definitely know better than me though. I guess my take is if we end up going back to the NIT with these same retained players, how did this portal ‘win’ improve things?😎 If we make a deep run in the NCAA, then this writer will have been spot on. 😉
 
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Depends on how the two incoming freshman play and if Dembele takes a step up on the interior. Would really like to see Frans roster improve in D and rebounding.
If we stay healthy, Iowa will definitely improve its interior defense and rebounding. Krikke was very limited, and Patrick provided no help defending the basket or rebounding. Dembele should become our best interior defender and rebounder. The incoming freshmen, and maybe limited minutes from the back up centers will also take those minutes.
 
The more important comparison would be if Iowa did enough with the roster to make a difference for next season?
Thelwell for Perkins may be a wash. If the rest of the roster stays as it looks now I don't expect them to be much different than this last season as far as overall record and post season performance.

You don’t think the subtraction of Krikke and PMac with the rest of the players a year older is a net gain? Because I definitely do.
 
Yeah, I see what you are saying - I guess I find it hard to believe that there aren’t many other programs out there who are retaining players from a better than a second round NIT loss showing. If this guy follows college basketball closely, he would definitely know better than me though. I guess my take is if we end up going back to the NIT with these same retained players, how did this portal ‘win’ improve things?😎 If we make a deep run in the NCAA, then this writer will have been spot on. 😉

Just think if Payton, Josh Dix and Owen all entered the portal.... they'd get paid and we'd have to find replacements for them :(
 
You don’t think the subtraction of Krikke and PMac with the rest of the players a year older is a net gain? Because I definitely do.
Patrick leaving definitely addition by subtraction. Half the games he was just running up and down the court doing nothing except getting his cardio in for the day. Krikke at least was a very solid offensive players. That’s where he will be missed. Obviously had flaws as a defender.
 
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