Transfer Portal Recruiting Intel Live Blog
The college basketball transfer portal opened on March 13, and in only 28 days, over 1,350 names have entered. These recruitments happen quickly, oftentimes with not much noise surrounding them. More players are going in by the minute, and players are committing each day.
2023 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings
We are just coming off a recruiting dead period that ended on April 6. Things opened back up for the weekend, and we are now right back into a dead period from April 10-13. A recruiting dead period is when college coaches cannot have any in-person contact with recruits and/or their parents.
The transfer portal will be open for first-time, non-graduate players to enter without penalty for 60 days from the March 13 date.
Read last week’s Transfer Portal Recruiting Intel Live Blog
While the amount of players going in is slowing down, there continue to be some big names that hit the portal daily. Here is this week’s April 10-16 up-to-date live blog of all the recruiting intel from the transfer portal.
Friday, April 14
C Jesse Edwards – Syracuse
Immediately when Jesse Edwards entered the transfer portal, he became one of the top available centers. The 6-foot-11 grad transfer finished second in the ACC in rebounding (10.3) and led the conference in blocked shots (2.7).
Edwards, who is originally from the Netherlands and played his prep ball at Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy, issued a top-three list on Thursday night that included West Virginia, Kansas, and Gonzaga. Within 24 hours of going into the portal, Edwards set a visit to West Virginia for this coming weekend. This is the only visit Edwards has set, and sources say there is some optimism on the Mountaineers’ side heading into the visit. Watch if he takes any other visits.
SF Matthew Cleveland – Florida State
We wrote about Matthew Cleveland earlier this week, right after he entered the portal. Cleveland, who is a sophomore, led Florida State in scoring last season at 13.8 points with 7.4 rebounds and shooting 44.5 percent from the field.
Over the last couple of days, some of the schools I am hearing about in his recruitment are Michigan, Kansas, Indiana, UNC, Miami, Kansas State, and Kentucky. This list is certain to narrow down soon. Cleveland has gone on record saying Michigan was strongly considered the first go around. Watch to see what visits he sets.
SG Josh Nickelberry – LaSalle
Josh Nickelberry is a former four-star recruit who started off at Louisville before transferring to LaSalle. Over the past two years, in the A10, the 6-foot-5 guard has averaged 11.0 points while shooting 38.3 percent from three. He earned the A10 Sixth Man of the Year award this season.
Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton visited Nickelberry in-home earlier this week. Coming out of that visit, sources say the Seminoles have confidence. While things have been relatively quiet in the public eye, look for this one to end soon.
Thursday, April 13
PF Jalen Deloach – VCU
Jalen Deloach finished top ten in the A10 in rebounds and blocks en route to finishing third-team all-league this season. After the season ended, his coach at VCU, Mike Rhoades, was hired to be the head coach at Penn State. The 6-foot-8 power forward’s VCU teammates Ace Baldwin, and Nick Kern have committed to the Nittany Lions already.
There was some smoke building around Indiana last week. The Hoosiers lose their front-court rotation of Trayce Jackson-Davis, Miller Kopp, and Race Thompson. They have also received commitments from front-court prospects Peyton Sparks and Kel’el Ware through the portal already. Deloach is scheduled to visit Penn State this coming weekend. Sources say there is some optimism coming from the Penn State side of things heading into the visit.
SF Harrison Ingram – Stanford
It has been a winding road with the intel in Harrison Ingram’s recruitment. When the Dallas, Texas native first entered the portal, Kansas was the program sources said to watch closely. Then UNC started picking up some steam over the weekend. Throughout this week, some momentum has shifted back toward Kansas, and Kentucky has gotten involved.
Here is what we know. Earlier this week, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Kansas’ Bill Self spoke with Ingram. By all accounts, both conversations went well, and sources say both schools are in play. On3 also reported earlier this week that the former McDonald’s All-American will have in-home visits with Baylor, North Carolina, Xavier, and Texas A&M.
Kansas, Kentucky, and UNC are three programs we continue to hear. Watch the in-home visits to see if any of the programs can make a move and if any new visits are scheduled.
PG Max Abmas – Oral Roberts
It was a major splash when Max Abmas entered the transfer portal. The 6-foot-1 grad transfer has scored 2,561 career points. He will enter next season as NCAA D1’s active career point total leader. Abmas has twice been named Summit League Player of the Year and three times first-team All-Summit.
Abmas’ coach at Oral Roberts, Paul Mills, took to head job at Wichita State. Sources say Abmas will not be following him. However, two programs that do continue to come up with regard to the 6-foot-1 guard are Kansas State and Texas. Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang and Texas head coach Rodney Terry both have long-standing ties to the state of Texas. Abmas is a graduate of Dallas (TX) Jesuit College Prep.
Wednesday, April 12
SF Dalton Knecht – Northern Colorado
With Dalton Knecht, we write earlier this week about Oregon and the visit. We also mentioned North Carolina and Indiana as programs to watch if they can get involved with the 6-foot-6 portal four-star.
Sources say that the confidence levels of the Oregon staff continue to grow here. Keep watching if another visit is set; we are told – at this time – one does not look to be happening with North Carolina.
CG El Ellis – Louisville
El Ellis finished top ten in the ACC in scoring (17.7) and assists (4.4) this season. Arkansas, NC State, and Pittsburgh are some schools that have been mentioned as carrying some traction with the Durham, North Carolina native.
Ellis also declared for the NBA draft, which is a process sources say he will see through, and if he can get a two-way contract, it will be something he strongly considers.
In the last week, Arkansas has gained portal commitments from guards Keyon Menifield, Tramon Mark, and Khalif Battle. Earlier this week, NC State picked up an offer from guard Jayden Taylor and will host Arizona State guard transfer DJ Horne this weekend. Starter Casey Morsell is expected to return as well for the Wolfpack.
Sources say another program to monitor is Miami. They recently reached out, and we are told there is both familiarity and fit.
SF Matthew Cleveland – Florida State
Former five-star Matthew Cleveland jumped in the transfer portal late on Tuesday night. The 2021-22 ACC Sixth Man of the Year averaged 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 35.0 percent from three last season.
Georgia Tech is a program that is carrying some early buzz for the Atlanta, Georgia, native. NC State and Michigan were also programs that were in his final group the first time around. Auburn is where travel ball teammate Jabari Smith went and has had a recent string of success with Atlanta-based kids. Another piece to look at is current Missouri assistant CY Young was the coach of record that signed Cleveland to Florida State. There should be a line of suitors here.
Tuesday, April 11
PF Rienk Mast – Bradley
Things have been fairly quiet for Bradley junior transfer Rienk Mast. The 6-foot-9 power forward from the Netherlands averaged 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds this season while shooting 35.3 percent from three en route to a first-team All-MVC award.
Sources say that Iowa and Nebraska were two schools involved here. With the recent commitment of Ben Krikke to the Hawkeyes, there is confidence in Nebraska’s camp. Sources say things could be coming to an end soon in this recruitment.
SG Jayden Nunn – VCU
Jayden Nunn has started 64 of his 66 career games at VCU. The 6-foot-4 guard is a career 38.3 percent three-point shooter on 2.8 attempts per game. Nunn played for Mike Rhoades at VCU, and Rhoades is now the head coach at Penn State. While some of Nunn’s former teammates are joining Rhoades in State College, sources close to the recruitment say that Nunn is currently trending toward Baylor.
Originally from Michigan, the sophomore graduated from Glendale (AZ) Dream City Christian. Nunn, who was originally committed to Iowa State prior to a coaching change, chose VCU over other offers that included Mississippi State and Arizona State.
SF Zack Austin – High Point
Zack Austin averaged 14.1 points this season, adding in 1.1 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. Listed as a 6-foot-7 forward on the High Point roster, he was the 2021-22 Big South Rookie of the Year. Austin has taken one visit to Pittsburgh last weekend. Sources close to the recruitment say this one may be coming to a close. Austin heard from Michigan State, Missouri, TCU, Clemson, and others after entering the portal.
SF Dalton Knecht – Northern Colorado
Dalton Knecht entered the transfer portal with some hype around him. The 6-foot-6 wing averaged 20.2 points (No. 23 in D1) and 7.2 rebounds on 38.1 percent shooting from three last season. The portal four-star picked up a lot of interest from across the recruiting landscape.
The native of Thornton, Colorado, visited Oregon recently, and by all accounts, things went very well while in Eugune. Sources say Indiana and North Carolina are among the other schools involved here. Watch to see what other, if any, visits are taken.
CG DJ Horne – Arizona State
Arizona State grad transfer DJ Horne set a visit to NC State for this weekend. The 6-foot-1 combo guard averaged 12.5 points last season and has scored 1,446 points in his college career. Horne is originally from Cary, North Carolina, less than ten miles from NC State’s campus. During his first year at Arizona State, he was coached by now NC State assistant Joel Justus. While at Illinois State, he was teammates with current NC State center Dusan Mahorcic.
A large number of other programs have been in contact as well, including Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest. There are things working in the Wolfpack’s favor here.
SG TJ Bamba – Washington State
TJ Bamba averaged 15.8 points last season at Washington State. He recently announced he would be deciding on Friday between Georgia Tech and Villanova. While the decision day is still a couple of days away for the graduate of Bronx (NY) Abraham Lincoln High, sources say the Villanova staff currently has confidence. Watch closely over the next few days leading up to his announcement.
Monday, April 10
CG Walter Clayton – Iona
The reigning MAAC Player of the Year recently visited Florida and St. John’s. As we have previously mentioned in our intel pieces, Walter Clayton is originally from Lake Wales, Florida, but largely flew under the recruiting radar because of his abilities on the football field.
Even with Clayton’s former Iona coach, Rick Pitino, now at St. John’s, and the success those two experienced together, sources say there is momentum with Florida here as things are winding down.
SF Teafale Lenard – Middle Tennessee State
Teafale Lenard named a top three that included Texas A&M, Memphis, and the G-League. Lenard is originally from Texas, played his final year of high school at Branson (MO) Link Academy, and was named first-team Conference USA All-Defense at Middle Tennessee State last season. Sources say there is confidence with the Memphis staff here.
CG Jayden Taylor – Butler
Jayden Taylor was Butler’s leading scorer last year, averaging 12.9 points. The 6-foot-4 guard used his April 6-10 open period window wisely, scheduling visits to both NC State and Arkansas.
Arkansas landed guard commitment from Keyon Menifield and Tramon Mark out of the portal. They are also in good position for others in this portal cycle. Sources close to the recruitment say that NC State is in a good spot leading into his Tuesday commitment.
SF Nick Kern – VCU
Nick Kern signed with Mike Rhoades at VCU. A native of the St. Louis, Missouri area, the 6-foot-6 sophomore averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 17.6 minutes last season. With a lot of open spots to fill on a Penn State roster, there is chatter about Kern following Rhoades to play for the Nittany Lions.
PG Ryan Nembhard – Creighton
Ryan Nembhard is the younger brother of current Indiana Pacers point guard Andrew Nembhard. Andrew Nembhard is a veteran of the transfer portal as well, as he started his career at Florida and finished at Gonzaga.
Ryan Nembhard, who is originally from Aurora, Ontario, graduated from Montverde (FL) Academy. He was the Big East Rookie of the Year in 2021-22 and averaged 12.1 points and 4.8 assists this season. He has started all 64 games of his career. Word got out publicly at the end of last week that Nembhard would be entering the portal. His name did not actually go in until Sunday. Sources say Arizona is carrying a lot of the momentum here. Programs from all across the D1 landscape are certain to be calling on this one.
SF Harrison Ingram – Stanford
Last week we wrote that Harrison Ingram carried strong prior relationships with Michigan, Purdue, and North Carolina. We also noted that sources said to watch for Kansas. Sources say these same schools remain involved, with North Carolina and Michigan making strong pushes over the last week. Separate sources say there is a lot of momentum right now for North Carolina. While Kansas was the school I heard early, North Carolina is the school I am hearing about the most currently. Michigan is still trying to make a push.
Originally from Texas, Ingram averaged 10.5 points and 3.7 assists for the Cardinal last season.
SG Adam Miller – LSU
Adam Miller officially entered the transfer portal this weekend. The 6-foot-3 guard will be looking for his third school. This season at LSU, Miller averaged 11.5 points in 33 minutes per game. Miller missed the 2021-22 season after tearing his ACL at the end of his freshman season, 2020-21, at Illinois.
Sources said to watch for Arizona State after the Chicago (IL) Morgan Park alum entered the transfer portal. A lot of schools are certain to get involved with Miller, who has started every game of his two-year college career.
The post Transfer Portal Recruiting Intel Live Blog appeared first on On3.
