5 biggest losers of college basketball spring transfer portal window 2024 ft. Duke
The college basketball transfer portal window is about to close. Of course, plenty of players are still undecided about returning to school, going pro or moving on. But the trends are strong enough to initially indicate who's doing well and who's not from the early transfer portal. Some of the teams most obviously struggling make sense, but some are surprising.
Here's the early indicator of who's struggling.
5 biggest losers of college basketball's spring transfer portal 2024
#1, Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils haven't exactly had a disastrous time. They picked up Purdue's Mason Gillis and Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown. But instead of adding a few additional parts to a national title contender, Duke is in a mini-rebuild.
Jeremy Roach (14.0 points per game) is headed to Baylor. Mark Mitchell (11.6 ppg) went to Missouri. Reserves TJ Power, Sean Stewart, Jaden Schutt, Jaylen Blakes and Christian Reeves all moved on. A couple of portal entries wouldn't have been surprising, but seven is a ton.
#2, Indiana State Sycamores
After Indiana State just missed the NCAA Tournament and made a run to the NIT final, its offseason went downhill fast. Coach Josh Schertz was hired for the St. Louis job, and suddenly, the last person gone from Terre Haute can turn out the lights.
Center Robbie Avila (17.4 ppg) followed Schertz to St. Louis. Point guard Julian Larry (11.0 ppg, 4.8 assists per game) and forward Jayson Kent (13.5 ppg, 8.1 rebounds per game) are both heading to Texas. Guard Ryan Conwell (16.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg) is gone to Xavier. Reserve Eli Shetlar (2.5 ppg) is still undecided. Between seniors and transfer, a promising ISU team was gutted.
#3, Arizona State Sun Devils
Bobby Hurley's ASU team got some good news with five-star recruit Jayden Quaintance's commitment. But there's been plenty of trouble for Arizona State. Seven Sun Devils are in the transfer portal, including most of the experienced players left from last season's 14-18 team.
Portal entrants include Jamiya Neal (11.0 ppg), leading scorer Frankie Collins (13.8 ppg) and top reserves Bryant Selebanque (4.8 ppg) and Kamari Lands (4.5 ppg). Neal hasn't chosen a destination yet, but ASU is definitely facing some significant losses from the transfer portal.
#4, Drake Bulldogs
Drake took a double whammy with the loss of coach Darian DeVries to West Virginia. His son, likely 2024 All-American guard Tucker DeVries (21.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg) followed his father to Morgantown.
Guard Kevin Overton (11.3 ppg) is headed to Texas Tech. Second scorer Atin Wright (14.1 ppg) is bound for North Texas. Poing guard Connor Enright (6.9 ppg) is headed to DePaul. Promising guard Colby Garland (5.7 ppg) is still in the portal. New Drake coach Ben McCollum will have plenty of work to rebuild his roster.
#5, Belmont Bruins
Belmont in many ways epitomizes the dilemma of mid-level college basketball teams. The Bruins were 20-13 last season and had built a solid squad with three big-time returning scorers for next year. Until all three departed via the transfer portal.
Belmont lost point guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie (17.2 ppg, 4.2 apg) to Maryland. Power forward Mailk Dia (16.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg) is headed to Ole Miss. Wing forward Cade Tyson (16.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg) decided to move along to North Carolina.
Just like that, a promising 2024-25 Belmont team will be scrambling to rebuild instead of stocking up for a Missouri Valley Conference title run.
Which teams do you think have lost the transfer portal sweepstakes so far? Let us hear from you below in our comments section!