College basketball transfer portal winners: The players edition
Brandin Podziemski transferred away from Illinois to Santa Clara for the opportunity to be a featured piece. It worked out better than anyone could have imagined. Podziemski transformed from a Big Ten bench-rider into the Golden State Warriors' first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
“I learned don’t chase the name on the jersey, chase the opportunity,” Podziemski told 247Sports at the NBA DraftCombine. “I think that’s super important for me."
Searching for those minutes is a popular refrain from players like Podziemski who enter the transfer portal, but that tantalizing playing time can be earned by sticking around.
The 2023 transfer portal cycle has mostly settled, and numerous returners are set to waltz into much bigger or more impactful roles because of the moves that were (or weren't) made. Basketball was, is and will always be an opportunity-driven sport. The hunt for those sweet serotonin-boosting minutes won't change, but the path to a bigger role is not always found in the portal.
Here are some of the top players who stand to benefit from the hundreds of transfer portal moves.
David Joplin: Marquette
Marquette could have run it back with every single contributor from its Big East Championship-winning squad until Olivier-Maxence Prosper had the audacity to show out at the NBA Draft Combine and turn himself into a first-round pick. The unmitigated gall.
Instead of hitting the transfer portal for a wing, Marquette chose to sit out. It has its in-house “O-Max” replacement.
*Insert David Joplin*
The 6-foot-7, 220-pound junior didn’t start last season but he was a huge piece of the rotation who could give Marquette’s offense a monster jolt with his barrage of triples. Joplin shot 40% from 3-point range on 168 attempts. His minutes will go up, and so will those attempts. He has to provide more defensively, but he was one of Marquette’s best per-minute, defensive rebounders last season, and his gravity allows the Tyler Kolek-Oso Ighodaro, two-man game to be so deadly. Joplin could flirt with the “100 3-pointers club” in 2023-24 thanks to his expanded role.
Pop Isaacs: Texas Tech
New coaching staffs might not always be enthused by some of the players they inherit, so they recruit over them in the transfer portal to send a not-so-subtle message.
New Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland did not do that with sophomore point guard Pop Isaacs.
Quite the contrary.
Every single transfer Texas Tech added during the busy 2023 cycle helps Isaacs in some way. This team is built around him. Darrion Williams is the versatile wing defender, Chance McMillian is the lights-out shooter, Devan Cambridge is the burly forward thumper and Warren Washington is the intimidating rim protector. Sure, Texas Tech brought in another point guard in Joe Toussaint, but the West Virginia transfer also makes Isaacs' life so much easier. It allows Isaacs to play off the ball in a pinch, and Toussaint can handle some of the toughest defensive assignments on a nightly basis in the Big 12.
Everything about Texas Tech's roster construction was tailored around elevating Isaacs' strengths and covering up some of his weaknesses. Isaacs has the talent, opportunity and supporting cast to be McCasland's next version of Tylor Perry.
Wooga Poplar: Miami
Miami entered the 2023 transfer portal cycle needing to replace both Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller. Florida State transplant Matthew Cleveland will try to fill Miller's role for Miami. Wooga Poplar is The U's replacement for Wong. The 6-foot-5, 192-pound guard can put his forehead on the rim without trying. He's blessed with remarkable athletic gifts. Despite having the fifth-highest usage rate among Miami regulars last year, Poplar was an extremely impactful fifth option for a Final Four squad.
But there's more gas in this revved-up engine.
Poplar has the tools to be a star. Now, he'll have the opportunity. Poplar still gets to play with elite teammates like Cleveland, Nijel Pack and Norchad Omier, but Miami is betting on him putting it all together in a major way.
Poplar shot an absurd 45% on 51 3s during ACC play. His volume is about to go up. How much efficiency does he sacrifice? That's the major question.
Ty Rodgers: Illinois
Somehow, someway, Brad Underwood wants to get Ty Rodgers on the floor. Illinois' offseason was noisy. Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon Jr. both flirted with the 2023 NBA Draft before returning at the final hour. But Oregon transfer wing Quincy Guerrier was already on the way, and silky-smooth center Dain Dainja was coming back, so Rodgers' path for frontcourt minutes was blocked. When Illinois missed out on Toledo transfer RayJ Dennis – he picked Baylor – Underwood faced the reality that his best way to make sure Rodgers was an instrumental piece of Illinois' team in 2023-24 was by shifting the 6-foot-6, 200-pound Swiss Army Knife to a bigger on-ball role.
Rodgers came to Illinois to be a jumbo, playmaking wing who could bulk up and pester the versatile 4s that used to torture Underwood and the Illini. Now, he's slimmed down to handle some point guard reps.
Rodgers is why the Illini didn't opt to make a big run at Rutgers transfer Paul Mulcahy who became available late in the transfer cycle.
Underwood is betting on Rodgers' strengths as a driver, connector and defender overpowering his weaknesses as a shooter. Illinois' defensive numbers last year were phenomenal with Rodgers, Hawkins and Shannon on the floor together, but there are spacing and shooting concerns that weren't alleviated during Illinois' international tour.
It's a bet on the player and the person. If it hits, Illinois could have the Big Ten's best defense.
Josh Dix: Iowa
It's a dangerous game to jump to big conclusions off small sample sizes, but the tea leaves are pointing toward Josh Dix being a prominent breakout candidate for Iowa. It wouldn't be the first time or the last time this happened in Iowa City. Fran McCaffery prioritizes skill, shooting and steady decision-making. Even in limited playing time, Dix flashed all of those attributes as a true freshman.
The 6-foot-5, 190-pound wing shot 40% on 35 3-pointers last season, but he played just 9.2 minutes per game. However, Iowa's offseason gameplan in the transfer portal centered around buffing up its frontcourt with veterans like Ben Krikke (from Valparaiso) and Even Brauns (from Belmont). Iowa didn't make much of an attempt to bolster its wing depth, and Dix is inclined to benefit from it. Dix might not start, but the sophomore has a real path for a significant role with tons of room to grow.
Rylan Griffen: Alabama
Nate Oats wants his teams to shoot a billion 3-pointers, and Rylan Griffen wants to uncork a billion treys. It's a match made in heaven. Alabama was extremely active in the transfer portal, reeling in Aaron Estrada (Hofstra), Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (Cal State Fullerton), Mohamed Wague (West Virginia) and Grant Nelson (North Dakota State), but none of them play the 3.
Those wing minutes are bookmarked for Griffen to be the man.
The twitchy, 6-foot-5 guard shot 35% from 3-point range during SEC play. He drilled 24 treys in 18 SEC games despite limited minutes off the bench. He’s a gunner with deep range. But Griffen has more in his bag than just a floor-stretching wing. The sophomore possesses real, tangible defensive upside with the instincts to be a true two-way difference-maker as soon as next year. Griffen is primed for a monster year, and Alabama’s additions out of the transfer portal don’t block him from reaching that peak outcome.
Dylan Andrews: UCLA
It wasn't a huge priority for Mick Cronin to find an experienced point guard in the transfer portal to step in for Tyger Campbell's large shoes. UCLA added backcourt depth in the form of Slovenian guard Jan Vide and four-star shooting guard Sebastian Mack. But surging sophomore Dylan Andrews is the key to all of this. He spent the past year watching, learning and competing with and against UCLA legends like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Campbell. It's his turn to run the show.
UCLA is loaded with an absurd amount of NBA-caliber talent. Adem Bona, Aday Mara and Berke Buyuktuncel could all be first-round selections in the 2024 NBA Draft. But Andrews' development is vital to everything UCLA hopes to accomplish in 2023-24.
Jonas Aidoo: Tennessee
The presence of Jonas Aidoo is one of the reasons why prized Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum backed out of his Tennessee commitment and opted to head to a jam-packed St. John’s roster. Ledlum’s value as a potential small-ball 5 is minimized because Aidoo isn’t going to come off the floor often. Tennessee is poised to be the best team in the SEC, and Aidoo is a major reason why. The junior big man is the anchor of the best defense in the country. Aidoo ranked 23rd nationally with a 9.0 block percentage last season, according to KenPom.
Tennessee allowed a minuscule 85.9 points per 100 possessions with Aidoo on the floor, per hoop-explorer. Opponents shot a miserable 49.5% at the rim against Tennessee when Aidoo was in the game.
Aidoo doesn’t give Tennessee a ton offensively yet. He’ll likely remain a low-usage offensive piece who hits the glass hard and relies on those dirty work plays to get his buckets. But there’s a world where Aidoo is the best shot-blocker in the country next season. Tennessee’s transfer portal game plan assures he’ll get every opportunity to make that goal a reality.
Jaden Akins: Michigan State
Michigan State’s best offensive player last year was not Tyson Walker or AJ Hoggard. It was Joey Hauser (121 offensive rating, per KenPom). Michigan State had a scalding 116.8 schedule-adjusted points per 100 possessions with Hauser on the floor last season, per hoop-explorer.
Losing Hauser is a sneaky-big deduction, and Michigan State didn’t add anyone from the portal.
Akins just has to be part of the solution. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard shot 42% on 116 3-point attempts last season. Akins shot 46% on 104 catch-and-shoot 3s.
Akins has to continue to be a knockdown, high-volume shooter in the post-Hauser iteration of Michigan State basketball. But the Spartans desperately need its junior guard to become a better finisher around the rim. Akins shot just 41% on layups last season, according to Synergy. Michigan State needs more rim pressure, and Akins can provide it. Michigan State’s backcourt is stacked, but Akins can flirt with All-Big Ten honors if his whole repertoire is unleashed now that Hauser is out of the mix.
