Basketball Transfer Portal '25

[London 'Cat]

Dan Skillings >>> Transfer Portal

Skillings finishes his UC career 83 points shy of 1,000 points. He averaged 9.2 and 4.6 over three seasons, including 28.1% from three, 64.4% from FT, in exactly 100 games.

See his IG post here https://www.cincinnati.com/story/spo...l/82973029007/

He’ll be difficult to replace. Wish him well and thank him for being a Bearcat.

[sedz]

I don't think many are going to be happy this off-season, regardless of what happens. The fan base has mostly turned on Wes and won't be satisfied until he racks up wins (or gets fired).

They are exactly the type of players I thought we'd get, guys who probably come relatively cheap (Kriisa because he's coming off injury and doesn't play great defense, Sencire because of his lack of offense), but who bring value and could be worth more than they are paid. That they both seems to bring culture too is a sign that someone made that a focus as well.

In today's age, the portal should be thought of more like free agency. The goal is to find undervalued high-major level players and hope we can fix or compensate for their issues. With scholarships going up to 15 this year, there's no harm in taking a few gambles that don't pay off. The trick is finding cheap gambles that have a good chance of paying off. It's difficult for fans to adjust to that view, especially since we don't know exactly how much they are being paid. My view on Kriisa and Sencire would change dramatically depending on their price tag (I.E. bad additions at 750k each, great additions at 250k each).


Harris worst case is similar to John Newman when he first came here, not going to wow anyone, but provides a consistent solid contribution. Best case is we can fix his three point stroke and he's an elite 3-and-D guy.

Kriisa we just hope can stay healthy.

Agree with this. I posted over in the recruiting thread, but I think worst case for Harris is Chris McNeal or Deshaun Morman. There's a chance his defense regresses a bit and Wes doesn't rein him in on offense. I think best case is Immanuel McElroy.

This will shock no one, but I would rather look for hidden value in players who have poor traditional stats or physical characteristics but great metrics - the Moneyball way. Kansas overpaid for good traditional stats but poor metrics and they had a down year. As long as there are teams doing that, there will be undervalued productive players to find.

[sedz]

He’ll be difficult to replace. Wish him well and thank him for being a Bearcat.

Agreed. Skillings was our best player when he was locked in. He's got tremendous upside. I think he could really break out in a scheme that favors wing slashers.

[kskenyon4]

Agree to disagree with Skillings. Wish him all the luck in the world but it was time to not run it back here. He regressed and hasn't added anything to his game that this team needs. He had a few bright spots this year but I'll be glad when someone else can fill those minutes with the potential for growth. He's a career 28% 3PT shooter and he takes 3 a game... high level athlete when healthy but thats what UC has had way too many of without any polish or shooting.

[Gmann]

Skillings was not going to reach his full potential here. If he does somewhere else we know Wes was the problem If not, it's on Skillings. I wish him the best.

[sedz]

I agree that Skillings regressed but he was still better than everyone else in the backcourt. In conference play he led our team in three point shooting at 36%, and because he got to the rim more than anyone else he made 51% effective field goals, 4.5% better than any other guard. He led our team in offensive BPM in conference. Skillings often looked out of control, but he was our only efficient backcourt player. Not so easy to replace that.

[bearcatjd]

This sucks. He was one of my favorite players. However, I don't think he ever fully recovered from his knee surgery.

[GoBearcats31]

I agree that Skillings regressed but he was still better than everyone else in the backcourt. In conference play he led our team in three point shooting at 36%, and because he got to the rim more than anyone else he made 51% effective field goals, 4.5% better than any other guard. He led our team in offensive BPM in conference. Skillings often looked out of control, but he was our only efficient backcourt player. Not so easy to replace that.

He also had more turnovers than anyone not named James or Thomas, and he played significantly fewer minutes (and had the ball in his hands far less) than those two

Also, it was the banked 3 against WVU that snuck him past Thomas for best 3 point % in conference play

[swilsonsp4]

Baylor freshman guard Robert Wright III just entered the portal.

[BearKatz]

Does anyone know WHY Skillings has hit the Portal and will transfer to another school. Has Skillings given any reason to why? I'm curious what his reasons are?

Do we have an inside track on who else will follow Skillings?

I personally will miss Daniel! As Sedz said, when he was locked in he was really good! and as Gmann said, he probably was never going to reach his full potential at UC!

If that's the truth, Why is Wes Miller still here?

[kskenyon4]

He also had more turnovers than anyone not named James or Thomas, and he played significantly fewer minutes (and had the ball in his hands far less) than those two

Also, it was the banked 3 against WVU that snuck him past Thomas for best 3 point % in conference play

Right - he had a 0-11 streak of 3's through 4 games where we went 1-3 in them, and his two late three's against WVU turned his percentage into something respectable for conference play. 1-8 from three in the conference tourney. Sure he hit a couple, but 28% for 3 years is a big enough sample size, he wasn't a good shooter.

[kskenyon4]

Baylor freshman guard Robert Wright III just entered the portal.

Really good player and just a freshman. Sure he's gonna get paid a lot. Wish this wasn't the state of college hoops.

[sedz]

He also had more turnovers than anyone not named James or Thomas, and he played significantly fewer minutes (and had the ball in his hands far less) than those two

Also, it was the banked 3 against WVU that snuck him past Thomas for best 3 point % in conference play

I'll take a bit of luck here and there!

Dan's conference turnover rate was 16.9%, Day Day's was 16.3%. I'll take a couple more turnovers from a player who attacks the basket. That's the big hole to fill. Who do we have that can slash to the rim? Not Kriisa. Defenders can back off of Harris. Jizzle, Day Day, and Betsey haven't done it. Abaev doesn't appear to be a slasher. Maybe Tillery? That's it for the backcourt.

[London 'Cat]

Does anyone know WHY Skillings has hit the Portal and will transfer to another school. Has Skillings given any reason to why? I'm curious what his reasons are?

Do we have an inside track on who else will follow Skillings?

I personally will miss Daniel! As Sedz said, when he was locked in he was really good! and as Gmann said, he probably was never going to reach his full potential at UC!

If that's the truth, Why is Wes Miller still here?

Sheer speculation on my part. He’s leaving because he has not realized his full potential. Whether that is his fault or a coaching fault remains to be seen. If he flourishes elsewhere, we will know that answer. If he is the same player elsewhere then we will also know that. Maybe he seeks more NIL money than UC is willing to pay.

As to why Miller is still UC’s coach, I can give you $9M+ reasons why - the money owed to him if UC changes coaches.

[BorisTheCat]

Rayvon Griffith >>> Transfer Portal