Basketball Transfer Portal '25

[leeraymond]

sadly, the date fits the situation of this team.

Ha ha ha. Good one Leo.

[GoBearcats31]

I can tell you that Mitchell is staying. He even dropped at 5/3 Bank ad on social over the weekend.

I have a hard time believing he's a lock to stay. And presumably any outside NIL deals he has going right now are still within the term (assuming it is for this season, academic year, etc.).

[leeraymond]

Huge update. Thanks for sharing.

That would leave us with:

Aziz
Mitchell
Simas
Day Day
Jizzle

and a bench of Betsey, Dzellat, and possibly (?) CJ Fredrick (assuming no portal players opt to compete in the tournament).

Can Aziz play? I thought this was his last year of eligibility. Also, is Simas eligible to play? He walked on Senior Night.

[London 'Cat]

Can Aziz play? I thought this was his last year of eligibility. Also, is Simas eligible to play? He walked on Senior Night.

The Crown is for 24-25 eligibility only. The portal opens March 24 and anyone entering the portal will likely not participate.

[DesertFog]

Is there any harm in entering the portal? Why not put your name out there and see if a better opportunity (financial or otherwise) is available?

[GoCats1994]

The gamble is that you may not have a landing spot. If/when you enter the portal, the current staff/program are not obligated to bring you back. So yes...there is potential harm that you may land in a worse position than you are in currently. Top-end players would obviously have less risk.

[leeraymond]

I can tell you that Mitchell is staying. He even dropped at 5/3 Bank ad on social over the weekend.

Page is a definite, Skillings is extremely likely. Griffith is likely but I'm curious to see how that plays out since he seems to want to be here. Reed is likely to move on as well which people are going to be upset about I think.

Reed leaving is a big blow. Any thought on what it would take to get Reed to stay? Also, Griffith is just a red-shirt freshman. He may be thinking that it might be best to move on because Miller may not be around after next year. I can see why he may want to leave. However, if the players really like playing for Miller, why not stick around? They can dedicate next season to making sure that Miller stays by winning games and getting to the NCAAs.

To me, this team is not that far off. UC needs to get a consistent inside game. Think about this for a second, this season UC beat Xavier (NCAAs), Dayton (NIT), Georgia Tech (NIT), BYU (NCAAs), Baylor (NCAAs), Okla State (NIT), and etc. without a real inside game. Imagine what UC could have done with a consistent inside game.

If UC can refine its ball handling and incorporate more passing and movement into its offense, along with some capable bigs in the paint, it may become a lot more competitive.

Let's wrap this up, no rambling. Based on what I have seen watching the conferences' tournament semi-finals, and finals around the country, is that UC is missing physicality in the paint. If you get a chance, check out teams like Purdue, St. Johns, Michigan, Maryland, Iowa State, and of course Houston. Those teams have a presence and a physicality in the paint. Remember when UC teams had that?

[longtimefan]

In the portal under Wes, UC has brought in guys who played well against us, like Aziz and Reynolds. I’m trying to think of anybody like that this season and drawing a blank. Who might fit that description this year?

[London 'Cat]

I’m surprised by Reed. After the loss in the Big XII tournament, Reed said he definitely wanted to continue playing this year. I took that to mean he wasn’t planning on transferring. He is the one player who improved under Wes. He would have been a key component his senior year. Maybe he sticks around.

[John P]

I’m surprised by Reed. After the loss in the Big XII tournament, Reed said he definitely wanted to continue playing this year. I took that to mean he wasn’t planning on transferring. He is the one player who improved under Wes. He would have been a key component his senior year. Maybe he sticks around.

Definitely would be a loss to the Cats if Reed leaves, I was looking forward to seeing him play next year. I get it if I were Reed though, he sat on the bench for most of the last 3 years while several guys showed lack of effort and still got playing time. Probably doesn't want to take a chance of sitting on the bench again for his senior year.

[GoBearcats31]

WVU freshman Jonathan Powell (8.3 ppg) from Dayton is hitting the portal next week

[BearKatz]

I can tell you that Mitchell is staying. He even dropped at 5/3 Bank ad on social over the weekend.

Page is a definite, Skillings is extremely likely. Griffith is likely but I'm curious to see how that plays out since he seems to want to be here. Reed is likely to move on as well which people are going to be upset about I think.

Shocking would be Reed! The youngman waits 3yrs to finally crack the rotation and now he wants to leave? WHY?

I thought Aziz, Fredrick & Simas were Seniors and ran out of eligibilty?

In all honesty, I am fine with Hickmann & Fredrick's mving on.

[Gmann]

Shocking would be Reed! The youngman waits 3yrs to finally crack the rotation and now he wants to leave? WHY?

I thought Aziz, Fredrick & Simas were Seniors and ran out of eligibilty?

In all honesty, I am fine with Hickmann & Fredrick's mving on.

Aziz, Fredrick and Simas are out of eligibility and gone. We were led to believe Hickman is returning.

[GoBearcats31]

LOL - Paul McMillan IV is planning to enter the portal per Arman Jovic of PDT Scouting

To his credit Paul averaged 20.0 (for a 3 win team) but he's been at NJIT, Central Michigan and Canisius in addition to the various high school transfers

[BearKatz]

If Wes needs any HELP understanding the right players who can make an impact outta the transfer portal. All Wes needs to do, is take a hard look at the WVU Team from this year!

Coach DeVries put together a competitive team of Transfer that had several Top 25 Wins! They also had a good shot at making the Tournament.