While the college basketball portal carousel hasn’t completely stopped, it has slowed down significantly. There will still likely be a few additions to some teams, but most schools know roughly what their roster will look like in the fall.
Several teams in the Big Ten conference got better – or at least adequately replaced departing players – using the transfer portal; however, there are a few teams whose portal moves left a lot to be desired. Below are the three biggest “losers” in the Big Ten portal movement.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions had a forgettable season last year; they finished with a 16-15 record, stumbled to 17th in the standings and missed playing in the Big Ten tournament. If there was ever a team that needed a couple big time portal signings to inject some optimism into the fanbase for next year, Penn State is it. Instead, PSU had six players enter the portal (although Puff Johnson is technically out of eligibility and entered on the off chance the NCAA changes their eligibility requirements) while only bringing in one transfer. Incoming guard Josh Reed was a quality contributor at Cincinnati (4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds per game) but is unlikely to be a major impact player.
Granted, Penn State has a solid incoming class of five players; it’s also worth noting that most of the portal departures were not major contributors on last year’s team. Still, the Penn State portal moves have been lackluster at best.
Rutgers
Despite likely having two of the top NBA draft prospects on the team, Rutgers had a rough season as they stumbled to a 15-17 record. The talent never ended up equaling wins, and now Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are gone. Rutgers also had four other players enter the portal including major contributors Lathan Sommerville and Jerimiah Williams. The Scarlet Knights have lost five of their top six scorers from last year’s team.
The incoming portal transfers will only help so much. Baye Fall only played four games for Kansas State last year; Darren Buchanan had a solid first year George Washington but will have to prove he can play Big Ten-level basketball; and while Tariq Francis’s scoring at NJIT looks impressive, it’s somewhat propped up by a usage volume that’s unlikely to continue at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights need sure-fire impact players with so many departures, but their portal transfers are all question marks.
Michigan State
Losing Tre Holloman hurts the Spartans. While not always the most consistent player, he came on at the end of the season, scoring in double figures in all but his last NCAA tournament game. He probably would have seen his role increase next season but was lured away by new NC State coach Will Wade. MSU also lost Xavier Booker and Gehrig Normand.
Michigan State brought in three transfers to try and mitigate the losses. Trey Fort and Kalen Glenn both led their teams in scoring, but will go from mid-majors Samford and Florida Atlantic (respectively) to a Michigan State team that expects to contend for Final Fours on a yearly basis. Divine Ugochukwa was a role player on a Miami team that only managed seven wins last year. Maybe one of them steps up and shines in Big Ten play, but it’s hard to see where Michigan State came out ahead on their portal moves.
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