Last week, we covered the guys moving on from mid-major glory in search of high-major exposure. This week, we’re going the opposite direction—guys with high-major pedigrees in search of more playing time or an opportunity to be The Guy instead of One of the Guys.
The season—THE season—starts in a week. It’s all here. No time for standing on ceremony, let’s get into it.
Once again, the criteria: fit, talent, Level of Dawg In Him and opportunity matter here, along with a helping of whatever I like. The difference for guys going down the pecking order is that they’ll be looking for more of what they weren’t getting at the big schools, which is likely to be minutes and opportunity. If a guy from [spins wheel] Georgia Tech moves to [consults tarot cards] Northern Iowa, even being a productive part of the rotation will feel like falling short of expectations. That guy needs to be a Dude.
Yohan Traore (Auburn to UC Santa Barbara) I’m buying high on a skilled big man who went from France to Napa to Glendale to the culture shock of Auburn, Alabama finding the change of scenery he needs going back to the West Coast. Traore did little to nothing of note for Auburn a year ago; this is a calculated gamble that UCSB can get him back to where he was out of high school, which was a clearly consensus top-25 recruit. Joe Pasternack reached out to the portal for a high-major add last year in Andre Kelly, who was a valued presence on the glass. Traore has a lower floor than Kelly, who was as steady for UCSB as he was for Cal, but his ceiling could get the Gauchos deep into the NCAA Tournament if comes along quickly. Traore also joins a mini-United Nations summit in Santa Barbara alongside Koat Keat Tong (South Sudan and also incredible name), Matija Belic (Serbia), Evans Kipruto (Kenya), Ajay Mitchell (Belgium), Kilian Brockhoff (Germany) and Elia Bongiorno (Italy).
Femi Odukale (Seton Hall to New Mexico State) The size (6-6) and skills to play either wing spot or as a point guard in a pinch. Played well at Pitt; played well at Seton Hall. After the goings-on in Las Cruces last season, Jason Hooten has plenty to worry about; Odukale bringing stability to the roster isn’t one of those things.
Reese Waters (USC to San Diego State) This feels sort of stupid but you get what I mean—from a resource standpoint, USC dwarfs San Diego State (and many other places) and the run to the title game last season doesn’t change that. San Diego State lost Matt Bradley and Darrion Trammell from last season’s team; replacing their production with the Pac 12 Sixth Man of the Year eager to prove himself as a regular starter will go a long way to keeping the Aztecs relevant on the national scene.
Makhel Mitchell (Arkansas to UALR) A 6-10 monster who could more than hold his own against SEC hogmollies should EAT in the OVC. Mitchell is now on his fourth school—Maryland for 10 games, Rhode Island for two years, Arkansas last season—and has always had a tantalizing collection of skills. Of note: this will be his first collegiate stop without his twin brother Makhi, who stayed in Fayetteville. Makhi got more run for the Hogs last season; it’s time for Makhel to step out of his shadow.
Derrian Ford (Arkansas to Arkansas State) I’d be a lot more worried about Arkansas losing all this talent (and all those guys into the draft) if Eric Musselman wasn’t returning Makhi Mitchell, Trevon Brazile and Davonte Davis and hadn’t brought in the deepest transfer class in the nation. Ford is another who got lost in the shuffle at Arkansas, seeing just 80 minutes in 21 games. Consider him less the guy who couldn’t get on the floor for the Hogs and more the two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year and a consensus top-75 recruit as recently as two years ago and this feels like a good pull for Bryan Hodgson.
Daniel Batcho (Texas Tech to Louisiana Tech) Perhaps in limbo as the NCAA considers his waiver—word Tuesday was that he was still up in the air for the opener. Big, smooth and bruising, Batcho is the sort of polished big who can thrive in Conference USA, provide vital rim protection (Louisiana Tech’s leading returning shot blocker stands 6-6 and had 21 blocks a year ago) and gives preseason C-USA Player of the Year Isaiah Crawford a credible threat in the two-man game. Eligible this man.
Andre Curbelo (St. John’s to Southern Miss) Curbelo was good for a dysfunctional St. John’s team and could be great for a Southern Miss team that hasn’t had back-to-back 20-win seasons (that the NCAA recognizes, at least) since Larry Eustachy was in Hattiesburg. He’s included here because no one is in for more of a culture shock than the guy going from New York to Hattiesburg, Mississippi; having spent a couple of lengthy weekends in both, I can confirm there are no two cities in this country more diametrically opposed.
Justice Hill (LSU to Loyola-Marymount) The move from Mu**ay State to LSU proved a steep climb for most of the players involved (not KJ Williams, obvs); Hill played a pivotal role for a bad team in Baton Rouge one year removed from being (statistically) one of the most improved players in Division I from his sophomore to junior season with the Racers. While LMU returns Our Lord and Savior Keli Leaupepe, the scoring of Cam Shelton (21.4 ppg in 2023, which led a WCC that included Drew Timme and Brandin Podziemski) is gone; as the table-setter, Hill will be charged with helping piece that production together from the assembled parts.
Isa Silva (Stanford to Long Beach State) The move from Pac 12 competition to the Big West will give the former top-100 recruit a chance to shine on the court; the move from Stanford academics (where he was already shining as an Academic All-District performer) to Long Beach (not as strong on the academic side as Stanford, although outside the Ivy’s and Vanderbilt, who is?) might make him the first Division I athlete to achieve a 5.0 GPA for a semester. Long Beach and Santa Barbara will battle for supremacy all season in the Big West; the addition of Silva to the preseason All-Big West Traore’s (Lassina and Aboubacar, no relation) could be enough to give the Beach a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
Kalib Boone (Oklahoma State), Keylan Boone (Pacific) and Jalen Hill (Oklahoma) - all to UNLV This is cheating, and that is fine; there is no pithy blog police to catch me. The Boone’s reconvening in Las Vegas for one last run together could be a fun story; in early October, Kalib got popped for DUI and Keylan is still awaiting an answer on his waiver request, per a report from UNLV practice yesterday. As for Jalen Hill, he went 9-10-5 in a “closed” scrimmage against USC despite an atrocious shooting performance; given that he’s a career 51% shooter across his four seasons at Oklahoma, this seems an outlier. Add this trio to Luis Rodriguez, last season’s third-leading scorer, and top-100 signee Dedan Thomas Jr. and UNLV has an interesting core. The Runnin’ Rebels don’t have a 20-win season since 2018 and haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2013. Kevin Kruger is building something here; in his third season, it’s time to see UNLV become a force in the Mountain West.
Five more to watch: Malik Thomas (USC to San Francisco), Denim Dawson (Nebraska to Tennessee State), Justin McKoy (North Carolina to Hawaii), Mike Saunders (Utah to McNeese State), Daeshun Ruffin (Ole Miss to Jackson State)