College Basketball: Transfers to Watch for 2020-21
While much of the focus of the college basketball world remains on impactful freshmen, plenty of blue blood programs have bolstered their program in the past year in other ways. Namely, transfers and graduate transfers.
They may not have the same name recognition as McDonald's All-Americans, but transfers have had plenty of impact over the last several years. Think about North Carolina's Cameron Johnson in 2017-18 or Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke in 2018-19. Even last season, four of the 28 players who averaged at least 20 points per game over 20 games arrived from other Division I schools, including Northeastern's Jordan Roland, who finished seventh in the nation in scoring.
Ahead of the 2020-21 season tipping off on Nov. 25, Athlon Sports is breaking down the biggest transfers in the sports. These two lists are in alphabetical order.
Top 17 Transfers
Victor Bailey, Oregon to Tennessee
Bailey is expected to be an important piece — as a much-needed outside shooting threat — for a Tennessee team that should compete for the league title.
Jordan Brown, Nevada to Arizona
Brown, a former top-20 recruit, is part of a roster overhaul for the Wildcats, who must replace seven of their top eight scorers.
D.J. Carton, Ohio State to Marquette
The top-40 recruit from the Class of 2019 played in only 20 games as a freshman while dealing with mental health issues. He was granted immediate eligibility and will be a sophomore this season.
RJ Cole, Howard to UConn
Cole averaged 22.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists in two seasons at Howard. He played in high school for Bobby Hurley in Jersey City, N.J. Now, he will play for Hurley’s son Danny.
Caleb Daniels, Tulane to Villanova
Daniels was highly productive as a sophomore in 2018-19, averaging 16.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
Anthony Duruji, Louisiana Tech to Florida
Duruji is a 6'7" small forward who averaged 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds as a sophomore at Louisiana Tech. He is a high-level athlete who has shown some ability from the 3-point line.
D.J. Harvey, Notre Dame to Vanderbilt
Harvey is a skilled swingman who could emerge as one of the Commodores’ top offensive options as a junior. The former top-100 recruit averaged 10.7 points and 4.2 rebounds two years ago at Notre Dame.
David Jenkins, South Dakota State to UNLV
Jenkins has followed his coach, T.J. Oztelberger, to Vegas. As a sophomore two years ago, Jenkins averaged 19.7 points and made 45.3 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Johnny Juzang, Kentucky to UCLA
A former top-40 recruit, Juzang transferred back home to Southern California after an uneventful season (2.9 ppg, 12.3 mpg) at Kentucky.
Joey Hauser, Marquette to Michigan State
The younger of the Hauser brothers who surprisingly left Marquette, Joey is a 6'9" power forward who averaged 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds as a freshman.
Sam Hauser, Marquette to Virginia
Maybe the most significant newcomer in college basketball. In his final season at Marquette, the 6'8" forward averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He connected on 44.5 percent from 3 in three seasons.
Eugene Omoruyi, Rutgers to Oregon
Omoruyi, an undersized power forward, improved his scoring from 2.4 to 7.9 to 13.8 points per game in his three seasons.
Jahvon Quinerly, Villanova to Alabama
Quinerly struggled to find a role at Villanova as a freshman in 2018-19. He will have an opportunity to replace NBA-bound Kira Lewis Jr. as the point guard in Tuscaloosa.
Cormac Ryan, Stanford to Notre Dame
Ryan is a shooting guard with good size who averaged 8.7 points per game in his only season at Stanford. He should develop into a solid scorer for Mike Brey.
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Olivier Sarr, Wake Forest to Kentucky
Sarr is an athletic big man who made a big jump as a junior for Wake Forest. He averaged 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in 2019-20 and improved his shooting from .474 as a sophomore to .527 as a junior.
Justice Sueing, California to Ohio State
Sueing is a 6'6" swingman who averaged 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds in two seasons at Cal. He hopes to improve his 3-point efficiency.
Eric Williams, Duquesne to Oregon
The 6'6" Michigan native averaged 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting .367 from 3 in his two seasons at Duquesne.
Top 15 Grad Transfers
Bryce Aiken, Harvard to Seton Hall
The 6'0" guard averaged 22.2 points and shot .398 from 3-point range two years ago.
Terrell Brown, Seattle to Arizona
The point guard averaged 20.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 4.8 apg last year.
Jordan Bruner, Yale to Alabama
Bruner should be a solid rotational big man for Bama this year.
Terrell Gomez, CSUN to San Diego State
In three years at CSUN, he averaged 17.1 ppg while shooting 43.6 percent from 3.
Matt Haarms, Purdue to BYU
The 7'3" center shoots a high percentage and blocks a lot of shots (2.1 bpg).
Amauri Hardy, UNLV to Oregon
Hardy can score but will need to be more efficient.
Rapolas Ivanauskas, Colgate to Cincinnati
The 6'10" big man enjoyed two productive seasons in the Patriot League.
Carlik Jones, Radford to Louisville
Arguably the top grad transfer on the market, he averaged 20.0 points and 5.5 assists.
Kevin Marfo, Quinnipiac to Texas A&M
The 6'8" 245-pound big man should replace some of Josh Nebo’s inside production.
Davion Mintz, Creighton to Kentucky
Mintz, who sat out last season due in part to a foot injury, is an athletic combo guard.
Marcus Santos-Silva, VCU to Texas Tech
The hard-working power forward averaged 12.8 points and 8.9 rebounds last year.
Justin Smith, Indiana to Arkansas
Smith and fellow transfer Jalen Tate will be solid contributors.
Mike Smith, Columbia to Michigan
Smith averaged 22.8 points and 4.5 assists last season.
Seth Towns, Harvard to Ohio State
If healthy, Towns will be a productive scorer.
Dimencio Vaughn, Rider to Ole Miss
Vaughn is an athletic wing who averaged 14.8 ppg last season.
(Olivier Sarr photo courtesy of @KentuckyMBB)