Tipoff: Where the top transfers in college basketball have landed

After Dusty May left Florida Atlantic to take over Michigan’s program, plenty of the top remaining players from the Owls’ 2023 Final Four team departed as well.

But they didn’t all follow their former coach to Ann Arbor. They scattered to various programs.

Florida Atlantic’s top four scorers from last season – all of whom had vital roles during the Owls’ Final Four run a year earlier – are now playing elsewhere. They’re among the most notable of the hundreds of transfers on college basketball rosters across the country.

In the era of the transfer portal, Florida Atlantic’s ability to keep the nucleus of its Final Four team together for one more year was remarkable. The team’s eventual breakup after its 2024 NCAA Tournament first-round overtime loss to Northwestern seemed inevitable.

May’s first Michigan team will include Vladislav Goldin, a 7-foot-1 center who made 106 starts at Florida Atlantic and posted double-figure scoring averages each of the last two seasons. After playing in the NCAA Tournament the last two years at FAU, Goldin believes he’s capable of getting back there at Michigan.

“This team is probably the most talented I have ever played on, so many talented guys,” Goldin told reporters this offseason. “It’s insane talent. I’ve never seen it before.”

Some of Goldin’s other Florida Atlantic teammates opted to go on their own.

Johnell Davis, who led Florida Atlantic in scoring each of the last two seasons, will be playing for John Calipari at No. 16 Arkansas.

“He’s a Hall of Fame coach and he wins everywhere he goes,” Davis told reporters. “I’m excited to play for him.”

Nick Boyd transferred to San Diego State, the team that ended Florida Atlantic’s 2023 Cinderella national title hopes with a Lamont Butler buzzer beater in the NCAA semifinals. Alijah Martin, who scored 26 points in that Final Four loss to San Diego State, transferred to Florida.

Here’s a look at some of the other most notable transfers in college…

Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/tipoff-where-top-transfers-college-091229596.html

Author : The Canadian Press

Publish date : 2024-10-28 09:12:00

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