Ranking the Top Transfers in the 2015-16 College Basketball Season
Fred Hoiberg is off to the NBA, but the former Iowa State coach's lasting legacy might be changing how transfers are viewed.
Schools like Duke, Kansas and Kentucky no longer hesitate to take transfers, because with the turnover created by the early entrants to the NBA, adding a player looking to switch schools can be a quick fix. That's especially the case with the grad-transfer rule that allows players to play right away. Players are also less hesitant to seek a change in scenery than ever before because they've seen so many others be welcomed with open arms and succeed.
The schools represented by this year's top transfers are a good indication that quality programs will continue to welcome transfers. The players chosen for this list represent the best talents with the best opportunity to succeed out of the hundreds of players at new schools.
10. Seth Allen, Virginia Tech
1 of 10
Previous school: Maryland
2013-14 Stats: 13.4 PPG, 3.0 APG, 2.0 RPG
Buzz Williams has upgraded the talent at Virginia Tech, but the roster is still young and in need of veteran talent, especially after last year's leading scorer Adam Smith transferred to Georgia Tech.
Buzz Williams has almost completely turned over the roster now and the next two years could be telling of whether or not he can succeed in Blacksburg. Landing Seth Allen gave the program some early momentum a year ago.
It was a surprise to begin with that Allen even transferred from Maryland. He was the second-leading scorer on the roster two years ago and ended up missing out on a breakout year for the Terps. But it sounds as if he and Williams hit things off right away, and he'll have the opportunity to be the star for the Hokies over the next two years.
9. Dylan Ennis, Oregon
2 of 10
Previous school: Villanova
2014-15 stats: 9.9 PPG, 3.5 APG, 3.7 RPG, 1.0 SPG
Dylan Ennis was one of the most surprising transfers this offseason. He was a starter on a team that was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and he put up solid numbers in the process. Ennis left because he wanted the chance to play point guard, and he wasn't going to get that with the Wildcats signing Jalen Brunson and returning Ryan Arcidiancono.
Ennis not only found a spot where he could play that spot, but he's also landed on a team where the point guard role should be a pretty easy one. The Oregon Ducks have some nice offensive pieces returning (Dillon Brooks, Elgin Cook, Dwayne Benjamin and Jordan Bell) and added a talented shooting guard in freshman Tyler Dorsey. All Dana Altman was missing was a point guard. Now we'll see if Ennis can be as effective as he was on the wing at Nova.
8. Rasheed Sulaimon, Maryland
3 of 10
Previous school: Duke
2014-15 stats: 7.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG
Rasheed Sulaimon is getting a second shot at Maryland, and I'm very interested to see what he's capable of when he's on a coach's good side—that is assuming he'll be on Mark Turgeon's good side.
Sulaimon seemed to fall out of favor at Duke between his freshman and sophomore seasons. The expectations had been high entering his sophomore season, which is what happens when a guy averages 11.6 points per game as a freshman at Duke on an Elite Eight team filled with veterans.
The expectation is that Sulaimon will be the starting shooting guard at Maryland on one of the most—if not, the most—talented starting lineups in college basketball. If both he and fellow transfer Robert Carter Jr. hit, the Terps will be in the national title hunt.
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7. Sterling Gibbs, Connecticut
4 of 10
Previous school: Seton Hall
2014-15 stats: 16.3 PPG, 3.8 APG, 2.1 RPG, 1.2 SPG
I'm not buying any Connecticut stock this season. If Ryan Boatright can't carry the Huskies to the NCAA tournament, I'm not sure plugging in Sterling Gibbs to a similar roster will make a difference.
But that doesn't mean I don't believe Gibbs will not have a nice season. Kevin Ollie's system has been kind to scoring guards, and Gibbs was one of the best hired guns available on the transfer market. He played really well last year on a dysfunctional Seton Hall squad. The guy can score and will get his shots in UConn's offense.
6. Mo Watson Jr., Creighton
5 of 10
Previous school: Boston University
2013-14 stats: 13.3 PPG, 7.1 APG, 3.6 RPG, 2.1 SPG
Giving Greg McDermott one of the country's best passing point guards should be scary to the rest of the Big East. McDermott built one of the country's best offenses around his son, but it wasn't just Doug McDermott who made the Creighton Bluejays go.
Their spacing and passing was a thing of beauty. From 2012-14, they ranked in the top 10 each season in assist rate, per kenpom.com, and in the top three each season in three-point accuracy.
The Bluejays are getting a point guard who ranked second in assist rate two years ago. While there was an expected drop-off offensively for the Bluejays last season without Doug, they still shot a lot of threes and shared the ball.
Watson isn't a great shooter, but he also played on teams that shot a lot of threes. McDermott might have to adjust his offense a bit to highlight Watson's playmaking ability, but he should be up to the task. A combination of Watson and Nevada transfer Cole Huff could be the influx of talent Creighton needs to get back to the NCAA tournament. Watson didn't get there at Boston, but he did help the program win a conference title for the first time in 10 years.
5. Anton Grady, Wichita State
6 of 10
Previous school: Cleveland State
2014-15 stats: 14.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.4 BPG
The Wichita State Shockers were in need of a scoring big man after graduating Darius Carter and landing Anton Grady made them a legitimate preseason Top 10 team.
Gregg Marshall has always liked to play through a big man, and the guy in Grady's role (Carl Hall/Cleanthony Early, then Early and then Carter) has produced good numbers over the last three years.
At Wichita State, he'll get the chance to play with what is arguably the country's best backcourt. Fred VanVleet is going to get Grady the ball where he can succeed, and he'll get some easy buckets off the attention VanVleet and Ron Baker will demand. The formula is tried and true. Grady is almost in a fail-safe situation.
4. Eron Harris, Michigan State
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Previous school: West Virginia
2013-14 stats: 17.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.6 APG
The Mountaineers got better when Eron Harris left school, and it's tough to say whether the two are correlated. Bob Huggins changed his style of play when Harris and Terry Henderson left, so that could have been the difference. He also made it pretty clear that he had a group willing to put forth the effort to play that style, and that wasn't the case the year before.
Whether Harris was a bad seed or not, there's no question he's talented. He shot 42.2 percent, and he had 11 games as a sophomore when he scored 20 or more points. He's joining a team that will need another perimeter scorer to pair with Denzel Valentine and make up for the loss of Travis Trice. If Harris can produce and be a good soldier, the Michigan State Spartans will have the goods to make another run at a Final Four.
3. Robert Carter Jr., Maryland
8 of 10
Previous school: Georgia Tech
2013-14 Stats: 11.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.1 BPG
Robert Carter Jr. has a chance to have one of the biggest impacts on his new program in comparison to anyone on this list. The Maryland Terrapins get Carter for two seasons, and while he'll be a key piece this year on a team that could compete for a national title, he could end up as the man next season if both Melo Trimble and freshman Diamond Stone turn pro.
Carter showed signs of star potential at Georgia Tech. He needed to get his body right—something he's apparently done in his year off—and his game needed to mature a bit.
Even if he shows up similar to the player he was at Georgia Tech, Carter should help Maryland on the boards, and he and Stone both should provide some back-to-the-basket scoring that the team lacked a season ago.
2. Damion Lee, Louisville
9 of 10
Previous school: Drexel
2014-15 Stats: 21.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.5 SPG
Louisville's system has been very guard-friendly the last few years, and it wasn't surprising to see Damion Lee and Trey Lewis transfer up.
Lee is the ideal Rick Pitino guard in that he can shoot the three (38.9 percent last season) and attack the dribble. He's not as good at creating for teammates as Russ Smith, but his shooting numbers and the frequency with which he gets to the free-throw line are similar to Smith's senior year at Louisville.
Lee had success this summer right away for the Cardinals, averaging 23.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on their trip to Puerto Rico. This is one of the most unproven teams Pitino has had at Louisville, but if Lee and Lewis can handle going from the mid-major level to the ACC, the Cards could be the surprise of the ACC.
1. Ryan Anderson, Arizona
10 of 10
Previous school: Boston College
2013-14 stats: 14.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.4 APG
Ryan Anderson should only get better surrounded by better talent at Arizona. He has the game to play for a winner but just wasn't on very good teams at Boston College. It's a similar situation to T.J. McConnell when he went from Duquesne to Arizona, and that was a match made in heaven. Anderson is obviously a much-different player, but he fits in well with Arizona's system and will be a good replacement to Brandon Ashley.
It's hard to predict how things will shake out with this Arizona team because there's so much turnover on the roster, but Sean Miller has said Anderson has emerged as the team's leader, and he's the best scorer out of the veterans.
Freshman Allonzo Trier, who is a natural scorer, could absorb the go-to guy role from Stanley Johnson, but Miller's teams are usually pretty balanced and Anderson is going to get the opportunity to play a big role on a team capable of rising into the Top 10.
C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @CJMooreBR.
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