Ranking the Best College Basketball Players Sitting Out the 2016-17 Season
To refer to it as an "epidemic," as some in the college basketball world have called it, might be overdoing it. But with the continued prevalence of players who opt to switch schools—quite often more than once—during their career, it's fair to be concerned the trend.
There are roughly 4,200 scholarship players at the Division I level, assuming all 351 programs use all 12 of their available spots. According to a list compiled by ESPN, more than 500 players have announced their intention to transfer to a new school for the 2016-17 season. That's down from the 700-plus who transferred a year ago, but then again it's only May.
A growing number of these players are making the move with the ability to play right away, as a benefit of having graduated from their previous teams. But for most, transferring schools means volunteering to sit out a year rather than stick it out where they currently are. The reasons for doing so vary by the player, but the bottom line is they're choosing to take a break in exchange for what they likely feel is a better opportunity.
The teams that land these transfers can consider them part of their 2017 recruiting classes, but with the luxury of having them practice and train with the program in the meantime. When the season comes, though, it will be nothing but bench warming.
Here's a look at 20 of the best players who are choosing to sit out 2016-17, ranked based on the numbers they've put up to this point, the competition they faced, how much they played and how they were rated entering college.
20. Ray Kasongo
1 of 20
2015-16 stats: 1.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.3 BPG, 52.2% FG, 63.6% FT
Ray Kasongo has been on a seemingly endless journey to find the right place for him—where a promising 6'8”, 245-pound forward from Canada can settle down and produce. He thought it was Oregon and later Tennessee, but neither worked out for different reasons.
Academic issues caused Kasongo to be denied admission to Oregon in 2014, which caused him to look for a last-minute option. According to Jordan Littman of InsidetheHall.com (h/t College Basketball Talk), he was reportedly down to Indiana and LSU but ultimately ended up at the College of Southern Idaho, a junior college, where he averaged 6.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in 2014-15.
He became one of new Tennessee coach Rick Barnes' first recruits for 2015-16 but rarely played, appearing in 22 of 34 games and never scoring more than six points in any contest.
Despite his inability to find a fit, Kasongo has plenty of suitors. ESPN's Jeff Goodman listed California, Colorado, San Diego, UNLV and USC.
19. Adonys Henriquez
2 of 20
2015-16 stats: 10.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.0 APG, 39.3% FG, 35.8% 3P, 68.3% FT
Adonys Henriquez averaged double figures in both of his seasons at UCF, though his minutes and shooting numbers all dipped slightly from his freshman to sophomore year. As the second-leading scorer on a Knights team that averaged less than 69 points per game, his production was still important.
"The future is bright for UCF and I wish them nothing but the best," Henriquez said when announcing his departure, per the Orlando Sentinel.
Henriquez's future looks like it will involve one of four schools: Murray State, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis or TCU. He was set to visit Pitt this week, according to Harry G. Psaros of Pittsburgh Post Game.
18. Evan Maxwell
3 of 20
2015-16 stats: 10.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 63.7% FG, 63.6% FT
Evan Maxwell switched uniform numbers at Liberty between his freshman and sophomore years. It probably had no real effect on his performance, but the 6'10" forward went from playing six minutes and scoring 2.1 points per game to having the second-best shooting percentage in the Big South in 2015-16.
We'll have to see if he picks a third uniform number at his second school, since Maxwell announced his transfer in March.
Which school he picks, though, remains to be seen. He told ESPN's Jeff Goodman he'll visit Baylor, Cincinnati and Virginia Tech, where he'll have two years to play starting in 2017-18.
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17. Dayon Griffin
4 of 20
2015-16 stats: 11.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.4 SPG, 47.9% FG, 37.8% 3P, 55.9% FT
Despite 23 wins, four players have opted to transfer from Louisiana Tech after Eric Konkol's first season at the helm. Only Dayon Griffin was a starter all season, and as the Bulldogs' best three-point shooter, his loss will hurt the most.
Griffin was hardly used during his freshman year before taking on a much bigger role in 2015-16. The 6'5” guard scored a career-high 29 points in Louisiana Tech's final game, making 12 of 20 shots and going 5-of-9 from three-point range in a loss to East Tennessee State in the Vegas 16.
Originally from St. Petersburg, Florida, Griffin recently visited UCF but he's also drawn interest from Alabama, Colorado, Iona, James Madison and Virginia Tech, according to Rivals' Brandon Helwig.
16. Jordan Cornish
5 of 20
2015-16 stats: 6.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 35.2% FG, 30.1% 3P, 59.4% FT
Jordan Cornish has twice committed to play for Cuonzo Martin, but it hasn't worked out either time. He wasn't happy with his two seasons at UNLV, either, as he was part of the mass exodus from Las Vegas that included several NBA draft declarations this spring.
A 6'6" guard who averaged 5.8 points in 19 minutes during his time with the Runnin' Rebels, he originally signed with Tennessee in 2014 but opted out after Martin left the Volunteers to take the California job. That's where Cornish looked first after deciding to leave, committing to the Golden Bears on April 11, but last week he backed out of that pledge.
According to Connor Letourneau of SFGate.com, Cornish said his decision was "personal" and not a reaction to Cal landing Columbia graduate transfer guard Grant Mullins.
Cornish's latest considerations are Butler, Grand Canyon, Iowa State and Purdue, per CBS Sports (h/t Taylor Bern of the Las Vegas Sun).
15. Jontrell Walker
6 of 20
2015-16 stats: 12.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 38.4% FG, 33.6% 3P, 93.3% FT
Compared to the dozens of other small guards who appeared on the transfer wire this spring, Jontrell Walker's overall game didn't make him stand out from the pack. At 6'1" and 188 pounds, he's not a particularly explosive player in the open court, although he had seven 20-point games as a freshman and another four this past season.
But one thing that Walker does that will come in handy at his next school—he committed to Ball State on April 30. That's the ice that apparently courses through his veins when he heads to the foul line.
Walker led the country in free-throw shooting, making 98 of 105 shots this past season after going 84-of-98 as a freshman. In 2015-16 he had three games where he made at least 10 free throws, never missing more than two in any contest.
14. Issac Vann
7 of 20
2015-16 stats: 16.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.7 APG, 45.7% FG, 41.2% 3P, 78.0% FT
Ankle issues limited Issac Vann to just 17 games as a freshman for Maine, but when he was healthy he was one of the best players in the America East Conference. But the Black Bears went only 4-13 when Vann played, compared to 4-9 when the 6'6" forward was unavailable, so his effort seemed wasted.
Maybe that won't be the case at VCU, which has locked up Vann for 2017-18 when he'll have three years of eligibility remaining.
"Guys who have a little chip on their shoulder and want to prove they can play at a high level, we like that," VCU coach Will Wade said, per Tim Pearrell of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The only game Vann had against a power-conference team last season was in his college debut in November against Connecticut, when he scored 10 points but was 2-of-10 from the field.
13. Elijah Minnie
8 of 20
2015-16 stats: 12.0 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.0 APG, 42.7% FG, 32.7% 3P, 76.7% FT
Two seasons of run-ins with Robert Morris coach Andy Toole eventually reached a head in February when the team dismissed 6'8” forward Elijah Minnie. This came less than a year after his strong play helped the Colonials make the 2015 NCAA tournament and beat North Florida in a First Four game.
Minnie improved his scoring and rebounding during his sophomore year, but his efficiency dipped significantly. He was a 54.7 percent shooter the season before, and his offensive rating fell from 113.7 to 94.9, mostly due to becoming too reliant on a three-point shot that isn't that pure. He appeared in 22 games in 2015-16, scoring 18 points with 10 rebounds in his final performance.
"A talent, tough to coach," J. Paul Schofield of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweeted after the dismissal. "He'll probably transfer but he has to change attitude."
Minnie will have two years remaining to play whenever he picks another school.
12. Dominik Olejniczak
9 of 20
2015-16 stats: 6.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 0.7 BPG, 72.2% FG, 68.2% FT
Drake went 7-24 and finished in last place in the Missouri Valley Conference, despite having seven players on the roster listed at 6'8" or taller. That overabundance of size likely caused one of the biggest Bulldogs to move on where a 7'0", 249-pound center would stand out more.
Dominik Olejniczak, a native of Poland, averaged 16.4 points per game and started Drake's final eight contests, during which he averaged 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and one block. He had 19 points, nine rebounds and six blocks in Drake's regular-season finale and went for 18 points and eight boards on 9-of-13 shooting in a MVC tourney loss to Missouri State.
According to Goodman, California, Colorado and Ole Miss are hot after Olejniczak (h/t SB Nation), who can use the year off to add strength to become even more of a force in 2017-18 wherever he ends up.
11. Derrick Bruce
10 of 20
2015-16 stats: 4.4 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, 37.6% FG, 51.2% 3P, 62.5% FT
Oregon State suffered a critical injury late this past season when freshman forward Tres Tinkle hurt his foot and missed all of March. If Derrick Bruce hadn't suddenly caught fire during that same time frame, the Beavers might not have made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1990.
Bruce averaged 14.8 points and 3.3 assists over OSU's final four games, going for 25 points against California in the Pac-12 tournament and 15 against VCU in the NCAA tourney. He was 10-of-20 on three-pointers during that stretch, accounting for nearly half of his 22 long balls for the season.
With Gary Payton II graduating, the 6'3” Bruce figured to be in great position to take on a bigger role in his sophomore year, but instead he withdrew from school in mid-April. He has not publicly mentioned any schools he's interested in transferring to.
10. Justin Simon
11 of 20
2015-16 stats: 2.3 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 0.3 APG, 50.0% FG, 33.3% 3P, 42.9% FT
At No. 34 in the 2015 recruiting rankings, Justin Simon is the highest-rated player from that class who has opted to transfer after one season. That's what made him a highly coveted prospect despite not showing off his talents with Arizona.
Simon struggled to break into the rotation in the backcourt, where Kadeem Allen, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Allonzo Trier and Gabe York combined to play more than 89 percent of the available minutes. The 6'5” guard appeared in 24 games and averaged 7.5 minutes, logging only 27 minutes in February and March.
With the Wildcats bringing in three top-flight guards in the 2016 class, Simon's minutes figured to be even harder to come by had he decided to remain in Tucson for another year. St. John's won the race to pull the West Coast kid across the country, adding him shortly after picking up a commitment from Michigan State sophomore wing Marvin Clark Jr.
9. Jimmy Whitt
12 of 20
2015-16 stats: 6.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.1 APG, 38.7% FG, 37.5% 3P, 79.2% FT
It was a transition year for Arkansas, with mostly new contributors after much of the team that made the 2015 Sweet 16 moved on. That should have made for a good opportunity for Jimmy Whitt as a freshman, but that never materialized.
And with the Razorbacks bringing in another set of guards that includes the top-rated junior college player in the country, the moment seems to have passed for the 6'4” Whitt in Fayetteville.
He's hoping things will be more conducive at SMU, where he'll have three years to play starting in 2017-18. If he plays like he did at the start of last year, when he scored 11 points as a starter over Arkansas' first six games, then the future bodes well for him.
8. Jalen Hudson
13 of 20
2015-16 stats: 8.4 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.6 APG, 40.1% FG, 34.6% 3P, 67.0% FT
Jalen Hudson didn't see his playing time go up much from his first year in Virginia Tech to the next, getting just 20 minutes per game this past season. He's hoping to see more minutes somewhere else, albeit a year from now.
The 6'7” wing averaged 16.7 points per 40 minutes and had several big-scoring games last year, including 28 points with eight rebounds in an NIT win over Princeton and 27 points with seven boards against Louisville. He started 24 games in 2015-16, but six of those saw him shoot 22.2 percent or worse from the field.
Per Goodman (h/t 247Sports), Hudson is set to visit Texas this weekend, and he previously visited Florida and Purdue. He'll have two years left to play.
7. Caleb Martin
14 of 20
2015-16 stats: 11.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.4 APG, 38.9% FG, 36.1% 3P, 66.7% FT
It's not a guarantee, but whichever school ends up getting former North Carolina State guard Caleb Martin will probably be getting a package deal. That's because both he and twin brother Cody Martin are on the market, with the brothers deciding together to find a new pack to roll with.
We're only ranking Caleb Martin, though, since he was the more productive of the 6'7” sophomores in 2015-16. Cody Martin was the better shooter (46.7 percent) but didn't shoot three-pointers, resulting in just 6.0 points per game.
Caleb is also the one who stood out—literally—during a February loss at Duke in which he refused to give in to the whims of the Cameron Crazies. After fouling out, with the student section chanting out “left, right” as he walked to the bench with 4:41 left, he stood up for the remainder of the game so as to prevent the Crazies from yelling "sit down" once he was seated.
Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reported that the twins are considering Butler, East Carolina, Providence, Rutgers, Texas and Texas Tech.
6. Kory Holden
15 of 20
2015-16 stats: 17.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 4.2 APG, 39.5% FG, 38.8% 3P, 79.5% FT
Kory Holden got out while the going wasn't as bad as it's gotten at Delaware. Since announcing his transfer on March 14, the Blue Hens fired their coach and have seen four other players leave the program. As it stands, only five scholarship players are left on the roster, and there's still no coach or even an athletic director to hire that coach.
Holden was by far the big loss of those departures, as a player who has toiled in rebuilding for his career. Delaware went 17-43 in his two seasons, during which the 6'2” guard averaged 15.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 38.4 percent from three-point range.
He's picked South Carolina for his next school, choosing the Gamecocks over Baylor and Kansas.
"He’ll have to sit out the upcoming season, but it might be just as well since the Gamecocks are heavy on experienced guards," Ben Breiner of the State wrote.
5. DeSean Murray
16 of 20
2015-16 stats: 20.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.7 APG, 2.0 SPG, 54.3% FG, 77.3% FT
Auburn has become the hot new destination for Division I transfers since Bruce Pearl took over before the 2014-15 season. DeSean Murray will be the third one he's bringing in this offseason and seventh in two-plus years; however, unlike incoming grad transfers LaRon Smith (Bethune-Cookman) and Ronnie Johnson (Houston), he's not able to play right away.
Murray scored 940 points in 51 games with Presbyterian, leading the Big South in scoring this past season for an 11-20 team. He was also the team's leading rebounder, despite playing in the frontcourt at 6'5”.
"I chose Auburn because it felt like the perfect fit: the team, the coaches, it was just all what I was looking for," Murray told ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello. "And I really trust the coaching staff with my development, so I just know it's going to be the best move and the right move for me."
Murray had seven double-doubles this past season, including 20 points and 11 rebounds against Marquette.
4. Daniel Giddens
17 of 20
2015-16 stats: 3.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.5 BPG, 46.4% FG, 43.9% FT
Ohio State signed a solid five-man freshman class in for the 2015-16 season that 247Sports rated fifth-best in the country. However, only guard JaQuan Lyle will be back next year for the Buckeyes, as the other four opted to transfer.
Daniel Giddens was one of three who at least waited until the season was over to look elsewhere, while guard Austin Grandstaff skipped out after 10 games and will be eligible for Oklahoma in December. And of the exiting group, the 6'10” Giddens is the one who has the most upside and potential, so long as the year off doesn't further delay his development.
Giddens averaged 18.2 minutes per game as a freshman but didn't do much when on the court. He hit double figures twice, scoring 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in Ohio State's NIT home loss to Florida; however, in nine of his 33 appearances, he failed to make a shot.
Originally from Georgia, Giddens has the Bulldogs among his final four that also includes Alabama, Pittsburgh and TCU, per 247Sports.
3. Cane Broome
18 of 20
2015-16 stats: 23.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.9 APG, 44.5% FG, 31.1% 3P
Cane Broome was the eighth-leading scorer in the country last season, trailing only Howard's James Daniel (27.1) and Davidson's Jack Gibbs (23.4) among returning players. Not many people noticed him, though, because tiny Sacred Heart doesn't draw much national attention.
The Pioneers—who have only three winning records and no NCAA tournament bids since moving to Division I in 1999-2000—went 12-18 last year while tying for second in the Northeast Conference. Broome was one of four players who averaged double figures, but he had more than twice the production of anyone else.
It helps when you take nearly 18 shots per game. In two seasons with Sacred Heart, the 6'0” Broome averaged 18.7 points per game and made 111 three-pointers, topping the 30-point mark five times in 2015-16.
He's headed to Cincinnati after picking the Bearcats over Creighton, North Carolina State and Seton Hall.
2. Devin Watson
19 of 20
2015-16 stats: 20.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 4.9 APG, 41.8% FG, 34.9% 3P, 73.3% FT
San Francisco fired coach Rex Walters in March, hiring Columbia's Kyle Smith a few weeks later. Smith had just led his team to the CollegeInsider.com tournament title, but Devin Watson apparently wasn't interested in staying with the Dons and playing for a different coach.
That puts a high-volume scorer on the market for teams that are looking to add for 2017-18 and get two years of production. He averaged 8.4 points per game as a freshman before taking a major leap this past season, ranking third in the West Coast Conference in scoring and tied for fifth in assists.
The 6'1” guard scored 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting in his final game with San Fran, a loss to Pepperdine in the WCC tournament that put its record at 15-15. He's looking at California, Fresno State, Kansas, San Diego State and UNLV, per Goodman.
1. Derryck Thornton
20 of 20
2015-16 stats: 7.1 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, 39.0% FG, 32.9% 3P, 69.0% FT
Transfers from Duke are a rarity, but Derryck Thornton knew his playing time in 2016-17 was going to be much lower than during his freshman season. Not just because the Blue Devils were going to have a much deeper rotation than last year, when they basically rotated only six players, but because one of their incoming freshmen (Frank Jackson) is destined to take his point guard job.
Even with Duke's limited roster, Thornton was often the odd man out. He averaged 26 minutes per game, least of the six main players, while starting 20 of 36 games.
In reality, Thornton should be entering his first year of college but reclassified to the 2015 recruiting class and graduated from high school early. Had he waited, he'd have likely still been one of the top point guard prospects of the 2016 class—247Sports had him as the third-best player at his position in 2015—and he'd be on the court this fall.
Instead, the 6'2" guard is considering Kansas, Miami, USC and Washington, per Borzello. He's originally from California.
All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information from 247Sports, unless otherwise noted.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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