Discourse from the dog days

We get it. It’s mid-August, so college basketball probably isn’t the first thing on your mind. However, you can still buy The Almanac at its special presale price — be sure to do so before you forget and the price goes up. (Like all those free trials you forgot to cancel. Speaking from experience.)

Let's get to the news.

1. International Love

Two weeks ago, we covered the Kansas debut of Hunter Dickinson on the Jayhawks’ foreign tour. In their Puerto Rico exhibition games, the big man showcased the entirety of what makes him special — namely, his low-post scoring, passing savvy and 3-point shooting.

But of course, that’s only part of the story with Dickinson. His off-court antics have long depicted him as one of the more mercurial superstars in recent memory.

Today, we’ll look at another polarizing player who also has a new home: Caleb Love. His college hoops journey is well-documented. The senior guard did everything but win a title for North Carolina his sophomore year, delivering iconic moment after iconic moment, before a junior campaign that ended in disaster. Love’s shortcomings were far from the only reason why UNC missed the tournament. But his shot selection, ill-timed turnovers and nonchalant defense all resurfaced as concerns.

Thus, his play under Tommy Lloyd at Arizona will be one of the most intriguing storylines of the upcoming season. The Wildcats’ tour in Israel and UAE provided the first look.

Arizona went 3-0 in international play, with Love scoring 9, 11 and 13 points in the respective contests, as Lloyd cycled through his bench. The highlights are certainly enticing — an alley-oop, a nimble reverse layup and an emphatic dunk punctuate the montage, familiar sights for Carolina fans.

But how will his fit play out when the games count?

One area to monitor is his transition game. It’s no secret that Lloyd wants to push the pace, but throughout Love’s career at UNC, his athleticism didn’t always translate to success in the open court. Last year, the Heels ranked just 193rd in transition effective field goal percentage, per Hoop-Math, with Love struggling as a ballhandler in those scenarios. UNC often failed to capitalize even with a numbers advantage.

Now, Lloyd’s emphases on ball movement and motion lead to a free-flowing, uptempo attack — and that could be exactly what Love needs to elevate his game.

But he’ll also need to improve in the half-court when the game slows down. The senior has been an average finisher, never converting higher than 50% of his attempts at the rim in three seasons. Moreover, Jaden Bradley and Keshad Johnson are unproven shooters, while Oumar Ballo has never attempted a triple in his career. This could spell trouble for Zona’s half-court spacing.

Still, Love has the skill set to win a couple of games on his own, and his team has the talent to be named Pac-12 favorites. If Lloyd can coax consistency out of his incoming guard, projection likely becomes reality.

2. Problems with portal data

The transfer portal is an easy boogeyman for college sports right now. It’s blamed for a lack of team unity, year-to-year-cohesiveness, player greed, player restlessness, hurricanes in California, higher gas prices, and the mysterious demise of the honeybee. (I was having formatting issues with my computer for this section. Coincidence that it was about the portal? I think not.)

Or something like that.

But, like most things, there’s far more nuance to the transfer portal than some might think, even when they’re using data to highlight a component of the portal.

That linked tweet has about 1 million views thus far. But it’s primary data point that 45% of transfers this offseason have yet to find a place to play? It’s a stretch.

I’ll let Sam Vecenie and Ken Pomeroy explain.

There are more data points needed for stats like this. Also in that thread via @andrewparrish1, about 1,400 scholarship players entered the portal this spring, and about 1,250 found a new home. More context: about 225 of those players went to a JUCO, D-II, D-III or NAIA.

The transfer portal isn’t what’s wrong with college athletics today. It’s merely a (sometimes messy) conduit for athletes who have more options than in previous years for what they want to do. It’s different than what college sports had before and that makes people uncomfortable.

It’ll get normalized. And it’ll have years when it seems like everyone’s in the portal. But in the end, if we’re giving teenagers and 20-somethings a chance to explore options as a young adult, that’s a good thing. That’s what college is supposed to be.

—Mike Miller

3. Ex-Houston forward Reggie Chaney passes away at 23.

Unfortunately, we’ll close today’s Daily on a somber note. Reggie Chaney, a 6-8 forward who played on Houston’s 2021 Final Four team, passed away yesterday at the age of 23.

It’s heartbreaking news, especially considering Chaney had just inked his first professional contract. Tributes immediately started pouring in, spanning from Fran Fraschilla to Daniel Gafford to Eric Musselman.

Of note regarding those last two: Chaney started his career at Arkansas, playing in Fayetteville from 2018-19. His passing marks the fourth death of a former Razorback athlete in the past four months (Chris Smith, Ryan Mallett and Alex Collins).

As of now, there are no details regarding his death. Our prayers, thoughts and condolences are with Chaney’s family.

An Arizona overview

After spending so much time on Caleb Love above, it seemed like the perfect time to dive into the discussion about how Tommy Lloyd’s program fared with additions and departures this offseason. Do Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster think the Wildcats did enough to get a good grade?

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Links as you (i.e. me) overreact to Sam Howell preseason highlights:

• Rutgers guard Jeremiah Williams, formerly of Iowa State and Temple, became the latest athlete implicated in a gambling probe.

• Who else could win NPOY other than Zach Edey? On3’s Jamie Shaw has thoughts.

• Colorado and Boston College released their noncon schedules.

Thanks for reading The Field of 68 Daily! If you have a news tip or feedback, email us at [email protected].