Ranking the Final Four players

On a day when the transfer portal occupied most of the news cycle -- nice job Louisville! -- we also spent some time determining the best players still playing in the Big Dance, and looked at the NIT title game.

Author

Tristan Freeman
April 04, 2024

Everyone’s headed to Phoenix for the Final Four. But not everyone had a smooth ride. Mechanical issues, then logistics delayed UConn’s arrival until early this morning.

I can only imagine how Dan Hurley will use this as motivation.

Let's get to the rest of Wednesday’s news.

1. Louisville lands Sun Belt POY Terrence Edwards

James Madison won 32 games and beat Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament, helping coach Mark Byington jump to the SEC for the Vanderbilt job.

One of his best Dukes isn’t making the same jump.

Frequently when a coach leaves for a new job, the top players with eligibility follow them to the new spot. That was potentially the case with Terrence Edwards Jr., who led the Dukes with 17.2 ppg and 3.4 apg, earning Sun Belt Player of the Year honors. Didn’t happen.

Louisville has its own program turnover as former Charleston coach Pat Kelsey takes over. He’s brought two Cougars in forward James Scott and sharpshooter Reyne Smith.

Landing Edwards gives Louisville a go-to option. The 6-6 guard/wing should be just fine making the jump from the Sun Belt to the ACC. The Cardinals will need that if they want to get out the ACC cellar.

Kelsey,” is throwing up “L’s” in fan videos and “W’s” on the recruiting trail. There are still plenty of roster spots left to fill on the Louisville roster but his recruiting ability is already showing at his new spot.

Other notable transfer commitments

  • Brandon Johnson (ECU to Miami): 14.0 ppg and 8.6 rpg

  • Makhi Mason (Rice to Washington): 14.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg

  • Kylan Blackmon (Coastal Carolina to Charlotte): 11.4 ppg and 3.1 rpg

  • Dug McDaniel (Michigan to Kansas State): 16.3 ppg and 4.7 apg

  • Zach Martini (Princeton to Rutgers): 8.4 ppg and 3.3 rpg

  • Skyy Clark (Louisville to UCLA): 13.2 ppg and 3.0 apg

2. Two elite bigs enter the portal

Wednesday was another big day of notable portal entries, including a couple of guys who’ll be on everyone’s top available rankings of transfers.

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