LEXINGTON, Ky. — A few days ago, ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla raised a few eyebrows with the following tweet:
“One Top 40 program coach told me last week that they will no longer recruit HS players but will live in the transfer portal. ‘We’re like the NBA. We can build through free agency or through the draft. We’ll take the surer thing.’”
That might seem a knee-jerk outlier opinion, except for the evidence pointing in that direction. In the future, there may not be that many elite high school prospects for college programs to recruit. The herd is thinning.
Why just Tuesday, twin brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., signed with Overtime Elite, a new alternative training program that is offering six-figure salaries to prospects. OTE has hired former Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie as director and last week announced plans to build a 103,000-square foot facility in Atlanta.
Among class of 2022 prospects, the 247Sports composite ranks Ausar Thompson at No. 30 and Amen Thompson at 31. Both are 6-foot-6 combo guards. Both will skip college to prepare for the NBA draft.
The Thompsons are the second set of brothers to cast their lot with Overtime. Matt and Ryan Bewley of Orlando signed with Overtime Elite last week. Both are high school juniors. Matt Bewley is ranked No. 3 by ESPN in the class of 2023. Ryan is ranked No. 12. Both are listed at 6-9. Both will be eligible for the 2024 NBA draft. The brothers reportedly signed a seven-figure deal with Overtime.
Also last week, Marietta, Ga., guard Scoota Henderson signed a two-year deal with the G League’s Ignite program. That’s the same program that prepped blue-chip prospects Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga for this year’s NBA draft. ESPN ranked Henderson as the No. 7 prospect in the class of 2022.
That’s the new G League wrinkle in the Scoota signing. Henderson is a high school junior. He’s 17 years old. Having graduated high school early, Henderson reportedly signed a two-year deal, since he will not be eligible for the NBA draft until 2023. He’s a 6-3 guard with a 6-9 wingspan.
Henderson joins Arizona forward Michael Foster as G League signees. ESPN ranks Foster as the seventh-best class of 2021 prospect. Kentucky target Jaden Hardy announced he intends to sign with the Ignite program. Hardy is ranked No. 3 in the class of 2021 by 247Sports. Fanbo Zeng, an 18-year-old player from China, reportedly de-committed from Gonzaga last month and is also expected to join the G League program.
According to 247Sports, since the 2019 class, a total of 13 prospects have opted to skip college in favor of an alternative route to the NBA age limit of 19.
Meanwhile, the wheels on the NCAA’s transfer portal keep turning. Over 1,600 names have been placed in the portal. Massive player movement has transformed the outlook for many programs.
Take Auburn. The Tigers ended up just 13-14 overall and 7-11 in the SEC last season. Their top player, guard Sharife Cooper, is off to the draft. No matter. As expected, Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl dove headfirst into the portal. North Carolina center Walker Kessler, Arkansas guard Desi Sills, Georgia guard K.D. Johnson, Charleston guard Zep Jasper and Eastern Kentucky guard Wendell Green have all joined the Tigers, now considered among the favorites for the SEC title next season.
The same can be said of Kentucky. Addressing obvious needs, the Wildcats have added West Virginia’s Oscar Tshiebwe (muscle), Davidson’s Kellan Grady (perimeter shooting), Iowa’s CJ Fredrick (more perimeter shooting) and Georgia’s Sahvir Wheeler (point guard) through the transfer portal. Time will tell if things jell, but John Calipari appears to have improved ingredients.
All of this isn’t to say recruiting high school prospects is no longer important. lt is to say prep recruits are just one piece of the roster-building puzzle. An important piece, to be sure. Just as the transfer portal is now an important piece.
The best programs will figure out the best ways to build that roster.
What are the best college basketball traditions?
Best college basketball traditions
Updated
College basketball traditions that have been embraced and passed down through the years often are as exciting and anticipated as the games themselves. We've assembled the best traditions to help kick off March Madness. Some are big and bold, some are kooky and colorful, but all of them have something special going for them. Go team!
Kansas wave
Updated
Kansas fans have their own version of the wave, and it's a nod to the state's agricultural heritage. At crucial times in a football or basketball game, students slowly wave their arms over their heads, mimicking a field of Kansas wheat swaying in the breeze. The school's famous Rock Chalk chant dates all the way back to 1886 and, according to the school, it evolved from a cheer that a chemistry professor created for the science club.
Sister Jean
Updated
Remember when a 90-something nun took over the NCAA tournament? This was definitely an under-the-radar tradition until 2018. But Jean Dolores Schmidt, now 102 years old and known around the world as "Sister Jean," has been chaplain of the men's basketball team at Chicago's Loyola University since 1994. And it's a responsibility she takes seriously. She has given a prayer on the arena floor before each home game and hugged each player as he walks off the court after games. During the 2018 tournament, when Loyola made an improbable run to the Final Four, she became a national celebrity. She politely talked trash with Charles Barkley and even got her own bobblehead doll.
Indiana basketball
Updated
The Hoosiers have turned the pedestrian basketball timeout into an anticipated event. The "William Tell Overture" is played at the first under 8-minute timeout of the second half of every Indiana basketball game. The cheerleaders start by gathering at center court for a spirited pom-pom routine before grabbing several big flags and running around the court. After the overture, the band leads the crowd in the "Indiana Fight Song." Things get loud.
'Krzyzewskiville'
Updated
The Cameron Crazies are those wacky, blue-painted kids at Duke Blue Devils basketball games. Named after Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Crazies throughout the years have mocked opposing players for their run-ins with the law and other embarrassments. Their taunts are legend; "air ball" was reportedly coined here. To become one of the crazies, you have to first set up camp in "Krzyzewskiville." For more than 30 years, students have camped out in a tent city outside the stadium as they line up for seats. Hundreds of students pack the lawn before big games.
‘One Shining Moment’
Updated
Sure, it's cheesy, but you can't declare an end to each year's NCAA tournament until the winning team has had its "One Shining Moment." Songwriter David Barrett says he was inspired to write the song after watching Larry Bird play in 1986. It quickly became the capper to CBS' NCAA Tournament coverage, and now it's a tradition.
The Show
Updated
Lots of fans do giant head cutouts of famous people to distract free-throw shooters now, but San Diego State students are credited with starting it all. The Aztec student section for home basketball games is often a rowdy, raucous, wacky zoo of fans cheering on their team. They're known as The Show. According to some reports, someone once posted on an SDSU sports message board, "You guys think you're the whole show." The name stuck.
Silent night
Updated
Any student section can yell and scream. But Taylor University in Upland, Ind., had the bright idea to shut up. Every year at a game right before finals, Taylor students dress up in wacky costumes, pack Odle Arena and stay completely silent, until the Trojans score their 10th point. Then they go bonkers.
‘The Hawk Will Never Die’
Updated
You think you’ve got a tough job. The Hawk is the mascot of Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The mascot takes the school's motto "The Hawk Will Never Die" to extreme lengths by flapping its wings nonstop during every game. The Hawk doesn't even rest for halftime. ESPN did the math and figured that The Hawk flaps its wings about 3,500 times during an average game. But don't feel too bad for the student inside the suit: He or she gets a full scholarship.
