More than 1,700 players opted to enter the Division One basketball transfer portal this year.
Several ACC teams hit the portal hard this spring and summer, gathering talent from all levels of college hoops. Pitt’s Ishmael Leggett and Zack Austin rank right up near the top in terms of production at the Division One level, as do Boston College’s Claudell Harris (Charleston Southern) and Wake Forest’s Kevin Miller (Central Michigan). However, many of the incoming transfers into the league this year come from the high-major level elsewhere, and may have not had their chance to shine yet.
Let’s take a look at PSN‘s ranking of the top incoming transfers in the ACC.
TOP 10
No. 1 Matthew Cleveland, Miami (Florida State)
Cleveland has started 38 games at the ACC level and increased his averages last year as a sophomore at FSU (13+ PPG). His addition is massive for the ‘Canes.
No. 2 JJ Starling, Syracuse (Notre Dame)
Starling scored 11 points per game at ND as a freshman, and should be a big-time contributor alongside Judah Mintz.
No. 3 Harrison Ingram, North Carolina (Stanford)
Ingram posted averages of 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season at Stanford, and should be in for a big role at UNC.
No. 4 Cormac Ryan, North Carolina (Notre Dame)
Ryan had his best season last year at Notre Dame, hitting two threes per game and scoring 12.3 points per contest. He is another guy that has already proven himself in the league, and should once again make a big impact, this time for UNC.
No. 5 DJ Horne, NC State (Arizona State)
Horne scored more than 12 points per game at ASU, shooting 37% from the field and 36% from three. He has shown that he can score 15+ per game at the Division One level, and should be a big factor for the Wolfpack.
No. 6 Jayden Taylor, NC State (Butler)
The 6-foot-4 guard put up almost 13 points per game in the Big East last year, In his lone game against an ACC opponent, he scored 18 points against his new team, NC State.
No. 7 Ishmael Leggett, Pitt (Rhode Island)
Leggett’s numbers increased across the board last season in his third year at Rhode Island, including his 16+ PPG average.
No. 8 Claudell Harris, Boston College (Charleston Southern)
Harris exploded for Charleston Southern last year, scoring more than 17 points per game and hitting 66 threes. He is another transfer who was dominant against lower-level D1 competition. How will he fare in the ACC?
No. 9 Tre White, Louisville (USC)
As just as freshman, White scored nine points per game and grabbed 5.9 rebounds per contest in the PAC 12.
No. 10 Zack Austin, Pitt (High Point)
Austin is the only player in college basketball to have blocked 60 shots and made 60 threes in each of the last two seasons, per Danny Johnson of Swish Theory. His numbers have been steady at High Point. He’s another one making the jump up to high-major.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
MJ Rice, NC State (Kansas)
Rice was ranked highly as a high-schooler, but did not play a big role at Kansas.
Dante Harris, Virginia (Georgetown)
He scored 12 points per game two seasons ago at Georgetown. Will Harris be able to pick up where he left off?
Kevin Miller, Wake Forest (Central Michigan)
Miller had some of the best stats out of anyone on this list, but only played in four games last year due to a foot injury.
Amaree Abram, Georgia Tech (Ole Miss)
Abram scored eight points per contest at Ole Miss, shooting 36% from three last year.
Skyy Clark, Louisville (Illinois)
Clark played in just 13 games at Illinois, averaging seven points per game before entering the portal mid-year.
yikes … NC State seems to have loaded up.
They lost more than they added.
Silly list. Neither of Pitt’s transfers is in ESPN’s top 150. Ranking based on stats from the low and mid D-1 levels.