With the transfer portal more important than ever the player acquisition done in the offseason has arguably surpassed traditional recruiting in terms of roster building importance. What SEC teams did the best work in the transfer portal this offseason? Let’s take a look at the incoming pieces for each team in the league to see who might be a favorite in the league. This is part two of the series, and if you haven’t yet read part one, you can do so here.
Teams will be listed in terms of transfer class ranking according to 247 Sports. Florida’s class was ranked the fourth best, so you can decide for yourself where you think the Gators’ class stacks up once you see how the rest of the league did.
Here is part two of a look at each SEC transfer class.
South Carolina
Incoming Transfers: Ta’Lon Cooper (Minnesota), Myles Stute (Vanderbilt), BJ Mack (Wofford), Stephen Clark (The Citadel)
Following a rocky start to his tenure at South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris needed to improve his team on both sides of the ball and he looked to do so with a forward-heavy four man class. Myles Stute will be a familiar name to Florida fans as he always seemed to play well against the Gators, particularly on the defensive side of the ball where he is known to do some of his best work. At 6’7” and 215 pounds he can guard multiple positions and you can slide him into South Carolina’s starting lineup next season knowing exactly what he is at the SEC level. Another name familiar to Florida fans will be BJ Mack who the Gators pursued heavily in the transfer portal near the beginning of the offseason before backing off. The 6’8”, 250 pound Wofford transfer is a tremendous offensive player who is efficient around the rim using his huge frame, but can also step out behind the arc as a career 36% three-point shooter. He’ll get his offensively in the SEC, but his slow feet defensively could be a concern. Stephen Clark was a smooth 6’8” scorer in the mid range at the Citadel and also was sneakily one of the best shot blockers at the mid-major level, also giving some defensive upside to the class. Ta’Lon Cooper is an excellent passer at over 6 assists per game for Minnesota last year and he also has great size at the point guard position standing at 6’4”, and while he’s not an elite scorer he’s an experienced ball handler who has projectable production to the SEC. Look for the Gamecocks to be a much improved roster this upcoming season.
Missouri
Incoming Transfers: Connor Vanover (Oral Roberts), Caleb Grill (Iowa State), Tamar Bates (Indiana), John Tonje (Colorado State), Jesus Carralero (Campbell)
Dennis Gates put together one of the most fascinating transfer classes in the SEC and it has a lot of upside–but certainly brings some risk. Connor Vanover is a skinny 7’3” center with a jumper and while he had success at Oral Roberts averaging 13 points per game–his game has sort of proven it’s not going to work at the high-major level. He already was at Arkansas for two seasons averaging under 8 minutes per game in year two, and before that was an 8 point per game player at California. Dennis Gates will look to be the coach who can unlock his ability to perform at a starter level in the SEC, but we’ve seen the struggles in the past. Caleb Grill showed some production at Iowa State scoring 10 points per game, but he was also dismissed near the end of the season for an unspecified violation of team rules. Tamar Bates is another high-major transfer who didn’t get his footing, coming from Indiana where he went out of high school as the 27th ranked player in the country. Bates has struggled to find any scoring touch at the rim, but he’s clearly talented and 6’5” and he could be due for a breakout this season. John Tonje is a physical 6’5” shooter who was excellent in Colorado State’s offensive system which mirrors Dennis Gates’ in a lot of ways and that is looking like a savvy pickup.
Tennessee
Incoming Transfers: Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado), Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate)
Last year the Volunteers were the number one defense in the country according to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric but their offense often went ice cold, lowering the ceiling of what they could accomplish. They addressed some of those problems in the portal getting two explosive scorers in Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey, both wings with size that can put the ball in the hoop. Knecht was one of the most productive scorers in the country last season scoring 20 points per game and finding ways to do it in just about every way possible. The 6’6” guard shot 38% from deep, often pulling off the dribble, he scored layups in transition, and he’d post up mismatches–all ways that Rick Barnes could use him at Tennessee. Gainey is a bit more of a traditional shooting guard who has hit 40% of his threes in his career, and he also brings a lot of defensive intensity averaging 2 steals per game.
Mississippi State
Incoming Transfers: Andrew Taylor (Marshall), Jimmy Bell (West Virginia)
Mississippi State’s class was small but they landed one of the true gems of the offseason with Andrew Taylor. The 6’3” guard filled up the statsheet with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game last season, all while hitting 36% of his threes on over seven attempts per game. Florida was heavily interested in Taylor when he hit the portal late in the cycle but they weren’t able to offer him the clear number one role like the one he’ll have at Mississippi State. Look for him to be their number one offensive option. Jimmy Bell was a career role player at West Virginia and while he doesn’t have a lot of offensive instincts he always puts his imprint on games and that’s because he’s a mountain of a man at 6’10” and 270 pounds. Bell won’t be out there to score and he won’t be able to play a ton of minutes but when he’s out there he’s going to control the glass and make his presence felt.
Texas A&M
Incoming Players: Wildens Leveque (UMass), Eli Lawrence (Middle Tennessee State), Jace Carter (UIC)
Buzz Williams has always been known as someone who has recruited under the radar transfers he thinks will fit his system over big names and once again we see a Texas A&M transfer class that doesn’t have stars. Wildens Leveque is no stranger to the SEC after spending three seasons at South Carolina before following Frank Martin to UMass, and while he’s never been more than a 7 point per game center he knows where to put his 6’11” frame on the floor defensively and coaches in the league have always respected his game. Eli Lawrence is a 6’5” guard who has a bit of bounce but was only a 12 point per game scorer on average shooting efficiency at MTSU–so put this one into the category of a sleeper that Coach Williams thinks he can drastically improve. Jace Carter also has some positional athleticism at 6’5” and while he’s not a great shooter he can still find ways to score on the inside, scoring 17 points per game for UIC last season as easily their most talented player.
Auburn
Incoming Players: Denver Jones (Florida International)
With Auburn returning some talent and Bruce Pearl still favoring high school recruiting he only went into the portal for one name as of late July–Denver Jones from Florida international. The 6’4” guard averaged 20 points and 2 assists per game last season as the leader of FIU’s offense and the electricity he shows off the bounce is exactly what Pearl has looked for, and had success with, when it comes to guards in recent seasons.
Kentucky
Incoming Players: Tre Mitchell (West Virginia)
In the fallout of Bob Huggins leaving West Virginia Kentucky was able to get their lone transfer–6’9” forward Tre Mitchell. Since the transfer portal really exploded John Calipari hasn’t been all that interested in bringing in veteran transfers, though he made an exception for Mitchell. Last season he averaged 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game, and he certainly has the potential to get even more work done offensively. Mitchell is a forward who can shoot and handle the ball and has always had a lot of talent that seems untapped, so watch for a possible leap this upcoming season. It’s worth noting that there are still some names on the market and Kentucky has multiple open transfers and they could still add some more names.