In a recent series here at Gator Country I broke down every single transfer portal class in the SEC, giving you a chance to learn about the host of new players entering the league. Following the release of these series, some Gator Country members requested a ranking of these classes to know where everyone stacked up. Always happy to deliver what our members are looking for, I began work on the ranking.
Before I deliver them, it’s important to note that I am going to be ranking these classes in a vacuum–and by that, I mean I am not accounting for the roster building of these teams on a whole. Some teams that rank low will have fantastic rosters next year due to returning talent, high school talent, and international talent, but this ranking is exclusively about the incoming players through the portal. It’s also always a challenge to way quantity alongside quality, but I will give some thoughts on that along the way.
With that being said, here are my rankings:
1. Kentucky
Denzel Aberdeen (Florida)
Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama)
Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State)
Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh)
Kam Williams (Tulane)
Reece Potter (Miami OH)
Kentucky takes the number one ranking due to top end talent and depth. Jaland Lowe brings scoring punch, Jayden Quaintance brings an NBA skillset to the frontcourt, and Kam Williams brings size and shooting at the wing while the other pieces fill out the depth with multiple years of eligibility.
- Florida
Boogie Fland (Arkansas)
Xaivian Lee (Princeton)
AJ Brown (Ohio)
Alex Kovatchev (Sacramento State)
Florida’s transfer class isn’t big, but they acquired two of the top available players at important positions with both available to play point guard–all in a market where point guards are hard to come by.
- Ole Miss
James Scott (Louisville)
Koren Johnson (Louisville)
Travis Perry (Kentucky)
Augusto Cassia (Butler)
AJ Storr (Kansas)
Corey Chest (LSU)
Kezza Giffa (High Point)
What makes Ole Miss’ class so strong is the fact that every single player has experience and proven production in quality leagues, giving this group a very high floor of guys who should all be extremely competitive in the SEC. Perhaps you’d like to see a bit more upside with one projected stud, but one could definitely emerge from this group.
- Tennessee
Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland)
Jaylen Carey (Vanderbilt)
Amaree Abram (Louisiana Tech)
Like Florida, Tennessee’s class is small and tight but addressed some important positions. Gillespie is a stellar pick and roll ball handler, Jaylen Carey is a skilled, bigger body, and Amaree Abram brings toughness on the wing. Watch for Gillespie to be one of the best transfers in the league.
- Texas A&M
Jamie Vinson (Texas)
Rashaun Agee (USC)
Federiko Federiko (Texas Tech)
Josh Holloway (Samford)
Rylan Griffen (Kansas)
Zach Clemence (Kansas)
Jacari Lane (North Alabama)
Pop Isaacs (Creighton)
Marcus Hill (NC State)
Mackenzie Mgbako (Indiana)
With Bucky McMillan getting the Texas A&M job so late, his ability to put together a strong class is extremely impressive. Pop Isaacs is ready for a huge year, and Mackenzie Mgbako has breakout potential in a new role and a new league.
- Vanderbilt
Duke Miles (Oklahoma)
Tyler Harris (Washington)
Mason Nicholson (Jacksonville State)
Jalen Washington (North Carolina)
Mike James (NC State)
AK Okereke (Cornell)
Frankie Collins (TCU)
George Kimble III (Eastern Kentucky)
It might look like pure volume that makes this class strong at first glance, but there are some truly interesting pieces like Jalen Washington who brings some frontcourt juice and George Kimble who can really score. Not all of these players will pan out, but enough will to make this a really impactful class.
- Mississippi State
Jayden Epps (Georgetown)
Achor Achor (Kansas State)
Amier Ali (Arizona State)
Ja’Borri McGhee (UAB)
Quincy Ballard (Wichita State)
Mississippi State went hard after players who have played at the high-major level, though the cost of doing this was getting a lot of players who have not played in winning situations. This group should bring competitiveness, but they may not be players who can win a ton of games.
- Oklahoma
Xzayvier Brown (Saint Joseph’s)
Derrion Reid (Alabama)
Nijel Pack (Miami)
Tae Davis (Notre Dame)
Porter Moser was able to bring in some capable scoring at a number of positions, something that fits a need around a roster that will be stronger on the defensive side.
- LSU
Pablo Tamba (UC Davis)
PJ Carter (Memphis)
Michael Nwoko (Mississippi State)
Marquel Sutton (Omaha)
Max Mackinnon (Portland)
Rashad King (Northeastern)
Dedan Thomas (UNLV)
There is some juice here with scorers like Dedan Thomas and Rashad King, but with so many upside swings it’s hard to rank this group any higher than the middle of the pack. There is definitely a chance they way overperform this ranking, however.
- Texas
Simeon Wilcher (St. John’s)
Lassina Traore (Xavier)
Matas Vokietaitas (FAU)
Cam Heide (Purdue)
Dailyn Swain (Xavier)
New head coach Sean Miller definitely went with some guys he is comfortable with, but they don’t jump off the page to the casual observer. Simeon Wilcher could be due for a breakout campaign, and the rest of the class does have some high-level role player potential.
- Auburn
Kevin Overton (Texas Tech)
KeShawn Murphy (Mississippi State)
Keyshawn Hall (UCF)
Elyjah Freeman (Lincoln Memorial)
Auburn’s class lacks pop, with Overton, Murphy, and Hall looking like guys who have tapped out in terms of ceiling. Elyjah Freeman is a very fun possibility, however, as a rare D-II to high-major transfer.
- Georgia
Jordan Ross (St. Mary’s)
Marcus Millender (UTSA)
Kanon Catchings (BYU)
Justin Bailey (Wofford)
Jeremiah Wilkinson (California)
The Georgia class feels a little one-dimensional with Mike White trying to address his team’s shooting at all costs, while sacrificing in some other areas. This was a tough group to rank, but I don’t see them as an upper echelon SEC class.
- Missouri
Jayden Stone (West Virginia)
Shawn Phillips (Arizona State)
Sebastian Mack (UCLA)
Luke Northweather (Oklahoma)
Jevon Porter (Loyola Marymount)
With Missouri focusing more on high-school recruiting, the portal class is largely upside swings that will be interesting to see how they turn out–though it’s hard to rank it all that high.
14. Alabama
Keitenn Bristow (Tarleton State)
Jalil Bethea (Miami)
Noah Williamson (Bucknell)
Taylor Bol Bowen (Florida State)
What Nate Oats continues to do with much less money than his SEC competitors is remarkable. He will make this class work, and this group will likely perform much better than 14th, but the talent on paper is not inspiring.
- South Carolina
Mike Sharavjamts (Utah)
Nordin Kapic (UC San Diego)
Meechie Johnson (Ohio State)
Kobe Knox (South Florida)
Christ Essandoko (Providence)
Elijah Strong (Boston College)
South Carolina’s class is another one loaded with upside swings past Meechie Johnson, a rare double boomerang transfer who is back with the program for a second time.
Arkansas
Malique Ewin (Florida State)
Nick Pringle (Arkansas)
With talent coming from other avenues, John Calipari took a couple of veteran bigs to help the front court rotation and called it a day.