It’s free-agency season in college basketball.
Well, not technically. But in the age of the free one-time transfer (as well as graduate transfers), the offseason has become a time for teams to radically rebuild their rosters. Nearly 1,700 players entered the transfer portal last year, and while those numbers might have been boosted by the pandemic, we can expect another busy spring and summer of player movement.
The Athletic is here to help you keep up with all of the transactions. We’re ranking the top uncommitted transfers and high school prospects, and we’ll constantly update this list as players come on and off the board. College players here are listed by the class in which they’ll participate in the 2022-23 season. A good rule of thumb to remember with the portal: guards are always easier to find than bigs.
Let’s go portaling (and crootin’):
1. Yohan Traore | 6-foot-10 forward | HS senior | Dream City Christian (Glendale, Ariz)
Traore is an LSU decommit following Will Wade’s demise as coach, something that you will see as commonplace in this ranking. He’s a consensus five-star big, originally from France who came over to the United States in 2020. He first went to Prolific Prep and then decided to move to Dream City. It’s tough to come up with a better frame for a collegiate big, as Traore is about 6-foot-10 with a near 7-foot-3 wingspan. He also knows how to use that frame exceedingly well, as he carves out space with ease and rebounds the heck out of the ball, plus has soft hands to catch and finish around the basket. One evaluator who has seen Traore extensively put it very simply and very smartly: He’s the epitome of a Bill Self-style Kansas big.
