ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The deadline to enter the college basketball NCAA transfer portal ended a few weeks ago, and while there are still hundreds of players looking for a new home the majority of big name talents are already committed.
Many teams made moves to dramatically improve their fortunes for the upcoming 2023-24 season, while others have created more questions than answers for their program.
And while there is still plenty of time for those teams to right the ship, the hosts at Locked on College Basketball took the time to identify four Power-5 programs that have the most work to do at this point in the offseason.
Below is a list of each of those programs, for more insight and analysis check out the Locked on College Basketball podcast!
1. Michigan Wolverines
The best player to ever enter the modern NCAA transfer portal, Hunter Dickinson, came from Michigan and ended up at Kansas where he'll compete for a national title under Bill Self. Losing Dickinson is a massive blow for Juwan Howard's team, and the recent de-commitment from North Carolina guard Caleb Love was another setback in what has been a frustrating offseason in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines did add Alabama guard Nimari Burnett and Seton Hall forward Tray Jackson, but no Dickinson and now no Love has this team in a tough spot with a lot of talent already out of the transfer portal.
2. Baylor Bears
Baylor coach Scott Drew deserves the benefit of the doubt after an extremely successful run, but this program watched all three of their starting guards - Adam Flagler, Keyonte George, and LJ Cryer - depart this offseason, with Flagler and George in the NBA draft while Cryer transferred to Houston.
Backup guard Dale Bonner also hit the portal and went to Ohio State, and so far Drew's only addition is VCU point guard Jayden Nunn. The Bears have an excellent recruiting class, now including big man Yves Missi who reclassified, but another portal addition (or two) would go a long way in easing the mind of fans in Waco.
3. UCLA Bruins
The ins and outs for UCLA in the transfer portal don't look all that noteworthy, with a pair of reserves hitting the portal in Mac Etienne (uncommitted) and Abramo Canka (Wake Forest), but the only addition Mick Cronin has made (so far) is Utah shooting guard Lazar Stefanovic, who figures to play a depth role at Pauley in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, this team is needing to replace at least Jaime Jaquez and Amari Bailey from last year's Sweet 16 team, and could lose Tyger Campbell, Jaylen Clark, and Adem Bona to the professional ranks as well. A solid incoming recruiting class eases the sting a little, but there is still potentially a lot of work to do for the Bruins this offseason.
4. Arizona State Sun Devils
Bobby Hurley's Arizona State team snuck into the NCAA Tournament last year, but the offseason has been anything but kind. The Sun Devils lost four of their five leading scorers with Desmond Cambridge's graduation and the transfer decisions from his brother Devan (Oregon) as well as Warren Washington (Texas Tech) and Luther Muhammad (uncommitted).
The team has lost nine players to the transfer portal in total, and while some of the additions figure to be productive, including San Francisco's Zane Meeks, LSU's Adam Miller and Tulsa's Bryant Selebangue, this is a tough scene for a team to break into the big dance and lose most of their roster just a few months later.