College Basketball News & Rumors: Transfer Portal Rule Change, Coaches Sign Ups & More

College Basketball News & Rumors: Transfer Portal Rule Change, Coaches Sign Ups & More

Written by on April 20, 2021

The college basketball offseason is just over two weeks old, and we’re already seeing lots of changes. Between the transfer portal, early draft entries, and all of the coaching changes, it has already been a hectic few days. Let’s have a look at our NCAAB update so you can start getting ready to bet against their College Basketball odds for the upcoming season.

2021 NCAA Basketball Betting News & Rumors April 20th Edition

Transfer Portal Changes

The transfer portal will make things very interesting for college basketball. The NCAA has approved a rule stating that college basketball players may transfer one time without having to sit out a season, so we will see significant roster turnover from year to year.

The transfer portal rule change comes in addition to the rule that states if a player graduates and has eligibility remaining, that player may transfer to another school without having to sit out for a year. 

There are currently more than 1,000 players who have entered their names into this year’s transfer portal. Many players have already decided where they will attend school and play basketball next season.

However, this rule change has made things difficult for many programs, as some are losing top players to other schools. Other programs are liking this process because they are strengthening their programs by using the transfer portal. Traditionalists don’t like the rule, and they think that within the next few years, the NCAA will rescind this rule and go back to the old policy of having to sit for one season if you transfer.

Coaching Carousel Continues

As for coaching changes, we’ve seen a fair share of them recently. Roy Williams didn’t like the changes that were being made in college basketball, so he decided to retire. Former Tar Heel star and North Carolina assistant coach Hubert Davis was hired to take the job. He brought on a staff full of former North Carolina players.

Other coaching changes include Chris Beard leaving Texas Tech for the University of Texas. That move came on the heels of Shaka Smart leaving Texas for Marquette after the school fired Steve Wojciechowski. NBA assistant Mike Woodson was hired by Indiana after Archie Miller was relieved of his duties. Wes Miller came on at Cincinnati as John Brannen was fired by the Cincinnati administration.

NBA Draft Early Entries

The early draft entries are piling up. Players have until May 31st to declare for the NBA Draft. As of this writing, more than 75 players have declared. Some have hired agents, making it so that they can’t go back to college, while others are just “testing the waters” to see if they might get selected. 

According to many draft experts, 17 of the early entries are predicted to be first round selections. The biggest name among those early entries is Cade Cunningham, a freshman from Oklahoma State. Cunningham is projected to be the first pick in the upcoming draft.

Some other notable early entries that could be top selections include Davion Mitchell from Baylor, James Bouknight from Connecticut, Tennessee’s Keon Johnson, Florida State’s Scottie Barnes, Sharife Cooper from Auburn, and Ayo Dosunmu from Illinois. Many of these prospective top selections have hired an agent, so they won’t be able to return to school.  


 

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