In college basketball’s new Wild Wild West, the trick is to find the ‘right’ players

Two words to remember: Roster construction.

Now more than ever. That’s true for Kentucky’s John Calipari and every other coach in this new Wild Wild West world of college basketball free agency. Last Thursday the NCAA finally formally approved putting the one-time transfer waiver for all sports into the bylaws. Once ratified by the Division I Board of Directors, all student-athletes are allowed to switch schools once in their collegiate career without having to sit for a season, which was the previous stipulation.

Anticipation of the rule change is the reason the transfer portal is tipping over. In college hoops alone, as of Friday, more than 1,300 names threatened to blow up the NCAA database that tracks athletes who have voiced their intention to transfer.

Meanwhile, the SEC, the conference where “it just means more,” is adding more.

Arkansas’ Eric Musselman is proving master of the movers. Chris Lykes of Miami, Stanley Umude of South Dakota, Kamani Johnson of Little Rock and Au’Diese Toney of Pittsburgh have signed on to be Razorbacks. The 6-foot-6 Umude averaged 21.6 points per game last season. Despite being just 5-7, Lykes averaged nearly 16 points for the Hurricanes.

Or look a Florida, where Mike White has switched out four players (Ques Glover, Omar Payne, Osayi Osifo and Noah Locke) for Brandon McKissic of Kansas City, CJ Felder of Boston College, Myreon Jones of Penn State and Phlandrous Fleming of Charleston Southern. Jones led Penn State in scoring last year. Fleming averaged 20.1 points.

And don’t forget Alabama where the defending SEC champs have picked up Nimari Burnett from Texas Tech and Noah Gurley of Furman, who averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Nor should we neglect to point out that North Carolina’s Garrison Brooks (Mississippi State) and Walker Kessler (Auburn) will be playing in the SEC next year. Missouri’s Xavier Pinson has relocated to LSU. Auburn’s Justin Powell is now at Tennessee. Minnesota 7-footer Liam Robbins has signed on with Vanderbilt. EKU’s Wendell Green has moved to Auburn.

Over at the Craft Center, Calipari added former West Virginia strongman Oscar Tshiebwe during the season and sleek Davidson guard Kellan Grady after the final horn. And from all indications, Calipari is not yet done, not when there are so many names still left in the portal, with more hopping on board every day.

The copycat factor is in full force. Baylor won the national title with transfers MaCio Teague (UNC Asheville), Davion Mitchell (Auburn) and Adam Flagler (Presbyterian) among its top five scorers. UCLA’s Johnny Juzang (Kentucky) was the tourney’s leading scorer. Quentin Grimes (Kansas) led Houston to the Final Four.

In the SEC, Alabama added Jahvon Quinerly from Villanova and Jordan Bruner from Yale to go along with juco transfer Keon Ellis and reached the Sweet 16. “Sometimes,” said Oats last week, “it makes sense to replace some guys with some veteran guys who have some college experience.”

There are no guarantees, of course, Kentucky being the 2020-21 example. Calipari added Olivier Sarr from Wake Forest and Davion Mintz from Creighton to go with a No. 1-ranked recruiting class. With the head coach a proven master craftsman at fitting talent together, hopes where high. Only this time, for whatever reason, the pieces of the puzzle never fit. Result: A 9-16 record and a seat on the den sofa for March Madness.

More of a finesse player with obvious skills, Sarr didn’t fill UK’s hole down low. Mintz was the season’s most consistent Wildcat, but he wasn’t the point guard Calipari needs to make his offense go. Little wonder the Kentucky coach is reportedly still on the lookout for a backcourt boost for next season.

If the Cats serve as a cautionary tale, they do so for a reason.

“There are some high major schools who could have done a better job of evaluating the ‘names’ high on the recruiting lists recently,” ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla tweeted this week about programs in general. “Now they are doing the same thing with the transfer portal. Stats do not = winning culture.”

Transfer portal translation: Every coach wants to add another good player. It’s far better to add the right player.

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