John Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas this offseason and proved he’s still one of the nation’s elite recruiters. After hiring Caliapri, the Razorbacks landed commitments from three high school prospects and another trio of transfers and have skyrocketed to No. 3 in the overall class rankings. Mark Pope replaced Calipari in Lexington and is slowly but surely reloading the Wildcats’ roster.
It’s been a busy offseason for Duke and UNC, too. The Blue Devils have lost nine players from last season’s Elite Eight roster this offseason but have signed two under-the-radar transfers in addition to the nation’s top high school recruiting class. The Tar Heels look like a national championship contender after bringing in an elite recruiting class and one of the portal’s premier shooters.
RELATED: Final 2024 transfer portal rankings; Top 150 full of impact starters, future college basketball stars.
Here are early roster assessments for Arkansas, Kentucky, Duke, UConn and UNC:
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Transfer portal needs for college basketball’s blue blood programs
Needs for blue blood programs like North Carolina, Duke and, of course, back-to-back national champion UConn.
ISAAC TROTTERCollege basketball’s transfer portal is a week away from mercifully closing (there are over 1,800 players in it), but the action is really just heating up as commitment dominos begin to fall and transfer classes take shape.
While players must go through the formal process of entering the portal before the May 1 cutoff, they are free to take their decision well past that date. The phrase “We Sleep in May” does not apply to college basketball coaches. And there’s plenty of work for most of them to still do.
Version 3.0 of my team needs for every Power 6 team is live now on CBSSports.com, but here’s what each blue blood — as I defined them last year — must prioritize.
Duke
Priority: Downhill guard
Tyrese Proctor only took 43 shots at the rim last year. Caleb Foster (36 shots at the rim) also didn’t get there often. After Jeremy Roach’s exit, Proctor and Foster are set to be the centerpieces of Duke’s backcourt. Jon Scheyer has to find a third guard who has a slightly different skillset than his returning duo to make this Duke roster more foolproof. Duke has to maximize the one year of Cooper Flagg.
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