Two Unexpected Transfers in the College Basketball World + A Bonus Podcast

It’s rare to hear about transfers this late in the college basketball offseason, but this week we’ve had two big names announce they would be transferring. It’s two very different scenarios but both will absolutely have an impact this season.

First is the grad transfer yesterday. Cal’s Jordan Matthews, a career 12 ppg and 41% three-point shooter announced he is seeking a graduate transfer, which is unusual to announce just a couple hours from June. This is a massive blow for the Golden Bears, who were expected to contend as a top-4 team in the Pac-12 led by Matthews, Ivan Rabb and Jabari Bird. Now with Matthews leaving, Ivan Rabb has every right to be incredibly pissed off.

Rabb, currently listed as the No. 13 prospect for next year’s NBA Draft on DraftExpress, passed up a chance to be a top-15 or 20 pick this year. Losing Matthews will dramatically change how teams guard Rabb and Cal. With Matthews on the floor, his defender couldn’t double Rabb in the post because of his 3-point shooting. Now, losing that and a scorer, Rabb will face more double teams One thing Rabb somewhat struggled with – and I use that term loosely – is passing out of the post. He’ll be forced to do that more this season. On top of that with no Matthews it just means more eyes are on Rabb, looking for weaknesses and a reason to not take him in the top-10 of next year’s draft. Can Rabb really trust Cuonzo Martin to come up with an offensive gameplan to let him flourish?

The other thing the Matthews departure does is free up the scholarship to give to Marcus Lee. As you remember from last week’s post I said that Lee would likely end up at Cal and now it’s a no-brainer with the scholarship available. Does it soften the blow for Bears fans? A little bit, but considering Lee will be playing in 2017-18 and not this season, it doesn’t make them happy.

So where does Matthews go from here? The early rumor is Gonzaga is a favorite and if that happens, the Bulldogs are a lock to be a preseason top-10 pick, with likely the best backcourt in America. Gonzaga already has transfers Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington) and Jonathan Williams (Missouri) eligible for this year. Adding Matthews and getting back Karnowski in the middle of the paint, makes Gonzaga one of the best teams in the country.

The other transfer this week that was shocking is Malik Newman from Mississippi State. It’s shocking in the sense that everyone expected him to be a one-and-done player to the NBA. Newman chose Mississippi State over Kentucky and was a top-10 prospect and known as a dynamic scorer. However, injuries and a poor shooting year ruined his time at Mississippi State as the Bulldogs struggled to get wins under Ben Howland. He becomes the first top-10 recruit to transfer since Khem Birch left Pitt for UNLV.

Newman will have to sit out a year, but where he goes will be something to watch. He can’t go to an SEC school, so rule out Kentucky. Does someone like Kansas go after him? Personally, I think Miami would be the right fit as Jim Larranaga has had a ton of success with transfers, his system works for a guard like Newman and Newman gets to play in the ACC. Hell, Shane Larkin became a first-round pick after transferring to Miami and Newman has more talent than Larkin.

Podcast: Recorded with my cohost Terrence Payne formerly of NBC and Fox Sports to talk about the transfers and more fallout from the NBA withdraw day. Check it out here: