Three of the top 20 selections in the 2024 NBA Draft were players who transferred in 2023 to new college basketball programs and thrived. Kel’El Ware, Dalton Knecht and Jaylon Tyson each parlayed the success they found after hitting the portal to solidify themselves as professional prospects and show how an extra year of seasoning in the right system can do wonders for some college players.
Ware went from Oregon to Indiana, earned all-conference honors and wound up with the Miami Heat as the No. 15 pick. Knecht transferred from Northern Colorado to Tennessee, turned in an All-American campaign and was taken No. 17 by the Los Angeles Lakers. Tyson transferred from Texas Tech to Cal, where he shined before the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted him No. 20 overall.
The trio stand out as prime examples of the potential benefits available to players in the mass-transfer era. Instead of being forced to sit out a season after transferring or to remain in a program where their development may have been stunted, all three found quick success in new systems that benefited their careers.
So, as the 2024-25 college basketball season creeps closer, who are the transfers from the 2024 cycle that will be first-round picks in 2025? Our writers weighed in for this week’s Dribble Handoff.
Kel’El Ware was a five-star prospect in the Class of 2022 who only averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game as a freshman at Oregon. After that, he transferred to the Big Ten. Last month, he was the 15th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Yes, I believe Bradshaw could have a similar path to professional basketball. The 7-foot-2 center was ranked fifth in the Class of 2023, according to 247Sports, before struggling as a freshman at Kentucky after suffering a broken foot in March 2023 that cost him much of the first month of the season. When John Calipari left UK for Arkansas, Bradshaw left UK for Ohio State, where he’ll likely…
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