Dennis Gates got his fifth Infinity Stone on Sunday, picking up South Carolina big man Josh Gray to round out this year’s transfer class. I wrote about what Gray brings for the Tigers’ here.
Coming into the offseason, I said that Mizzou’s biggest needs out of the transfer portal were an experienced point guard, strength and size in the frontcourt and some depth that could bring a scoring punch. Gates said he thought that if they could get 85% of what they were looking for out of the portal, he expects to have a great team. And with Gray, Iowa transfer Tony Perkins, Northern Kentucky transfer Marques Warrick, Tennessee Martin transfer Jacob Crews and Duke transfer Mark Mitchell all now in the fold, I’d say just about all the boxes got checked.
There are still a handful of big names out there that haven’t found a landing spot yet who could still make their way to the SEC. But with Mizzou now done in the portal, I wanted to look at some of the newcomers making their way to the conference. Here are what I view as the best transfer additions for each SEC team so far:
Alabama: Clifford Omoruyi (Rutgers, 10.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 0.5 apg)
Omoruyi was one of the top bigs to hit the portal this offseason. The 6-foot-11 center ranked third in the country averaging 2.9 blocks per game. He’s also an elite rebounder, pulling down 9.4% of available offensive boards and 23.8% of available defensive rebounds. With graduate senior forward Grant Nelson returning to the Crimson Tide, Alabama will have a fairly sizeable frontcourt. The team now patiently waits to see if leading scorer Mark Sears keeps his name in the NBA Draft or returns for another year.
Arkansas: Johnell Davis (FAU, 18.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.9 apg)
Davis was a crucial piece of the Owls team that reached the Final Four in 2023 and will now be the focal point for head coach John Calipari’s new team. The Gary, Ind. native is a true three-level scorer, shooting 48.3% from the field, 41.4% from deep and 85.7% from the free throw line. Davis’ presence on the roster gives the Razorbacks a high floor despite starting over from scratch.
Auburn: J.P. Pegues (Furman, 18.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.8 apg)
After spending last season with freshman Aden Holloway at point guard, the Tigers brought in a much more experienced player to run the position in Pegues. The Nashville, Tenn. native is a volume scorer who helped Furman upset Virginia in the first round of the 2023 NCAA tournament. With Johni Broome back at Auburn for one last ride, the Tigers will need Pegues’ production to translate in the SEC.
Florida: Sam Alexis (Chattanooga, 10.8 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.8 apg)
With Tyrese Samuel graduating from the Gators, Alexis should be a plug-and-play forward at Florida. Despite only being a sophomore last season, Alexis ranked in the top 100 nationally in both offensive and defensive rebounding rates and was a prolific shot-blocker, coming up with 2.1 rejections per game. Alexis will need to find his role in the rotation with fellow bigs Micah Handlogten and Alex Condon.
Georgia: Tyrin Lawrence (Vanderbilt, 13.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 apg)
Lawrence can shoot you into a game or shoot you out of one. It felt like he got spread pretty thin with the Commodores last season, but man, he was a supernova player the year before that, shooting 50.2% from the field. The Bulldogs are hoping to get the ‘22-23 version of him.
Kentucky: Otega Oweh (Oklahoma, 11.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.0 apg)
It feels like Kentucky grabbed seven different guys who scored 11 points per game and shot 40% from distance at their old school. Oweh is the youngest of them, was the second-leading scorer for a Sooner team that won 20 games for the first time in five years, and will be leaned on heavily to create shots off the dribble. The Wildcats are going to be tough to defend.
LSU: Jordan Sears (Tennessee Martin, 21.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 4.5 apg)
This was a close call between Sears and Kansas State transfer Cam Carter. While Sears is less proven coming from a mid-major, I’ll give him the nod for putting up more efficient numbers while carrying a heavier load. The Dayton Beach, Fla. native made 43.2% of his triples on 5.5 attempts per game and sank 83.9% of his free throws on 6.0 attempts per game. The 5-foot-11 guard will have to adjust to playing against bigger competition in the SEC, but should make a major impact with the Tigers.
Mississippi State: Kanye Clary (Penn State, 16.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.8 apg)
The Bulldogs might have the shortest backcourt in the league if the 5-foot-11 Clary ends up starting alongside 5-foot-10 Josh Hubbard. But that duo would also be one of the most explosive in the conference. Hubbard established himself as somebody capable of carrying MSU while Tolu Smith was sidelined with injury last year. Partnering him with hot scorers like Clary, as well as Florida transfer Riley Kugel, should take some of the pressure off him.
Missouri: Mark Mitchell (Duke, 11.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.1 apg)
Would anyone be completely surprised if Mitchell ends up being the best transfer pickup in the conference? That’s the type of ceiling I think he has. He’d have to make a high percentage of his 3s, which is far from a given. But my gut feeling tells me he’s an awesome player who’s finally going to be given a big opportunity — kind of like what happened with Mark Sears last year. I’ve got big expectations.
Oklahoma: Duke Miles (High Point, 17.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.6 apg)
The Sooners lost their two leading scorers in Oweh and Javian McCollum, who transferred to Georgia Tech. Head coach Porter Moser will be relying on mostly mid-major portal additions to replace their production. Miles was the most prolific of the bunch, helping High Point earn a Big South regular season title. Oklahoma will need him to keep up the same type of numbers.
Ole Miss: Sean Pedulla (Virginia Tech, 16.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.6 apg)
There’s a lot to like about the Rebels’ crop of transfers — I had a difficult time settling on just one to write about. Pedulla gives Ole Miss some added experience in the backcourt and some insurance just in case Matthew Murrell decides to stay in the draft. Pedulla’s a solid scorer and distributor and an excellent rebounder for his position. His 3-point percentage has dropped each season of his career thus far but if he can get it to bounce back up, the Rebels will have a strong crop of guards to rotate through next year.
South Carolina: Nick Pringle (Alabama, 6.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
Pringle played an important role for the Crimson Tide during the team’s run to the Final Four and will now be tasked with filling in B.J. Mack’s shoes for the Gamecocks. Pringle began to break out of his shell in March, posting three double-doubles during the month, including a 16-point and 11-rebound performance against Clemson in the Elite Eight. South Carolina will hope for more of the same.
Tennessee: Darlinstone Dubar (Hofstra, 17.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.4 apg)
What a name, what a name. Tennessee’s in for a hard reset after head coach Rick Barnes’ deepest tourney run with the program, with point guard Zakai Zeigler remaining as the team’s only returning starter. Dubar will look to take on the mantle as the Volunteers’ go-to option on offense. The Charlotte native has good size for his position at 6-foot-8 and has been a lights-out shooter each of the past two seasons. He doesn’t have to be Dalton Knecht, but he does have to show he can keep getting buckets at the high-major level.
Texas: Tramon Mark (Arkansas, 16.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.8 apg)
Mark was one of the few bright spots for the Razorbacks last season. After spending his first three years of college ball at Houston, typically serving as a third or fourth wheel, Mark got his chance to be the No. 1 guy at Arkansas and produced well. The Longhorns will need the Dickinson, Texas native to keep up his career-high mark of 36.4% from outside to lead them into the postseason again.
Texas A&M: Pharrel Payne (Minnesota, 10.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.2 apg)
Payne was such a no-brainer add for the Aggies. Texas A&M has been top-35 in the country in offensive rebounding in each of the past four years under head coach Buzz Williams. One of Payne’s biggest strengths is, you guessed it, crashing the offensive glass, where he secured 12.6% of his team’s own misses last year, which ranked 67th among NCAA Division I players. Payne’s also mostly played behind Minnesota star center Dawson Garcia for most of his career and should have the opportunity for significantly more playing time with the Aggies.
Vanderbilt: A.J. Hoggard (Michigan State, 10.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.2 apg)
This was a coin flip between Hoggard and North Texas transfer Jason Edwards. While I think Edwards will end up being the team’s leading scorer, I think Hoggard’s going to be the more impactful player of the two. Hoggard is a proven playmaker at the high-major level with a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He accounted for 33.7% of the Spartans’ assists while on the court, which ranked 30th in the nation according to KenPom. I think there’s also a chance Hoggard will get more opportunities to find looks for himself with the Commodores. His move to Vandy is reminiscent of Ta’Lon Cooper’s transfer to South Carolina last year — a stable point guard can change a lot for a program.
Coming into the offseason, I said that Mizzou’s biggest needs out of the transfer portal were an experienced point guard, strength and size in the frontcourt and some depth that could bring a scoring punch. Gates said he thought that if they could get 85% of what they were looking for out of the portal, he expects to have a great team. And with Gray, Iowa transfer Tony Perkins, Northern Kentucky transfer Marques Warrick, Tennessee Martin transfer Jacob Crews and Duke transfer Mark Mitchell all now in the fold, I’d say just about all the boxes got checked.
There are still a handful of big names out there that haven’t found a landing spot yet who could still make their way to the SEC. But with Mizzou now done in the portal, I wanted to look at some of the newcomers making their way to the conference. Here are what I view as the best transfer additions for each SEC team so far:
Alabama: Clifford Omoruyi (Rutgers, 10.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 0.5 apg)
Omoruyi was one of the top bigs to hit the portal this offseason. The 6-foot-11 center ranked third in the country averaging 2.9 blocks per game. He’s also an elite rebounder, pulling down 9.4% of available offensive boards and 23.8% of available defensive rebounds. With graduate senior forward Grant Nelson returning to the Crimson Tide, Alabama will have a fairly sizeable frontcourt. The team now patiently waits to see if leading scorer Mark Sears keeps his name in the NBA Draft or returns for another year.
Arkansas: Johnell Davis (FAU, 18.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.9 apg)
Davis was a crucial piece of the Owls team that reached the Final Four in 2023 and will now be the focal point for head coach John Calipari’s new team. The Gary, Ind. native is a true three-level scorer, shooting 48.3% from the field, 41.4% from deep and 85.7% from the free throw line. Davis’ presence on the roster gives the Razorbacks a high floor despite starting over from scratch.
Auburn: J.P. Pegues (Furman, 18.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.8 apg)
After spending last season with freshman Aden Holloway at point guard, the Tigers brought in a much more experienced player to run the position in Pegues. The Nashville, Tenn. native is a volume scorer who helped Furman upset Virginia in the first round of the 2023 NCAA tournament. With Johni Broome back at Auburn for one last ride, the Tigers will need Pegues’ production to translate in the SEC.
Florida: Sam Alexis (Chattanooga, 10.8 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.8 apg)
With Tyrese Samuel graduating from the Gators, Alexis should be a plug-and-play forward at Florida. Despite only being a sophomore last season, Alexis ranked in the top 100 nationally in both offensive and defensive rebounding rates and was a prolific shot-blocker, coming up with 2.1 rejections per game. Alexis will need to find his role in the rotation with fellow bigs Micah Handlogten and Alex Condon.
Georgia: Tyrin Lawrence (Vanderbilt, 13.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 apg)
Lawrence can shoot you into a game or shoot you out of one. It felt like he got spread pretty thin with the Commodores last season, but man, he was a supernova player the year before that, shooting 50.2% from the field. The Bulldogs are hoping to get the ‘22-23 version of him.
Kentucky: Otega Oweh (Oklahoma, 11.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.0 apg)
It feels like Kentucky grabbed seven different guys who scored 11 points per game and shot 40% from distance at their old school. Oweh is the youngest of them, was the second-leading scorer for a Sooner team that won 20 games for the first time in five years, and will be leaned on heavily to create shots off the dribble. The Wildcats are going to be tough to defend.
LSU: Jordan Sears (Tennessee Martin, 21.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 4.5 apg)
This was a close call between Sears and Kansas State transfer Cam Carter. While Sears is less proven coming from a mid-major, I’ll give him the nod for putting up more efficient numbers while carrying a heavier load. The Dayton Beach, Fla. native made 43.2% of his triples on 5.5 attempts per game and sank 83.9% of his free throws on 6.0 attempts per game. The 5-foot-11 guard will have to adjust to playing against bigger competition in the SEC, but should make a major impact with the Tigers.
Mississippi State: Kanye Clary (Penn State, 16.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.8 apg)
The Bulldogs might have the shortest backcourt in the league if the 5-foot-11 Clary ends up starting alongside 5-foot-10 Josh Hubbard. But that duo would also be one of the most explosive in the conference. Hubbard established himself as somebody capable of carrying MSU while Tolu Smith was sidelined with injury last year. Partnering him with hot scorers like Clary, as well as Florida transfer Riley Kugel, should take some of the pressure off him.
Missouri: Mark Mitchell (Duke, 11.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.1 apg)
Would anyone be completely surprised if Mitchell ends up being the best transfer pickup in the conference? That’s the type of ceiling I think he has. He’d have to make a high percentage of his 3s, which is far from a given. But my gut feeling tells me he’s an awesome player who’s finally going to be given a big opportunity — kind of like what happened with Mark Sears last year. I’ve got big expectations.
Oklahoma: Duke Miles (High Point, 17.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.6 apg)
The Sooners lost their two leading scorers in Oweh and Javian McCollum, who transferred to Georgia Tech. Head coach Porter Moser will be relying on mostly mid-major portal additions to replace their production. Miles was the most prolific of the bunch, helping High Point earn a Big South regular season title. Oklahoma will need him to keep up the same type of numbers.
Ole Miss: Sean Pedulla (Virginia Tech, 16.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.6 apg)
There’s a lot to like about the Rebels’ crop of transfers — I had a difficult time settling on just one to write about. Pedulla gives Ole Miss some added experience in the backcourt and some insurance just in case Matthew Murrell decides to stay in the draft. Pedulla’s a solid scorer and distributor and an excellent rebounder for his position. His 3-point percentage has dropped each season of his career thus far but if he can get it to bounce back up, the Rebels will have a strong crop of guards to rotate through next year.
South Carolina: Nick Pringle (Alabama, 6.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
Pringle played an important role for the Crimson Tide during the team’s run to the Final Four and will now be tasked with filling in B.J. Mack’s shoes for the Gamecocks. Pringle began to break out of his shell in March, posting three double-doubles during the month, including a 16-point and 11-rebound performance against Clemson in the Elite Eight. South Carolina will hope for more of the same.
Tennessee: Darlinstone Dubar (Hofstra, 17.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.4 apg)
What a name, what a name. Tennessee’s in for a hard reset after head coach Rick Barnes’ deepest tourney run with the program, with point guard Zakai Zeigler remaining as the team’s only returning starter. Dubar will look to take on the mantle as the Volunteers’ go-to option on offense. The Charlotte native has good size for his position at 6-foot-8 and has been a lights-out shooter each of the past two seasons. He doesn’t have to be Dalton Knecht, but he does have to show he can keep getting buckets at the high-major level.
Texas: Tramon Mark (Arkansas, 16.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.8 apg)
Mark was one of the few bright spots for the Razorbacks last season. After spending his first three years of college ball at Houston, typically serving as a third or fourth wheel, Mark got his chance to be the No. 1 guy at Arkansas and produced well. The Longhorns will need the Dickinson, Texas native to keep up his career-high mark of 36.4% from outside to lead them into the postseason again.
Texas A&M: Pharrel Payne (Minnesota, 10.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.2 apg)
Payne was such a no-brainer add for the Aggies. Texas A&M has been top-35 in the country in offensive rebounding in each of the past four years under head coach Buzz Williams. One of Payne’s biggest strengths is, you guessed it, crashing the offensive glass, where he secured 12.6% of his team’s own misses last year, which ranked 67th among NCAA Division I players. Payne’s also mostly played behind Minnesota star center Dawson Garcia for most of his career and should have the opportunity for significantly more playing time with the Aggies.
Vanderbilt: A.J. Hoggard (Michigan State, 10.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.2 apg)
This was a coin flip between Hoggard and North Texas transfer Jason Edwards. While I think Edwards will end up being the team’s leading scorer, I think Hoggard’s going to be the more impactful player of the two. Hoggard is a proven playmaker at the high-major level with a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He accounted for 33.7% of the Spartans’ assists while on the court, which ranked 30th in the nation according to KenPom. I think there’s also a chance Hoggard will get more opportunities to find looks for himself with the Commodores. His move to Vandy is reminiscent of Ta’Lon Cooper’s transfer to South Carolina last year — a stable point guard can change a lot for a program.
