Ranking the best available men’s college basketball transfers and high school recruits for 2022-23--The Athletic
14. K.J. Williams | 6-10 big | graduate | Murray State
The Ohio Valley Player of the Year this past season, Williams joined wing Tevin Brown and guard Justice Hill
to form the nucleus of a 31-3 Murray State team that went to the Round
of 32. Given the accolades, though, Williams was the centerpiece. He is
an inside-out big who can punish smaller players on the block just as
easily as he can pick-and-pop from distance. He hit just 30.4 percent
from 3 this year, but over his career he’s made 35 percent of his 219
attempts. Because of that inside-out skill, he’s a fit almost anywhere
at the collegiate level. He’s definitely more offense-first than
defense, but he averaged 18 points and eight rebounds and is good enough
on offense and versatile enough to play at the high-major level as a
difference-maker. His coach at Murray State, Matt McMahon, is now the
LSU head coach, so that could be a real fit.
19. Terry Roberts | 6-3 guard | senior | Bradley
Roberts was the Missouri Valley’s Newcomer of the Year this past
season, a first-team all-conference player for Bradley who is lightning
in a bottle offensively. He’s electric with the ball, capable of
creating something out of nothing on offense in a flash. His handle is
terrific, and he’s an explosive athlete who can get where he needs to go
out of isolations. He averaged nearly 15 points, five rebounds and four
assists this year, and hit 34 percent from 3 on a steady diet of tough
pull-up shots. He makes some really impressive live-dribble passing
reads, but the critical part of his game that he’s going to have to
clean up will be turning it over. His assist-to-turnover ratio was very
close to the 1-to-1 mark, and he makes some choices both in terms of
shot selection and distribution that will worry high-major coaches. But
above all, this is a high-major athlete at the guard spot with enough
size to not be a liability on defense and enough handle to genuinely
break down opposing teams. He has a real shot to be a starter.
22. Noah Carter | 6-7 forward | junior | Northern Iowa
Carter is one of the higher IQ players in the portal, a big-bodied,
6-foot-7, undersized forward who makes it work with pure feel for the
game. He averaged 15 points and four rebounds in a slow Northern Iowa
system, doing a little bit of everything. But above all, Carter just
never really stops moving. He’s constantly searching for little creases
and openings in the defense, hunting for ways to leverage his opponent
to use his strength at 230 pounds to seal his man away from the rim. He
was second-team All-Missouri Valley this year, and moves people around
at his position pretty easily. High-major teams recruiting Carter will
need to worry a bit about his footspeed and ability to defend against
the most athletic guards. On top of that, Carter did only hit 29 percent
from 3 this season, but his touch is excellent around the rim and from
the foul line, and gives reason to believe that he has room for growth
there. But Carter is a potential high-major starter, albeit with a bit
of downside if the footspeed doesn’t totally translate.
24. Antonio Reeves | 6-5 wing | senior | Illinois State
If you’re looking for scoring, scoring, and more scoring, Reeves
might be the perfect player for you. He averaged 20.1 points per game in
the Missouri Valley this year on his way to winning second-team
all-conference honors as well as the league’s Most Improved Player
award. Above all, he’s a pull-up maestro, capable of getting his shot
from wherever on the floor at just about any time. He finished second in
the conference behind Isiaih Mosley
from Missouri State in scoring, hitting pull-up jumpers at a 51.4
effective field goal percentage, a very high number given his volume of
shots. Among the 227 players nationally to take at least 100 pull-up
jumpers, Reeves finished 19th in his efficiency in terms of making them,
per Synergy. And yet, there’s a reason he only made second-team
all-league despite those numbers. The rest of his game is a real work in
progress. He has a long way to go as a passer and playmaker for others,
and his defense leaves something to be desired. There is some question
how scalable his game is to high-major situations where he’s just a
piece of the puzzle. Still, my bet is a good high-major takes a shot on
him and sees if those parts of his game can improve. The scoring is
lethal enough to take such an informed bet.
29. Tyreke Key | 6-3 guard | senior | Indiana State
Key missed this entire season at Indiana State following shoulder
surgery, but he is a multi-time first-team All-Missouri Valley
Conference player who is about as terrific a scorer as you’ll find at
that level. He’s very polished and poised, a ground-bound player for the
most part who gets by with terrific footwork and strength to bump guys
off their spot. Indiana State back under Greg Lansing would even use him
as a pseudo-post-up/mid-post option where he could use those drop steps
and spin moves to score. Plus, prior to the shoulder injury he could
really step away and knock down shots. That percentage took a bit of a
dive in his senior season in 2021, but the hope is that he can get back
to the level he was at previously, where there were few more efficient
high-volume scorers at the high mid-major level. There are some
questions here with him returning from injury, which is why he falls
below guys like Reeves and Carter from the Missouri Valley. But at his
best, he’s very much in their group and maybe even better.
--
The Pantagraph
Judson returns to ISU as final member of Pedon's first coaching staff--
The Vidette
UNI Notebook: Women’s Hoops adds Division II transfer from Bemidji State--
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Green becomes latest Valpo commit--
The Victory Bell
Valpo Basketball Welcomes Quinton Green--
valpoathletics.com
