Knew that was coming. Tess Heal has the talent to play at a much higher level program and conference.
A couple reach guys (both from DC, by coincidence) that would be worth reaching out to, if likely a bit beyond SCU:
- Malick Mack (Frosh PG from Harvard) – Very PJ Pipes-like in that he’s a small guard with a great handle and some great scoring potential. He’s turnover prone, but mitigates it with a high number of assists. He was also only a freshman, so I would guess that he can develop better ball security with maturity. I am guessing that Mack is listening to the siren song of high major programs, but he would be a massive coup for Santa Clara, so they may as well see if he takes the call.
- Rowan Brumbaugh (Frosh PG from Georgetown) – Another talented PG. Brumbaugh is less of a skilled scorer than Mack and seems to be effective at doing whatever Georgetown (admittedly, a bad BE team) needed from him in the backcourt. He can score, dish out assists, and get steals. His next school will be his third even though he has only played one season (redshirted at Texas and transferred to Georgetown without ever seeing the floor). He will also get a good number of high major programs calling, but he might be ready to try a program that will invest in him for more than a season.
FYI: BartTorvik has a sortable Transfer Portal database using his player evaluation metrics. It’s helpful to see who possible SCU targets might be.
Or a guy a little more reachable for SCU:
- Conor Enright (Soph PG from Drake) – Enright is a small, very reliable guard. He had a 2.4 assist/TO ratio last season and averaged one steal per game. Drake was markedly better with Enright on the floor, given his ability to set others up. He isn’t a big scorer but hits a very good 44% from three. I think he might be the type of player that gets calls from Big 10 schools, but is ultimately low enough on their lists that a team like SCU could convince him to come west.
EDIT: Drake’s coach, Devries, was hired by West Virginia, so Enright might be trying to follow his former coach.
No point guards below 6 feet and no guards “turnover prone” please
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agreed - the TO prone characteristic is a deal-breaker IMO
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https://x.com/verbalcommits/status/1772720294353944716?s=46&t=xEUmr_7uuY2KI9DKH3UukA
st. mary’s in the portal
Cam has an old AAU teammate Joseph Bensley who has been playing well at Miami and is also a Junior, like Cam. He has entered the portal. He is an impressive facilitator and great defender. SCU could use a chippy guy like him!
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Another San Francisco player hits a portal
https://x.com/verbalcommits/status/1772758312318329240?s=46&t=xEUmr_7uuY2KI9DKH3UukA
A walk-on, I believe. Not to discount the role of walk-ons. SMC has had a run of great walk-ons, continuing with Luke Barrett. But I don’t think this is one that USF will feel where it hurts.
Interesting! Looks like he averaged 31 minutes/game, shot 41.2% overall, 37.4% from 3-pt line, 45.8% from inside the arc, and nearly 80% from the FT line:
Bensley Joseph 31 26 972 31 106 257 .412 52 139 .374 38 48 .792
Averaged 9.6 pts/game this year, only 2.2 TO/game (not bad for 31 min/game) with 3.4 assists/game
listed at 6’2" 196lbs
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Ajayi is a significant get for Gonzaga IMO.
Watson is out of eligibility, Ajayi sort of replaces what Watson provides. Ajayi is shorter and more of a pure 3, Watson is a 4 or a 3. Ajayi is probably a little better perimeter shooter and scorer but maybe not the defender that Watson is.
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And remember that Ike has two more years of eligibility if he wants them. My eyes went a bit wide when I read that.
Wait, WHAT 
That totally caught me off guard…
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Yep. He is a great kid too. Really nice personality - would fit in well. But need to give his mom a holler and see why he is departing and what he might be looking for. Be nice to see he and Cam have a teammate “reunion”.
Think he may be committing to St John’s.
The rich get richer -
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Another usf player in the portal
https://x.com/verbalcommits/status/1773074708470153260?s=46&t=xEUmr_7uuY2KI9DKH3UukA
With no penalty (sit out 1 season as it used to be) for transferring, D1 teams outside of the top 100 ranked schools are becoming nothing more than D-league-like development farms for the power programs.
I’m not opining on whether players should be able to transfer without penalty, just making an observation.
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Gaels thought that portal will not affect them. They were wrong
https://x.com/verbalcommits/status/1773091266445627668?s=46&t=xEUmr_7uuY2KI9DKH3UukA
Oof that is a BIG loss. Jefferson is a special player.