As important as freshmen are to Duke and Kentucky, for many teams transfers are the new faces who make the biggest impact. In October, Luke Winn and I projected the top 100 D1 transfers in the Top 11 conferences for SI. I thought with college basketball entering a quiet week (finals at many schools) that this was a good time to see how those various transfers are doing so far.

It is still way too early to draw statistical conclusions about anyone. Miami FL’s Angel Rodriguez shows a nice example of why we don’t want to look at small samples. At his best, he was the guard making clutch threes on the road at Florida to steal the victory. At his worst, he was 2 of 15 in a home loss to Green Bay. With small samples and vastly different schedules, it is way too early to draw a firm conclusion about who deserves all-conference honors.

That said, I still like looking through the stats because they remind us which transfers are being relied on heavily (playing 30+ minutes per game) and which transfers are failing to earn their coach’s trust. To that end, I present a new list of 100 transfers in the top 11 conferences.

Notes: Antoine Mason (Niagara to Auburn), Joe Coleman (Minnesota to Saint Mary’s), Ibby Djimde (Illinios to Southern Illinois) and Ian Chiles (IUPUI to Tennessee) have all been out early due to injuries, so I am not going to show their stats. Johnny Zuppardo (Arkansas St. to Mississippi St.) is out for the year. Christophe Varidel (Florida Gulf Coast to Alabama) has also retired from basketball since our SI column went live.

The following D1 transfers are likely to be available at the semester break: Alex Murphy (Duke to Florida), Jesse Morgan (Massachusetts to Temple), Devin Coleman (Clemson to Temple), Jameel McKay (Marquette to Iowa St.), Luke Fischer (Indiana to Marquette), Eric McClellan (Vanderbilt to Gonzaga), Jamal Aytes (UNLV to BYU), Chier Ajou (Northwestern to Seton Hall), and Savon Goodman (UNLV to Arizona St.). Side note: there are other important players who may become eligible at the semester break who are not D1 transfers, notably SMU’s Markus Kennedy, Auburn’s Trayvon Reed, and Miami FL’s Ivan Cruz-Uceda. Fred Richardson (Oregon to Colorado St.) is a D1 transfer who hasn’t been playing due to an early season suspension.

You would think without all these players, I would have trouble finding 100 D1 transfers in the Top 11 conferences, but I did not. There were a few players who surprised me by becoming eligible (notably TayShawn Thomas, Danuel House, and Ben Emelogu), and a few players who have been pleasant surprises (Butler’s Austin Etherington has been able to play from the start of the year despite his summer foot injury.) Thus I still have a full list of 100. All stats are through Saturday’s games.

MPG = Minutes Per Game, Pct Poss = Percentage of Possession’s used when on the floor.

Barely Contributing (17 players)

Player

New Team

Prev Team

MPG

Pct Poss

Ortg

PPG

Prev. PPG

Dominic Woodson

Tennessee

Memphis

12

19

94

3.5

2.5

Quevyn Winters

Washington

Duquesne

11.8

25

86

4.7

9.6

Abdel Nader

Iowa St.

N. Illinois

11.8

21

76

3.5

13.1

Sheldon Jeter

Pittsburgh

Vanderbilt

11.4

16

129

4.3

5.5

Deuce Bello

Missouri

Baylor

10.6

15

91

3.1

2.4

Calvin Godfrey

Memphis

Southern

9.8

19

94

2

13.1

Junior Lomomba

Providence

Cleveland St.

9.5

8

93

1.4

5.9

Antwan Scott

Colorado St.

Grambling St.

8.2

16

85

1.2

15.7

Brandon Perry

San Diego

CS North.

8.2

27

80

3.2

6.3

Montray Clemons

San Francisco

DePaul

8

22

99

3

1.3

Ryan Bass

Dayton

Oakland

6

17

76

1.3

9.3

Jeremiah Kreisberg

Northwestern

Yale

5.4

12

71

0.4

5.6

Uche Ofoegbu

San Francisco

SMU

4.8

21

89

1.6

0.6

Keaton Miles

Arkansas

West Virginia

4.5

10

68

0.3

2.7

Branden Bolden

Kansas St.

Georgetown

4.2

31

56

1.2

0.0

Keith Armstrong

East Carolina

Robert Morris

3.2

0

0

0.5

0.9

Hunter Mickelson

Kansas

Arkansas

3.2

19

127

1.5

5.4

Dominic Woodson played early in the season for Tennessee but he is now sitting out until he gets his academic situation in order. Even without Woodson, Tennessee picked up an impressive win over Kansas St. this weekend.

Were it not for the fact that Kansas freshman Kelly Oubre is barely playing, the fact that Hunter Mickelson is barely playing would probably be a bigger headline. Mickelson, once a Top 100 recruit, is playing less than expected for his second straight team.

Shelton Jeter is probably the next biggest name on this list. He was expected to be an important contributor for Pittsburgh, and he does appear to be a natural scorer. But after the team’s loss at Indiana, he didn’t play in this weekend game against Duquesne. The message boards speculate that Jeter’s defense may have kept him out of the lineup, and head coach Jamie Dixon certainly wants to clean up that area of his team’s play.

I thought after Rodney Bullock went down for Providence, that Junior Lomomba might play a larger role for the Friars, but Providence has often gone with a two-PG lineup this season.

Rotation Player, No Clear Role (25 players):

Player

Team

Prev Team

MPG

Pct Poss

Ortg

PPG

Prev PPG

Richaud Pack

Maryland

NC A&T

27.1

16

119

8.6

17.0

Aaron Brown

Saint Joseph's

West Virginia

24.1

21

107

10.1

1.2

Remy Abell

Xavier

Indiana

24.1

16

130

8.9

4.0

Trey Zeigler

TCU

Pittsburgh

22.8

20

98

6.6

4.4

Rodney Purvis

Connecticut

NC State

22.5

22

80

7

8.3

Cleon Roberts

La Salle

Georgia Southern

22.1

17

101

6.2

8.7

Jabarie Hinds

Massachusetts

West Virginia

21.9

21

94

8.5

7.4

Dimitri Batten

Boston College

Old Dominion

21.1

16

98

6.6

11.0

Bishop Daniels

Rutgers

Miami FL

20

22

73

5.6

5.0

Ben Emelogu

SMU

Virginia Tech

19.4

14

85

3.6

10.5

Justin Edwards

Kansas St.

Maine

19

22

89

5.8

16.8

Tiel Daniels

Colorado St.

Southern Illinois

18.4

16

89

3.1

7.7

Ricky Kreklow

Creighton

California

18.4

18

99

5.5

5.5

Justin Martin

SMU

Xavier

17

21

115

7.5

11.7

Angelo Chol

San Diego St.

Arizona

16.7

24

97

6.6

1.9

Terence Smith

Mississippi

Tenn. Martin

16.6

12

73

2.1

14.6

Kedren Johnson

Memphis

Vanderbilt

16.4

19

66

3

13.5

Dwight Tarwater

California

Cornell

16.3

13

107

4.3

7.1

Mike Shaw

Bradley

Illinois

16.2

18

70

3.4

0.9

Darius Leonard

Wake Forest

Campbell

15.8

16

108

5.1

10.2

Joe Thomas

Miami FL

Niagara

15.2

9

106

1.6

3.4

Austin Etherington

Butler

Indiana

15.1

13

115

4.2

2.0

Julian Royal

George Mason

Georgia Tech

13.4

23

68

3.6

1.7

Anthony Lee

Ohio St.

Temple

13.4

17

112

5

13.6

Derrell Robertson

San Francisco

DePaul

12.1

16

69

1.9

1.9

Bishop Daniels is hurt, Justin Martin has been hurt, and Rodney Purvis has been battling injuries as well. Those players may still play a bigger role as the season progresses.

Some of the players on this list were never expected to be huge contributors. Joe Thomas has filled in admirably with Ivan Cruz-Uceda still out for Miami FL, but he isn’t a long-term starter.

But there are other names on this list that I expected to produce more. I’m shocked how little playing time Ohio St.’s Anthony Lee has received this season. In our SI projections, we had Marc Loving as a break-out player, and we thought that would limit Lee’s minutes. But Lee is playing even less than we guessed.

Josh Pastner is one of the worst player development coaches in my database. He wins by recruiting, not by developing players. But for Kedren Johnson to go from being an effective scorer at Vanderbilt to a player who is averaging 3 points per game with a paltry 15 percent assist rate is shocking.

I thought Terrence Smith might be a sleeper for Mississippi as he was an outstanding three point shooter and scorer with his former team. But I have a lot of problems with Mississippi’s lineup. Too many players have been playing rotation-level minutes, and it isn’t clear that the team knows who should be taking the shots right now.

Kansas St. is another team that has been a big disappointment. I thought  Justin Edwards and Stephen Hurt were going to be valuable contributors, and that was why I was so high on Kansas St. on the preseason. But even though Edwards usage has fallen with his new team, his efficiency has not gotten any better.

Finally, in my Terrapins Watch Item: Maryland’s Richaud Pack hasn’t been an elite shooter, assist man, or scorer so far, but with Evan Smotrycz and Dez Wells injured, it has been invaluable to have a player that knows where to be offensively and defensively.

Relishing the role of PG (10 players)

Every one of these players has an assist rate over 20%:

Player

Team

Prev Team

MPG

Pct Poss

Ortg

PPG

Prev PPG

Keith Shamburger

Missouri

Hawaii

32.1

16

102

7.9

9.3

Cody Doolin

UNLV

San Francisco

32.1

12

133

7.1

13.0

Jordan Baker

San Jose St.

Pepperdine

32

27

83

11

11.4

Anthony Hickey

Oklahoma St.

LSU

26

18

107

7.9

8.4

KC Ross Miller

Auburn

New Mexico St.

23.6

25

79

7.4

8.3

Josh Heath

Georgia Tech

South Florida

23.4

17

119

6.5

2.6

Mislav Brzoja

Evansville

Villanova

23.1

25

118

10.6

0.1

Ahmad Starks

Illinois

Oregon St.

23

19

112

8.1

10.4

Jonathan Octeus

Purdue

Colorado St.

22.9

17

117

6.8

13.4

John Gillon

Colorado St.

Ark.- Little Rock

15.9

22

147

8.4

10.6

I wasn’t sure whether Jonathan Octeus could be a full-time PG, as his assist rate was just 12% and 14% the last two years at Colorado St., but his assist rate is 24% this season for Purdue.

Josh Heath is the player who has surprised me the most in this group. He did not look ready to play last year as a freshman at South Florida, but he appears to have turned the corner this off-season. His 6 for 6 night against Northwestern was a big difference-maker in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Three Point Specialists (8 Players)

Player

Team

Prev Team

MPG

Pct Poss

Ortg

PPG

Prev PPG

Bryn Forbes

Michigan St.

Cleveland St.

29

13

135

10.3

15.6

Katin Reinhardt

USC

UNLV

28.9

21

88

9.6

10.1

Aaron Cosby

Illinois

Seton Hall

24.8

21

104

9.9

12.6

Frank Rogers

San Jose St.

San Francisco

24.8

26

91

10.4

1.8

Nick Zeisloft

Indiana

Illinois St.

22.1

13

128

7.5

6.9

Paul Jesperson

N. Iowa

Virginia

21

14

128

6.1

4.7

Farad Cobb

Cincinnati

Chattanooga

20.9

18

119

7

5.7

TJ Cline

Richmond

Niagara

16.2

30

127

10.7

7.9

I thought Reinhardt would be more of a scorer and creator for USC, but some of his struggles can be blamed on USC’s extreme youth.

Rebounding Specialists (15 Players)

Player

Team

Prev Team

MPG

Pct Poss

Ortg

PPG

Prev PPG

TaShawn Thomas

Oklahoma

Houston

28.6

16

93

8.1

15.4

Jon Horford

Florida

Michigan

28.4

17

123

10.3

3.8

Darion Clark

USC

Charlotte

27.2

19

96

8.6

6.2

Demarco Cox

Georgia Tech

Mississippi

25.6

22

100

10

4.2

Desmond Simmons

Saint Mary's

Washington

25.3

16

118

7

5.2

Charles Mitchell

Georgia Tech

Maryland

24

26

99

10.4

6.5

Jaylen Bond

Temple

Texas

22.8

16

94

5.2

2.8

Achraf Yacoubou

Saint Louis

Villanova

22.1

28

83

8.6

2.9

Chris Washburn

TCU

UTEP

22

18

122

8.2

4.5

M.J. Rhett

Mississippi

Tennessee St.

21.6

15

104

6

10.9

Robert Sampson

Georgia Tech

East Carolina

21.5

17

88

5.1

9.1

Robert Upshaw

Washington

Fresno St.

16.8

23

121

9.2

4.1

Michael Kessens

Alabama

Longwood

16.5

23

96

6.2

13.7

Stephen Hurt

Kansas St.

Lipscomb

15.4

20

111

6

11.5

Moses Abraham

Nebraska

Georgetown

15.2

12

94

2.7

1.9

Jon Horford is scoring at a higher clip than expected, but with most of Florida’s players posting disappointing numbers, he has had to.

Among all the D1 transfers on this list, Robert Upshaw leads the way with 24 blocks. Chris Washburn is second with 14.

Major Scorers (25 Players)

Player

Team

Prev Team

MPG

Pct Poss

Ortg

PPG

Prev PPG

Myke Henry

DePaul

Illinois

29

28

112

17.3

3.2

Trevor Lacey

NC State

Alabama

34

22

129

16.8

11.3

Bryce Dejean-Jones

Iowa St.

UNLV

32

23

124

16.3

13.6

Sheldon McClellan

Miami FL

Texas

32

23

126

16.3

13.5

Jordan Price

La Salle

Auburn

30

33

96

16.1

5.4

Kyle Wiltjer

Gonzaga

Kentucky

25

26

128

15.9

10.2

Ricky Tarrant

Alabama

Tulane

25

26

123

15.3

15.7

Chase Fischer

BYU

Wake Forest

28

21

119

15.2

4.5

Devonta Pollard

Houston

Alabama

32

24

107

14.8

3.9

Aaron Brown

Boston College

Southern Miss

30

28

92

14.3

9.9

Eric Weary

Houston

New Mexico St.

24

23

128

14.2

1.1

Angel Rodriguez

Miami FL

Kansas St.

31

28

105

13.9

10.9

Stanton Kidd

Colorado St.

NC Central

34

20

118

13.9

14.5

Matt Carlino

Marquette

BYU

31

23

113

13.8

13.7

Julien Lewis

Fresno St.

Texas

33

26

90

13.3

11.2

Stefan Moody

Mississippi

Florida Atlantic

24

29

103

12.9

15.7

Jalen Jones

Texas A&M

SMU

24

26

107

12.4

14.0

Keith Hornsby

LSU

UNC Asheville

35

18

102

12.2

15.0

Josh Gray

LSU

Texas Tech

34

22

94

12

9.3

Aaron Bright

Saint Mary's

Stanford

37

18

102

12

5.9

Danuel House

Texas A&M

Houston

29

18

119

11.8

13.6

Jonathan Holton

West Virginia

Rhode Island

25

21

121

11.5

10.2

Terry Whisnant

East Carolina

Florida St.

28

21

108

11.5

5.2

Cavon Baker

Houston

Florida Atlantic

28

24

92

11.2

2.6

Byron Wesley

Gonzaga

USC

27

23

111

11.1

17.8

Myke Henry had his coming out party in last week’s upset of Stanford. It may be a little bit of a surprise that Henry is leading this list, but he was a Top 100 recruit out of high school.

The top players in our preseason forecast have been scoring at a high rate. Sheldon McClellan, Matt Carlino, and Trevor Lacey have all been prolific in the early going. Jalen Jones is a little lower than expected, but had I known that Danuel House would have been eligible, Jones projection would have been slightly lower.

BC’s Olivier Hanlan gets all the hype, but BC’s Aaron Brown was a key player for a Southern Miss team that shared the C-USA crown last year. Brown had 16 points in Boston College’s surprise win against Providence over the weekend.

LSU’s Josh Gray received a little more hype due to his prolific JUCO scoring, but Keith Hornsby has actually equaled his scoring this year for LSU. In Thursday’s surprise win against West Virginia, both players played a big role. Horns