2025 Transfer Portal

[cancontent]

The puzzling thing to me is, both Howell and Heckel had to know they would be "low priority" players as long as JuJu was on the team. So why transfer out when a "starter" position is now available? Something else has to be the reason ... and it wouldn't be the fires. USC's campus isn't anywhere near the fire zones.

That was my initial thought as well.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

That was my initial thought as well.

Maybe they already know Miles is coming?

 

[cancontent]

Maybe they already know Miles is coming?

Maybe. It's not something I thought of, but anything is possible currently.

 

[Topdawg]

A common problem in corporations is that new “competitive” hires are paid more than incumbents who are already contributors. This causes unhappiness among incumbents and some of them choose to leave to become “competitive“ hires elsewhere. NIL is making the college experience similar to the corporate one. Moreover, if all of the attention and money is focused on one player, and there are huge income disparities, that could also lead to tensions.

 

[southie]

I really don't think there's even the slightest comparison between college and pro sports currently in terms of roster fluidity and unpredictability of players leaving. Pro coaches don't have to deal with anything even slightly like their college counterparts are dealing with now.

You must not follow pro sports. Seems like pro players' issues are all over the news such as holding out from camps (rookies especially hold out until their initial contract is to their liking), wanting to renegotiate existing contracts, demanding to be traded or they'll sit out, etc.

 

[GoCardinal]

You must not follow pro sports. Seems like pro players' issues are all over the news such as holding out from camps (rookies especially hold out until their initial contract is to their liking), wanting to renegotiate existing contracts, demanding to be traded or they'll sit out, etc.

I think this is still a little different than what’s happening in collegiate athletics. In most of the examples you used, those professional coaches don’t have to worry about an entire roster up and leaving at the end of every season. Mid-majors, who have to rely heavily on accurate scouting and development systems, are extremely vulnerable to poaching and tampering from bigger schools. This allows schools with larger collectives to mismanage or misjudge their own players throughout the year and just recover by buying someone “better.”

Contract hold outs and contract renegotiations are typically settled internally between the player and their respective pro team. There isn’t necessarily any external shielding of a bigger school “buying” away your players because in pro sports there are salary caps and franchise tags etc. If a star demands a trade, the other team still gets some sort of assets back. In college the smaller schools are just out of luck and forced to start the cycle over again.

 

[oldhusky]

This one is intriguing. She shot 65% from the field and averaged 11.3 points, 9.6 boards, had 38 blocks, and 46 steals. She is a true big, which is something Uconn hasn't had in a while. I wouldn't say no to her joining the team next year.

My Uconn interest list would now include two 5's, Williams and Okot, and two 1's, Miles and Heckel. If only one spot available, one of the bigs, if two one of each. Williams and Miles would be experienced one year fixes, while Okot and Heckel have three years remaining and could affect future recruiting.

 

[southie]

I think this is still a little different than what’s happening in collegiate athletics. In most of the examples you used, those professional coaches don’t have to worry about an entire roster up and leaving at the end of every season. Mid-majors, who have to rely heavily on accurate scouting and development systems, are extremely vulnerable to poaching and tampering from bigger schools. This allows schools with larger collectives to mismanage or misjudge their own players throughout the year and just recover by buying someone “better.”

Contract hold outs and contract renegotiations are typically settled internally between the player and their respective pro team. There isn’t necessarily any external shielding of a bigger school “buying” away your players because in pro sports there are salary caps and franchise tags etc. If a star demands a trade, the other team still gets some sort of assets back. In college the smaller schools are just out of luck and forced to start the cycle over again.

Fair enough. But, that's not happening at the majority of schools, I don't think. And, for those schools who do experience a huge amount of turnover, there's usually a good reason why it's happening (such as the head coach themselves).

 

[12au]

The puzzling thing to me is, both Howell and Heckel had to know they would be "low priority" players as long as JuJu was on the team. So why transfer out when a "starter" position is now available? Something else has to be the reason ... and it wouldn't be the fires. USC's campus isn't anywhere near the fire zones.

Regardless of their roles, they'd still be in the Gottlieb offense (or lack thereof). They had a year in it--that was enough

 

[southie]

I’d like to suggest bifurcating this thread into two sections. The first one would be the actual transfers, and the second would be the people complaining/commenting about the transfers. It’s getting too much to sift through to find the actual news.

This is a discussion board, I believe. If there were no comments from posters about the transfers such as why they left and which schools they might be considering, then there's really no useful information other than the name of the transfer.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Regardless of their roles, they'd still be in the Gottlieb offense (or lack thereof). They had a year in it--that was enough

Again, they had to know what they were signing up for before committing to USC in the first place. I think it will all become quite clear shortly. One or more big time players is transferring in and they didn't want to spend another year of limited playing time.

 

[12au]

Again, they had to know what they were signing up for before committing to USC in the first place. I think it will all become quite clear shortly. One or more big time players is transferring in and they didn't want to spend another year of limited playing time.

Hmm I feel like most people don't know what they're getting into though. They rely on hearsay and vibes. USC probably has a good recruiter. So they tell you what you want to hear. And they're probably offering a nice check. But until you get in the building you don't know what it's really like. My sense is that Howell has been known to be gone for awhile (weeks). So not sure how she could know about big names transferring in that long ago.

I do think USC will reel in some big names in the portal. My sense is that they have serious $, which can reel in quality even if the team is looking a little worse w/o Juju, Kiki, etc.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Hmm I feel like most people don't know what they're getting into though. They rely on hearsay and vibes. USC probably has a good recruiter. So they tell you what you want to hear. And they're probably offering a nice check. But until you get in the building you don't know what it's really like. My sense is that Howell has been known to be gone for awhile (weeks). So not sure how she could know about big names transferring in that long ago.

I do think USC will reel in some big names in the portal. My sense is that they have serious $, which can reel in quality even if the team is looking a little worse w/o Juju, Kiki, etc.

I don't think highly recruited high school players these days are as naive as you seem to believe. USC was in the top 3 most of the season and had a real shot at winning it all until JuJu went down. Gottlieb's offense and JuJu's talents (that order should probably be reversed) have put USC on the map. That's why Howell and Heckel signed on. Now JuJu has gone down (and most likely out next season as well), and Kiki, Marshall, von Oelhoffen and Akunwafo are done. So USC is in very poor shape at the moment, so it's time to bail. I don't think it has anything whatsoever to do with Gottlieb.

 

[southie]

I don't think highly recruited high school players these days are as naive as you seem to believe. USC was in the top 3 most of the season and had a real shot at winning it all until JuJu went down. Gottlieb's offense and JuJu's talents (that order should probably be reversed) have put USC on the map. That's why Howell and Heckel signed on. Now JuJu has gone down (and most likely out next season as well), and Kiki, Marshall, von Oelhoffen and Akunwafo are done. So USC is in very poor shape at the moment, so it's time to bail. I don't think it has anything whatsoever to do with Gottlieb.

Didn't Howell and Heckel sign their LOI's in November 2023? That would have been before Juju played her first game at USC and the program surged one season ago.

 

[Vowelguy]

You must not follow pro sports. Seems like pro players' issues are all over the news such as holding out from camps (rookies especially hold out until their initial contract is to their liking), wanting to renegotiate existing contracts, demanding to be traded or they'll sit out, etc.

Not even close imho. Pros have 2 choices: play or sit. And there aren’t that many of these threats as the player will often lose money and reputation.

College kids it’s play or play somewhere else. Much easier.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Didn't Howell and Heckel sign their LOI's in November 2023? That would have been before Juju played her first game at USC and the program surged one season ago.

I'd have to look that up and it really doesn't matter because everyone in the LA area knew JuJu was coming to USC as early as her sophomore year in high school if not before. How do I know this, because I live here and follow the game at all levels. And, if everyone in LA knew it, you better believe the USC recuiters were using it to their advantage.

 

[southie]

I'd have to look that up and it really doesn't matter because everyone in the LA area knew JuJu was coming to USC as early as her sophomore year in high school if not before. How do I know this, because I live here and follow the game at all levels. And, if everyone in LA knew it, you better believe the USC recuiters were using it to their advantage.

Howell is from Idaho. Heckel is from New York.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Howell is from Idaho. Heckel is from New York.

What do you think that has to do with anything? Since you apparently haven't a clue, perhaps re-reading my last previous sentence would give you one? Do you seriously think every talented senior basketball player with talent didn't know that JuJu Watkins was the #1 player in the country in the 1922-23 season?

Avery Howell signed her National Letter of Intent (LOI) with USC from a hospital bed in April 2022, after being shot multiple times at a North Las Vegas house party. She sat out the 2022-23 season after transferring from UCLA. Hmmm, I wonder why? And don't even try to tell me it had to do with NIL. UCLA backers have plenty of money.

Kayleigh Heckel committed to USC on Nov. 15, 2023. JuJu was already playing for USC.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Avery Howell signed her National Letter of Intent (LOI) with USC from a hospital bed in April 2022, after being shot multiple times at a North Las Vegas house party. She sat out the 2022-23 season after transferring from UCLA. Hmmm, I wonder why? And don't even try to tell me it had to do with NIL. UCLA backers have plenty of money.

You are getting players mixed up. Gayles was shot, not Howell.

 

[cancontent]

What do you think that has to do with anything? Since you apparently haven't a clue, perhaps re-reading my last previous sentence would give you one? Do you seriously think every talented senior basketball player with talent didn't know that JuJu Watkins was the #1 player in the country in the 1922-23 season?

Avery Howell signed her National Letter of Intent (LOI) with USC from a hospital bed in April 2022, after being shot multiple times at a North Las Vegas house party. She sat out the 2022-23 season after transferring from UCLA. Hmmm, I wonder why? And don't even try to tell me it had to do with NIL. UCLA backers have plenty of money.

Kayleigh Heckel committed to USC on Nov. 15, 2023. JuJu was already playing for USC.

You have players mixed up here. You're referring to Aaliyah Gayle's with respect to the shooting. Nothing to do with Avery Howell.

 

[Vowelguy]

PennSt has had NINE players transfer out. Leaving them with just 2 returnees.
3 of the transfers started more than 20 games each. the 2 returnees averaged 11 and 6 minutes per game. They have 3 frosh coming in. Gonna need a whole lotta transfers.

The only P4 program with this kind of turnover that I can recall was Ole Miss a few years ago, but they had a coaching change.

We all knew keeping Kieger was a mistake; this just further confirms it.

 

[WBBTakeover]

PennSt has had NINE players transfer out. Leaving them with just 2 returnees.

The only P4 program with this kind of turnover that I can recall was Ole Miss a few years ago, but they had a coaching change.

We all knew keeping Kieger was a mistake; this just further confirms it.

To add to the Penn State fallout, associate HC Terri Williams just took the Gardner-Webb job that I had no idea was open. Scott Merritt, a former Kieger assistant at Marquette, was apparently fired from the job in February.

 

[southie]

What do you think that has to do with anything? Since you apparently haven't a clue, perhaps re-reading my last previous sentence would give you one? Do you seriously think every talented senior basketball player with talent didn't know that JuJu Watkins was the #1 player in the country in the 1922-23 season?

Avery Howell signed her National Letter of Intent (LOI) with USC from a hospital bed in April 2022, after being shot multiple times at a North Las Vegas house party. She sat out the 2022-23 season after transferring from UCLA. Hmmm, I wonder why? And don't even try to tell me it had to do with NIL. UCLA backers have plenty of money.

Kayleigh Heckel committed to USC on Nov. 15, 2023. JuJu was already playing for USC.

The fact you are getting so defensive is hilarious. Bottom line is these players want out of USC. You can make all the excuses you want. You don't know the real reason they signed with USC, and you don't the reason they are choosing to leave.

 

[southie]

Not even close imho. Pros have 2 choices: play or sit. And there aren’t that many of these threats as the player will often lose money and reputation.

College kids it’s play or play somewhere else. Much easier.

As I stated previously, pros can also demand a trade at any time before, during or after the season.

Weren't there rumors that Kiyomi McMiller at Rutgers was sitting out games intentionally?

 

[Just.A.Fan]