Everyone hits the college basketball transfer portal with a different game plan. That’s on full display in the new-look ACC. New coaches like Louisville’s Pat Kelsey, SMU’s Andy Enfield and Stanford’s Kyle Smith basically had to start from scratch. He might be entering Year 2, but it was a full-on rebuild for Mark Madsen and Cal as well. You won’t find North Carolina or Wake Forest near the top of the transfer portal team rankings, but retention was king for two of the best teams in the league.
Keeping RJ Davis for Year 5 was better than any transfer North Carolina could’ve added from the portal. Keeping Hunter Sallis for a second year was a bigger deal than anything Wake Forest has done in the portal in the Steve Forbes era.
Just two of the top 50 transfers in the 2024 cycle are coming to the ACC. Maybe it’s a sign that the ACC was not willing to pony up the big bucks that some in the Big East, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 doled out. Or, it could signal that numerous ACC transfers are a bit underrated and that there are sleepers galore in this haul of fresh faces?
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Let’s dive into the realistic expectations for each of the 85 transfers set to suit up in the ACC next season.