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Grading Every Arizona State Basketball Transfer

Byarielputerman

May 28, 2024
Arizona State BasketballArizona State Basketball

After a disappointing 2023-2024 season, Arizona State basketball looks to regroup with an upgraded transfer portal class.

 

A shocking seven players entered the portal this offseason for the Sun Devils, including their leader, Frankie Collins. However, they made up for it with five new transfers, all looking to impact this Arizona State basketball team in different ways. Read below for the grade of each new Sun Devil.

*This list will be updated as new players commit to the team.

Brandon Gardner

Gardner played just one game at his previous school USC, in which he played just four minutes. He then redshirted the rest of the season before entering the portal and committing to Arizona State basketball. Gardner was ranked 38th in his class in 2023 on 247Sports, so the potential is definitely there. At 6’8, he has great size, and with his redshirt, that gives him more time to develop. He won’t be a starter, at least early on, but he can provide good minutes off the bench if he can adjust to the Big 12 level of physicality.

Grade: B

BJ Freeman

Freeman is a very high-level scorer, averaging 21.1 PPG last season, and 14th in D1 last season. In the first game of the season, he scored 33 points and added 10 rebounds against Providence, and in the Horizon League Tournament, he averaged 29.7 PPG in the first three games to put his team in a position to make the NCAA Tournament before they lost to Oakland in the final. He shoots the ball a lot, averaging 16.6 shots per game, the 11th most in the country. That will go down at Arizona State, but he should still be the team’s leading shot-taker and scorer next season.

Freeman reminds me a lot of Desmond Cambridge’s role for the team two seasons ago. Cambridge came in as a high-level scorer from Nevada, then accomplished that same role at Arizona State and was a key factor in the Sun Devil’s tournament appearance that year. The Mountain West is a lot more competitive than the Horizon, and there’s no guarantee that the same translation will happen, but the signs are there. I love this signing for Arizona State basketball, and think he can be their star.

Grade: A-

Austin Nunez

If the name looks familiar to Sun Devils fans, it’s because it is. Nunez committed to Arizona State out of high school and spent a season with the team before transferring to Ole Miss. Now, he’s back with Arizona State and hoping to get his college basketball career jumpstarted.

In his freshman year at Arizona State, he averaged 4.5 PPG in 16.3 minutes of playing time. Sophomore year at Ole Miss, that went down to 0.7 PPG in 6.7 MPG. He hasn’t been able to develop like most college players do, and that’s a concern. The biggest thing working for him is he was the 71st-ranked prospect coming out of high school by 247Sports. He showed some potential freshman year, scoring 15 points against Michigan, but hasn’t shown anything to prove he can be a Big 12-worthy player in two years.

Grade: C

Alston Mason

Mason actually has a little Big 12 experience, starting his college career at Oklahoma before spending the past two seasons at Missouri State. He averaged 17.5 PPG last season and had some impressive performances against great teams, including 36 points against Drake and 19 against Saint Mary’s. His efficiency also dramatically increased last season, increasing his field goal percentage from 39-42% and his three-point shooting from 30-35%.

Mason will slot into that starting point guard spot most likely, and they are hoping he become a little more of a facilitator. He improved his assists per game from 2.8 to 3.6 last season, and with Adam Miller and Freeman both being great players, Mason will have to be a little more unselfish. At 6’2, he will be the smallest rotation player, but that shouldn’t be an issue. If Arizona State wants to to compete in the Big 12, he’ll be a big piece, especially as a replacement to Frankie Collins, so time will tell if he can fill those shoes.

Grade B+

Basheer Jihad

Basheer took one of the biggest jumps in all of college basketball this past season. The junior went from 7.1 PPG to 18.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG to 8.0 RPG, and 27.9 3P% to 35.4 3P%. Jihad clearly put in the work in the offseason and proved that with opportunity comes success. He went for 27 and 16 against Akron, and 28 and 14 against Northern Illinois.

There are several question marks. First is the turnover concern. Basheer averaged 3.4 a game, 14th most in Division 1. Pair that with BJ Freeman’s 3.6, which was the 8th most, and you have a problem. Obviously, he won’t be the #1 option and the talent around him will be significantly better, but that will be something he’ll have to work on and be better at.

There’s also a concern with the level of competition. He has never played a Power 6 opponent, and besides the Akron game, he struggled against better competition. He went for 13 and 5 against Toledo, 13 and 3 on 4-17 shooting against Ohio, and 10 and 6 against Indiana State. When you go from putting up performances against those teams to having to play Kansas, Houston, Iowa State, and Baylor, that is a huge transition and there’s no guarantee that his talent will translate.

Jihad will either start at the 4 or be the first forward off the bench, depending on how the offseason goes. He may have to slide to the 5 at times as well if they want to space the floor. Like many mid-majors who transfer up, this is a big risk/reward situation, and hopefully for Arizona State basketball, he can be a key piece.

Grade: B-

By arielputerman

One thought on “Grading Every Arizona State Basketball Transfer”

  1. […] They’ll have to do it with a different team, losing 8 players from last year’s roster, including three of the top four scorers. Scoring won’t be an issue for next year’s team, however, as Bobby Hurley went to work in the portal and brought in three guys who averaged 17 or more for their teams last season. For grades on all five Arizona State transfers, click here. […]

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