11 hours Ago By Billy Heyen
There weren't any deep Cinderella runs in this year's NCAA Tournament. That doesn't mean March Madness was without mid-major stars, though. They just don't play for the mid-major schools any longer.
The transfer portal has allowed the rich to get richer, and Duke, Auburn, Houston and Florida have all benefited from transfers who previously starred at some of the smaller schools in Division I. All told, there are 17 players across the four Final Four rosters who transferred to their current school. Of those 17, at least nine would be described as former mid-major players, including All-American talents Johni Broome and Walter Clayton Jr.
Here's how it all breaks down. Duke's transfer players Duke starts one transfer, guard Sion James from Tulane. The Blue Devils bring two additional transfers off the bench: Maliq Brown from Syracuse and Mason Gillis from Purdue.
Duke had two starters from last year's Elite Eight team enter the transfer portal, and the Blue Devils brought in five strong freshmen. Coach Jon Scheyer filled in around them with the transfers. Gillis is the first player to go to the Final Four in consecutive seasons with different schools.
James said earlier this season that he didn't want Scheyer to promise him anything. If James earned his starting spot, he said, he wanted to know it would legitimately be given to him. He earned it, and he's started ever since as one of the most crucial transfers in the country.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp Auburn's transfer players Auburn's most notable and longest-tenured transfer is Johni Broome , who was The Sporting News National Player of the Year. Broome is in his third year at Auburn after two collegiate seasons at Moorehead State. Bruce Pearl has three second-year transfers on his team, too, in Chad Baker-Mazara (San Diego State), Denver Jones (FIU) and Chaney Johnson (Alabama-Huntsville).
Miles Kelly from Georgia Tech rounds out Auburn's transferring bunch this season. Auburn is an example of finding transfers but then still developing them. Broome came to the Tigers as a promising mid-major piece but stuck around, learned from Pearl and the coaching staff and became a first-team All-American.
In the past, Broome may have led a March Madness upset or two with Morehead State. In this era, he just carries on the Morehead State flag as a superstar for a high-major powerhouse. MORE: Cooper Flagg's Duke decision brought best reaction out of coach Jon Scheyer Florida's transfer players Florida has the other highest-profile transfer in the NCAA Tournament, Walter Clayton Jr.
from Iona. Clayton was so lightly recruited that then-Iona coach Rick Pitino only saw him on a Zoom broadcast during the COVID pandemic. The transfer portal's best features were made for a guy like Clayton, now in his second season with Florida, who didn't have the basketball eyes on him in high school as a standout football player but earned them with his play at a smaller school.
The Gators also feature Alijah Martin from FAU, who went to the Final Four two seasons ago. Will Richard from Belmont is Florida's lone third-year transfer. Micah Handlogten from Marshall came in Clayton's class.
This year, Martin, Sam Alexis (Chattanooga) and Rueben Chinyelu (Washington State) joined the Gators. MORE: Kon Kneuppel's first scholarship offer came from surprising mid-major school Houston's transfer players Houston's leading scorer is a transfer. LJ Cryer spent three seasons at Baylor before joining Kelvin Sampson's bunch for the 2023-24 season and leading them to the Final Four this campaign.
Houston ties Duke for the fewest transfers in this field. The Cougars also picked up Mylik Wilson from Texas Tech two seasons ago. This year, the only transfer Houston took on was sharpshooter Milos Uzan from Oklahoma.
Sampson's rotation still includes five players he recruited, a solid total in this modern era. MORE: Houston picks up French basketball transfer on eve of Final Four.
