GT Transfer Portal Activity 2.0 – Portal Season: The Awakening

[Novajacket]

Right now my starters are Garland, Whitehead, Craft, Valdes, and Fields. That’s all seniors starting with very good speed, shooting and likely a lot of zone defensive switching. I think that is good enough to get us to above .500 overall record with a below .500 in ACC. I would be very happy for this at year one with the understanding that young players are being developed for future. We will have a chance of adding stronger players next year to take another step forward. Exciting times as always with new blood.

 

[AE 87]

Add Victor Valdes to the wing. Puts our roster at 11 players

Plus Cross is a walk-on.

 

[Peacone36]

And maybe another rotational piece on the wing coming off the bench. Craft can fill that role, but not sure he can score enough off the bounce if his shot isn’t falling.

Craft is perfect for elevator screens. I WANT ELEVATOR SCREENS.

 

[Connell62]

Add Victor Valdes to the wing. Puts our roster at 11 players

Had a call come in and by the time I came back and realized I left him off, the dang edit window had lapsed. I felt like I was forgetting someone.

 

[AUFC]

We really need some front court help with the remaining funds. IMO we're only going to be able to roll about 7/8 deep tops, so it'll be extremely important to stay healthy this season. No expectations we're going to get much beyond Stores/Chatfield/Remagen type stuff from any of the freshmen this year, personally - maybe just some role minutes off the bench behind Whitlock from Kayden Allen a la Akai Fleming this season.

1: Garland
2: Whitlock, Allen
3: Valdes, Craft
4: Fields
5: Kirouac

Get a center to start in front of Cole and I think you've got a squad that can at least compete most games. The sobering reality for me is that we're still the 95th ranked team by composite talent, but somewhere around there was and has always been my expectation this offseason.

 

[Peacone36]

Oregon fans about to crash out if they miss on Lewis.

 

[YellowJacketsFan24]

 

[AUFC]

Oregon fans about to crash out if they miss on Lewis.
View attachment 21646

Oregon basketball-first fans gotta look at their shiny Autzen Stadium team with an even bigger jaw agape than we look at our football funds. Phil Knight doesn't seem to give them a dime.

 

[Silk3]

Man how does 20 & 5 only get you 3rd team MW

 

[Peacone36]

Oregon basketball-first fans gotta look at their shiny Autzen Stadium team with an even bigger jaw agape than we look at our football funds. Phil Knight doesn't seem to give them a dime.

Thats surprising to me. Also, its good to do this to another program for once.

 

[Peacone36]

Man how does 20 & 5 only get you 3rd team MW

9-24

 

[WaCoJacket]

Agreed... I've said this from the beginning. I thought our biggest bag would go toward the front court.

Based on back of the napkin math and my own assumptions, we should still have some left to play with.

Depending on what we do there, that will tell us if our spending has improved, but to me...it feels like it has already picked up.

Backcourt
Garland
Whitehead
Allen
Bailey
Cross
Craft

Frontcourt
Jordan
Fields
Kirouac
Diop

Jordan, Fields, Cole, Diop give us a lot of bodies, but I just feel like we are missing a real veteran presence that can score and defend in the paint.

As I said on JOL, dropping a bag in the frontcourt is different than with guards. There are a lot fewer options to choose from, so they cost a heckva lot more.

Also, we may need a little more on the wing. Would love to see us explore a bigger option that could play the 3 or stretch 4. Is Folefac still an option there?

Valdes is missing. Frontcourt for me. He’s barely a big 3 and more small ball positionless 4. He will never defend ACC guards

I think the fanbase is severely underrating Craft based on last year’s horrible offensive fit. He’s threatening 50% from 3 next year. Book it. His ability level is very high.

What’s still needed?
- Folefac or skilled big...most likely a PF
- Veteran C. I’m not looking for a dominant guy but a rebound/defender/leader type
- 2-way Slasher wing over 6'4. Basically Mustaf/Ish/Usher clone who is energy/defense forward
- take a flyer on lil Dennis TREY Scott who is a 6'10 shooter
- flyer on Jackson McVey too. stack and develop your cheap big men

 

[Peacone36]

Valdes is missing. Frontcourt for me. He’s barely a big 3 and more small ball positionless 4. He will never defend ACC guards

I think the fanbase is severely underrating Craft based on last year’s horrible offensive fit. He’s threatening 50% from 3 next year. Book it. His ability level is very high.

What’s still needed?
- Folefac or skilled big...most likely a PF
- Veteran C. I’m not looking for a dominant guy but a rebound/defender/leader type
- 2-way Slasher wing over 6'4. Basically Mustaf/Ish/Usher clone who is energy/defense forward
- take a flyer on lil Dennis TREY Scott who is a 6'10 shooter
- flyer on Jackson McVey too. stack and develop your cheap big men

My guy Luke Wilson rcvd a CB for Syracuse. That stinks. He would have been nice in the pivot.

 

[Peacone36]

I'm not as caught up on this, but is the former Sienna big man still available? He could fit nicely here.

ETA: Didn't realize you and I are talking about the same person. Folefac would be amazing.

Mike McAlister put something up on 247 this morning. Its behind a paywall but Folefac is mentioned.

Syracuse basketball transfer portal buzz

The latest intel on Syracuse basketball's efforts in the transfer portal.

247sports.com

 

[kg01]

Building a competent squad. Maybe not the flashiest on paper but we're picking up some good, solid talent. I'm here for it.

 

[Techster]

Athletically, I think Garland and Whitfield can score and defend on this level. Valdes to me is a bit of a wildcard. He does a lot of things well, but are his feet quick enough to stay in front of players on the ACC level? Are we going to have to play a lot of zone type defenses to mask some athletic and quickness imbalance on the defensive end?

If we don't add an experienced big guy, the key for me will be the development of Tyliss Jordan/Diop/Kirouac. Can Cross them developed enough to contribute meaningful minutes? Kirouac has the height and enough experience from last season, but let's be honest, he's gonna be hip checked into the bleachers if he doesn't gain significant weight.

We're missing an out and out rebounder. Baye would have been that guy, Dowd could have filled that role had he chosen GT...but that is not the world we live in. So as of right now, Cross and GT need to find one from the Portal or cross our fingers one of the three between Jordan/Diop/Kirouac develop into meaningful contributors.

 

[gte447f]

Man how does 20 & 5 only get you 3rd team MW

I was wondering the same thing.

 

[AUFC]

https://hoop-explorer.com/TeamEditor?addedPlayers=CoGarland%3ASan%20Jose%20St.%3A2025%2F26&gender=Men&incLowVol=false&shotChartsShowFreqAsNumber=false&shotChartsUseEfg=false&shotChartsViewMode=zones&showDepthChart=false&showPlayerPlayTypes=false&showPlayerPlayTypesAdjPpp=true&showPlayerPlayTypesCardView=false&showPlayerPlayTypesPlayType=P%25le&sortBy=desc%3Adiff_adj_rapm_pred&team=Georgia%20Tech&transferMode=true%3Apredictions&year=2026%2F27&

This is a good link to mess around with. They have us optimistically as the 75th best team in the country and pessimistically 131st best team. Cal (9-9) and Wake Forest (7-11) were right around 75th this past season, so I think that really is spot on regarding what we would consider a great first season for Cross. Not surprisingly, Garland, Whitlock, and Valdes are the big fish of the team. They don't really love Colby Garland, who you see is a Top 10 player in the country at mid-range rate. He shoots the mid-range remarkably well, so what's the problem? It's that the mid-range is a pretty inefficient shot in modern basketball.

If we add Folefac, our optimistic prediction jumps up to 54th. You probably need to get to 45-40ish to be on the bubble.

 

[GTJacket Fan]

Would love to get a big that can finish at the rim. Last season's team was remarkably poor at scoring at close range. Just having a reliable center or power forward that can fight through contact and finish a dunk or put back with some efficiency would make a big leap over last year.

 

[Techster]

I just looked up Folefac...um, dude was just a Freshmen last season. Had some REALLY good games against Duke (18pts/7rebs) and Indiana (19/4). Didn't realize he was that young.

He's a wide body with heft. Seems above average athletically for that body type. On the shorter end for a 4 (6'7), but he's really active and shows a strong base. His stat sheet reads like a freshmen. Lots of good games, lots of BIG games, and some duds sprinkled in. You have to think those "duds" become few and far between as he gets older. iF GT gets him, and there's another player you're gonna probably get 10-15 points from on any given night.