Transfers in/out 2025-2026

[SchnitzelBoy]

I think you only bring in Nolan Minessale if he can be a reliable backup PG. I don't see him as a reliable "3 and D" contributor. I know he's a great finisher at the mid major level. But how good is he going to be when rim protectors like Oswin or Vince Iwuchukwu or whatever lumberjack Wisconsin has are thrown at him?

If he can spot Nigel and Adrien's minutes while slotting over to SF at times, then that's really valuable. If he'll just be a wing, then I'd rather use the $$ on a big-time center and proper backup PG while counting on DO, Phillips, Nash, Ian, and Alex to cover SF. 

[Tha Hound]

I think you only bring in Nolan Minessale if he can be a reliable backup PG. I don't see him as a reliable "3 and D" contributor. I know he's a great finisher at the mid major level. But how good is he going to be when rim protectors like Oswin or Vince Iwuchukwu or whatever lumberjack Wisconsin has are thrown at him?

If he can spot Nigel and Adrien's minutes while slotting over to SF at times, then that's really valuable. If he'll just be a wing, then I'd rather use the $$ on a big-time center and proper backup PG while counting on DO, Phillips, Nash, Ian, and Alex to cover SF.

Well he's neither of those things, so that's good.

I'd definitely take Minessale, but he'd be just one of multiple pieces that need to be added. Let's see how things play out.

[muwarrior69]

I think you could infer that a true freshman point guard sitting at 5 BPR would presumably improve those numbers in the coming seasons.

The numbers are what they are, no?

In fact he is making the case as of now we have no studs.

[JTJ3]

Betting on guys who are really good as freshman to keep improving, at least a little bit, is about the safest bet there is.

Betting on guys who are terrible and cant see the floor early, much riskier (see Caedin Hamilton).

[Jay Bee]

For the record, I do have concerns that Nigel will see a big jump. #pray

[DoctorV]

I would slot him as our second best player behind NJ. He's legit.

Glad to hear you have high hopes.

I'm sure there's always concern when someone levels up, but are you concerned at all that his scoring ability/craftiness will be muted amongst stiffer competition in the substantially more athletic BE?

Question is for JayBee and any others with input too.

From clips I've seen he seems athletic enough but I'm not sure how it'll translate, seems to have some crafty/old man rec game to him, which isn't a slight.
Vision and feel for the game seem good.
Hard to judge how that would all play against the faster and more athletic P5 competition

[DoctorV]

For the record, I do have concerns that Nigel will see a big jump. #pray

I'm concerned that his outside shooting could regress because I don't love the look of the shot, and we've seen it happen at Marquette on several occasions by much better shooters...

However, I'm not concerned in the least that even if it does regress, he will find other ways to score and impact winning.
Dude is a baller, and ballers ball.
He will find ways to get better and better year after year even if the outside shot runs hot and cold imo

[muwarrior69]

I'm concerned that his outside shooting could regress because I don't love the look of the shot, and we've seen it happen at Marquette on several occasions by much better shooters...

However, I'm not concerned in the least that even if it does regress, he will find other ways to score and impact winning.
Dude is a baller, and ballers ball.
He will find ways to get better and better year after year even if the outside shot runs hot and cold imo

At least we know statistically he is better than the guy we know who has left and could fill that spot.

[JTJ3]

Glad to hear you have high hopes.

I'm sure there's always concern when someone levels up, but are you concerned at all that his scoring ability/craftiness will be muted amongst stiffer competition in the substantially more athletic BE?

Question is for JayBee and any others with input too.

From clips I've seen he seems athletic enough but I'm not sure how it'll translate, seems to have some crafty/old man rec game to him, which isn't a slight.
Vision and feel for the game seem good.
Hard to judge how that would all play against the faster and more athletic P5 competition

Kam, Tyler, Stevie all were below the rim finishers relying on good touch/craftiness.  Minessale is a much better athlete than all of them.  Im not concerned.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

According to this and your criteria NJ is an above average starter.

...That's the numbers this season. I'm projecting to next season.

NJ didn't really take off until we got into conference play. If you look at just his conference play numbers, he's already a Tier 1 player. And no, that's not because the Big East was down this season. The numbers I'm looking at adjust for quality of competition. I also think that with better teammates around him, he will be even more efficient.

[jfp61]

I think Owens has potential to be a Tier 3 player next season.

I acknowledge most of what you are saying.

This is the part I just blatantly disagree with this part. Viewing Owens this highly just isn't living within reality. Owens was worse this year than Zaide was in 2024-25.

Owens is good in transition, he is good at cutting off ball (which has more to do with Nigel James), and he played better defensively at the end of the year to clear the bar of NCAA average.

Now the negatives he is a below average perimiter shooter who does it frequently. 47.4 eFG%. (was 27% last year).  0.73 ppp on perimiter shooting via hoop ex. 7th percentile. He is bad at attacking and kicking. 0.89 ppp. 34th percentile.

He does both of these things poorly and frequently when he is on the court.

He has a loose handle. A high turnover rate for his role. He is a below average rebounder for his height. He is below average steals/blocks guy for his length.

As for the notion that Hoop Explorer likes his defense. Kinda. Not really. Maybe if you make a filter to overate the last few games of the season which included providence quitting after their coach was fired.

Season long Defensive RAPM (lower is better)
Adrien Stevens: -2.3
Caedin Hamilton: -2.2
Chase Ross: -2.0
Nigel James: -1.1
Damarius Owens: -0.7
Royce Parham: -0.5
Ben Gold: -0.5

We are also conviently ignoring how much more Hoop Ex hates his offense?

Season long Offensive RAPM
Royce Parham: 2.1
Nigel James: 1.7
Adrien Stevens: 1.3
Ben Gold: 0.3
Chase Ross: -0.1
Damarius Owens: -0.3
Caedin Hamilton: -1.0


Walker, Pearson, and even Phillips have more upside than him.

[muwarrior69]

...That's the numbers this season. I'm projecting to next season.

NJ didn't really take off until we got into conference play. If you look at just his conference play numbers, he's already a Tier 1 player. And no, that's not because the Big East was down this season. The numbers I'm looking at adjust for quality of competition. I also think that with better teammates around him, he will be even more efficient.

Thanks for the clarification.

[BCHoopster]

Great analysis, I am not high on Owens either, shot is bad, no mid range game, not physical. But great athlete, needs a good big man which might help him

[Zog from Margo]

Great analysis, I am not high on Owens either, shot is bad, no mid range game, not physical. But great athlete, needs a good big man which might help him

Owens has potential because he's a great athlete. To date, he's been soft and hasn't demonstrated a very high hoops IQ. Maybe those can improve but I am skeptical as well. Hope I'm wrong. Frankly, MU needs more guys who know how to play. Kam, TKO, and Stevie weren't great athletes, but they knew how to play. NJ and Stevens have shown promise in that regard and Parham is improving.

[BCHoopster]

MU needs another scorer on the court, doubt it will come from the center position, need either a backup guard or a veteran small forward to be that person.  Not sold on any of the small forwards o. Paper right now, hope I am wrong

[mileskishnish72]

For the record, I do have concerns that Nigel will see a big jump. #pray

Nigel's good enough, how much upside is there? He can always work to improve his 3's but the biggest chance for upside from NJJ is to cut down on the TO's and stay in control. I'm optimistic with regard to both.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I acknowledge most of what you are saying.

This is the part I just blatantly disagree with this part. Viewing Owens this highly just isn't living within reality.

Well as I said, I just see potential and am not banking on it. I wouldn't say that's viewing Owens highly. Just acknowledging that it's not impossible for a player to take a big jump from one year to the next.

As for the bit about his offense, I mentioned in another post that I prefer PRPG! for offense and Adj Box Rating for defense. PRPG! doesn't love DO's offense either, but it did show some signs of life in conference play.

I love numbers too. Because of the numbers I don't expect DO to be more than a Tier 4 player next season. But I recognize that there are always players who defy the numbers every year and in both positive and negative ways.

[mileskishnish72]

Owens is good in transition

DO is good in transition only if someone else is running the break - if he brings it down bad things happen.

[jfp61]

DO is good in transition only if someone else is running the break - if he brings it down bad things happen.

No, I'll be generous to Owens on this. He is good in transition.

Marquette players in transition on HoopEx.

Adrien Stevens 1.45 ppp 17.1/100 frequency
Damarius Owens 1.37 ppp 18.8/100 frequency
Ben Gold 1.23 ppp 12.8/100 frequency
Royce Parham 1.23 ppp 8.7/100 frequency
Caedin Hamilton 1.17 ppp 7.8/100 frequency
Nigel James 1.16 ppp 16.1/100 frequency
Chase Ross 1.12 ppp 18.1/100 frequency

As for everything else with his game. Not the biggest fan clearly.

[Pakuni]

Well as I said, I just see potential and am not banking on it. I wouldn't say that's viewing Owens highly. Just acknowledging that it's not impossible for a player to take a big jump from one year to the next.

As for the bit about his offense, I mentioned in another post that I prefer PRPG! for offense and Adj Box Rating for defense. PRPG! doesn't love DO's offense either, but it did show some signs of life in conference play.

I love numbers too. Because of the numbers I don't expect DO to be more than a Tier 4 player next season. But I recognize that there are always players who defy the numbers every year and in both positive and negative ways.

Yeah, this is how I see DO.
I think there's maybe a 25% chance he puts it all together, but if he does, he can be an effective player for MU.
I don't see that kind of plausible outcome for many of the other returning players on MU's roster outside the top 3 and maybe Phillips, which is why I have no problem with him sticking around and seeing what happens.

[SchnitzelBoy]

People are super down on Damarius and I understand it. His athleticism is so impressive that his on-court production is bound to underwhelm. There is no reason not to expect a big leap from Michael Phillips (who should have been in HS this past season), but Damarius really needs to put it together this offseason for it to finally click. If he's healthy, we should see the progression we hoped for in 2025 and a starting-level wing. He needs to reign in his turnovers and tighten up that high dribble. Him slashing inside for a hook shot worked well at times, but that could really become his bread and butter next season.

[SchnitzelBoy]

I think this is a fair question, but are scoopers high on Nolan Minessale just because he's from Wisconsin? As a Chicagoan, I really don't care where MU players are from so long as they get buckets and play good defense.

I actually like how many of our guys are from the East coast because it helps them fit with the Big East, but it's not that big of a deal to me. I also like how we lose Big Kiwi Ben Gold and replace him with Aussie Nash Walker. It'd be cool to have a talent pipeline from that part of the world, especially if they have badass names...

[MU82]

Agree with Pak and TAMU about D.O.

Great athlete, has potential to improve, nothing close to guaranteed.

Absolutely glad he's sticking around. As unreliable as he was this past season, he influenced victories in a few games, most notably the home win over Providence. Best-case scenario for next season is that he becomes a valuable part of the rotation; worst-case is that he's a deep-depth piece who is not in the rotation.

As for Minessale, the one time I saw him on TV, I was quite unimpressed. But I'll defer to those who have seen him more; if we land him as one of at least 3 transfers, I'll look at it as a good thing.

[SaveOD238]

I think this is a fair question, but are scoopers high on Nolan Minessale just because he's from Wisconsin? As a Chicagoan, I really don't care where MU players are from so long as they get buckets and play good defense.

I actually like how many of our guys are from the East coast because it helps them fit with the Big East, but it's not that big of a deal to me. I also like how we lose Big Kiwi Ben Gold and replace him with Aussie Nash Walker. It'd be cool to have a talent pipeline from that part of the world, especially if they have badass names...

NM gets talked about a lot because multiple sources (including one of mine) have indicated that there is a very good chance he comes to MU.  It was described to me (by a local HS basketball coach with connections) as a when not an if.

Is he the best player that will be in the portal, no.  But he is one we feel reasonably confident in landing.

[Shaka Shart]

I think this is a fair question, but are scoopers high on Nolan Minessale just because he's from Wisconsin? As a Chicagoan, I really don't care where MU players are from so long as they get buckets and play good defense.

I actually like how many of our guys are from the East coast because it helps them fit with the Big East, but it's not that big of a deal to me. I also like how we lose Big Kiwi Ben Gold and replace him with Aussie Nash Walker. It'd be cool to have a talent pipeline from that part of the world, especially if they have badass names...

Because he played for a juggernaut and is a traditional