With the recent news that the NCAA would not be going ahead with any significant changes to their transfer rules that would be effective for the 2020-2021 academic year, CBS went ahead and released their list of the top-20 transfers this off-season (not including grad-transfers). The B1G had three players transferring in make the list, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ Kobe King is the highest rated of those at No. 7.
King was a three star out of high school and received offers from the likes of Minnesota, Iowa State, Marquette, and Wake Forest. He verbally committed to the Wisconsin Badgers back in September 2015, and was in his third season this academic year playing for the Badgers.
King left in the middle of the season in late January citing a lack of fit with the Wisconsin program. While rumors leaked out that it might have been due in part to an incident where former Wisconsin strength and conditioning coach Erik Helland used a racial epithet in telling a story of his time in the NBA to a few players, King has suggested otherwise since that rumor leaked to the public. Helland was let go by the University of Wisconsin shortly thereafter.
Over the course of his career with the Badgers, the 6’3” shooting guard averaged 6.1 points a game, while grabbing 2.2 rebounds and committing 0.8 turnovers. This season he played in 19 games, averaging 28.5 minutes. He was shooting 50.4% from two point range and 25% from three. He was averaging 2.8 rebounds this season, and 1.6 assists to 1.5 turnovers per game.
King is listed as having two years of eligibility left, and that is because his freshman year he suffered a knee injury and had to miss the rest of the season. He received a medical redshirt after playing in ten games and averaging 5.2 points over 19 minutes per game that season. He will apply for a waiver to be immediately eligible beginning next season, but it is likely a long shot from an immediate public perspective given the inconsistencies and absurdities that is the NCAA bureaucracy.
As for the rest of the Big Ten, the Minnesota Golden Gophers picked up No. 8 on the list in Liam Robbins. The Michigan Wolverines were the other school on the list with No. 14 Chaundee Brown. Up I-80 the Creighton Bluejays picked up No. 17 Alex O’Connell from the Duke Blue Devils.
Losses from the Big Ten included the Ohio State Buckeye’s D.J. Carton at No. 6 who left for Marquette and No. 18 Luther Muhammad who left for the Arizona State Sun Devils, the Illinois Fighting Illini’s Alan Griffin at No. 10 who left for Syracuse, and Michigan’s David DeJulius at No. 12 who left for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Also, obviously Kobe King at No.7 left Wisconsin, but transferred within the conference to our very own Huskers.
As for CBS’s top-15 grad transfers, the Big Ten mostly was a loss. The Purdue Boilermakers’ Matt Haarms came in at No. 1 as he left for BYU while the Indiana Hoosiers No. 6 Justin Smith announced he will be leaving but hasn’t committed anywhere yet. The Buckeyes gave the middle finger to their rival up north by grabbing No. 4 Seth Towns from Harvard after he was highly sought after by both Big Ten schools. Unfortunately it wasn’t a total wash for Michigan, though, as they grabbed No. 13 Mike Smith out of Columbia.