Eli Boettger | @boettger_eli | 04/23/20
Welcome back to Three Things!
The intention of Three Things is simple: Keeping you informed. The offseason can be a busy time and college basketball isn’t always on everyone’s radars from April to October.
Here’s how it will work: Every morning, Monday through Friday, we will provide you with three things that you need to know from the previous day. Pretty simple, right? You’ll be amazed by your new college basketball wisdom!
Here are the three things you need to know for April 23.
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New Mexico down another contributor
Paul Weir said goodbye to another contributor Wednesday as Vante Hendrix became the fourth New Mexico Lobo to transfer out of the program this offseason. Hendrix, a 6-5 guard, appeared in 18 games this past season and made five starts. He averaged 22.6 minutes and 8.8 points per game.
Hendrix’s next stop will already be the third of his young career. The Woodland Hills, Calif., native was a three-star recruit out of high school and spent the ’18-19 season with Utah before transferring. Hendrix joins J.J. Caldwell, Drue Drinnon and Vance Jackson as UNM departures this spring.
Big scorer hits portal
Another day, another high-level scorer in the transfer portal. This time around it’s Joe Pridgen, formerly of Holy Cross, who will be on the hunt for a new home. Pridgen is a 6-5, 210-pound forward who averaged 17.4 points per game off 55.8-percent shooting this past season as a freshman.
The Patriot League rookie of the year is a native of Winchendon, Mass. Pridgen’s eventual landing spot will be an interesting one. Holy Cross was one of the weakest teams in all of college basketball last season, finishing with just three wins and the second-worst record in the sport. How far up the ladder can Pridgen jump given his minimal interest out of high school and the lacking strength of his former team?
Drew Buggs cuts list
Drew Buggs’ stats don’t lie. Only seven players have averaged at least 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game with an assist rate over 25.0 in each of the past three years. Buggs is one of them, and he’s on an elusive list that also features Maryland’s Anthony Cowan (’19-20 Big Ten first team), Oregon’s Payton Pritchard (’19-20 Pac-12 player of the year) and Colorado’s McKinley Wright (’19-20 Pac-12 first team). Not bad, right?
Unfortunately for Hawaii, Buggs announced that he will be taking his talents elsewhere for his final season of college eligibility. Earlier this week, the 6-3 guard narrowed his list to Iowa State, Missouri and Loyola Marymount. The Cyclones could be a natural fit given their need of a point guard as well as family ties: Drew’s father, Andrew, played football at Iowa State.
Eli Boettger is a college basketball writer and founder of HeatCheckCBB.com. He has previously worked for Sporting News, DAZN and USA TODAY SMG.
Boettger’s content has been featured by Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, FiveThirtyEight, Yahoo Sports, Athletic Director University, Washington Post, Illinois Law Review and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. Boettger is also a current USBWA member and Rockin’ 25 voter.