Eli Boettger | @boettger_eli | 04/06/20
Welcome to the first installment of 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 6.
Louisville’s big win
After missing out on a handful of transfer fliers, Chris Mack’s team struck big on Sunday. Radford grad transfer Carlik Jones, who averaged 20 points and 5.5 assists per game this season en route to Big South player of the year honors, announced he’s headed to Louisville.
The addition of Jones alleviates some backcourt questions on the UofL roster. The 6-1 ballhandler figures to slide into Louisville’s starting point guard position with David Johnson filling in as a reserve at either of the backcourt spots. Assuming Jordan Nwora’s expected departure to the NBA, the remainder of the projected 2020-21 Louisville lineup includes JUCO transfer Jay Scrubb along with Samuell Williamson, Aidan Igiehon and Malik Williams.
Patrick Tape reverses course
Is Patrick Tape finally here to stay? It has certainly been an eventful spring for the former Columbia big man. Tape has been widely regarded as one of the country’s top grad transfers, having scored 11.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in ’18-19 before sitting out this past season to retain eligibility.
Tape originally announced his commitment to Duke on March 24 but backed out of his intentions just eight days later to hit the open market once again. Syracuse and Georgetown were also in the mix for Tape, who figures to play substantial minutes for a Duke team that would greatly appreciate some frontcourt experience. The big question now is if Tape’s deliberation was caused by another Blue Devil potentially leaving the program. Mike Krzyzewski’s squad has already lost Tre Jones to the NBA and Alex O’Connell to the transfer portal.
Ohio State loses starter
Speaking of eventful offseasons, Ohio State has seen plenty of good and bad. OSU notched a major commitment in Harvard transfer Seth Towns, the ’17-18 Ivy League player of the year, but has now seen three players leave the program, the latest being Luther Muhammad on Sunday.
Muhammad is a former top-70 recruit out of the 2018 class who started 56 games for the Buckeyes over the past two seasons, joining D.J. Carton and Alonzo Gafney as departures. As for Muhammad’s next stop? It would be unsurprising if Seton Hall — which has been as active as any team in the transfer market — and Rutgers make a run at the Jersey City, N.J., native.
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.