2022 NCAA Men's Tournament: Transfers to watch in Sweet 16
College basketball takes center stage once again this week as the 2022 NCAA Men's Tournament resumes on Thursday with the Sweet 16.
You don’t have to dig deep to find plenty of similarities between the remaining 16 teams in this year’s Big Dance. Villanova, Arkansas, Houston, Gonzaga, Michigan and UCLA all appeared in the Sweet 16 of last year’s NCAA Tournament, with the Cougars, Zags and Bruins eventually moving onto the Final Four.
But there is one thing every team in this year’s Sweet 16 has in common: transfers.
Since the implementation of the NCAA Transfer Portal in 2018, we have seen a record-breaking number of players changing schools. Plenty of rosters in this year’s tournament feature multiple transfers, and several of those transfers have played a major role in helping their respective program reach the Sweet 16.
Here is a look at some impact transfers who will be playing in this week's Sweet 16.
*This list only includes players who transferred from another school this past year.
Rasir Bolton, Gonzaga
When Jalen Suggs and Joel Ayayi left for the NBA, it became apparent that Gonzaga needed another starting-caliber guard to fill that void. Enter Bolton, who arrived to Spokane after playing his freshman season at Penn State and his sophomore and junior campaign at Iowa State. The 6-foot-3 guard played a pivotal role in helping guide the Zags to an impressive 28-3 record and a spot in the Sweet 16, where they will face No. 4-seeded Arkansas. Most importantly, Bolton has been playing his best basketball of the season as of late, coming off an impressive 17-point outing in the Zags’ 82-78 win over Memphis in the Round of 32.
Izaiah Brockington, Iowa State
There are plenty of incredible stories surrounding the remaining teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better story than the Iowa State Cyclones, a team that finished 2-22 last season and is now two wins away from reaching the school’s second-ever Final Four. Basketball is a team sport, but the truth is that the Cyclones simply wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the play of their do-it-all guard. The 6-foot-4 senior transferred from Penn State and blossomed into one of the top players in the Big 12 this season. He leads the Cyclones in scoring (17.1 PPG) and rebounding (6.8 RPG), and has been the driving force behind the team’s surprise run to the Sweet 16.
The Friars have enjoyed a dream season thus far, winning their first Big 12 regular-season championship in school history and now making their first Sweet 16 appearance in 25 years. Ed Cooley's team has five players who average 9.9 PPG-or-more, but it's Durham, a transfer guard from Indiana, who is this team's heart and soul. The former Hoosier is averaging 13.3 points per game and is dishing out 3.4 assists per contest. He has scored in double-digits in 25 of the Friars' 32 games this season.
Kyler Edwards, Houston
The Cougars enjoyed a memorable 2020-21 season, thanks in large part to their outstanding backcourt duo of Quentin Grimes and DeJon Jarreau. But when both players left for the professional ranks, it left Kelvin Sampson in search of a lead guard. The expectation was that Marcus Sasser was going to take over as the Cougars' go-to option on offense, but he was lost for the season due to a toe injury in mid-December. That's when Edwards stepped up and became the team's leader. He was outstanding in the team's first-round win over UAB, scoring a game-high 25 points, while grabbing seven rebounds and adding three assists. He will have to be on his A-game if the Cougars are going to get by No. 1-seed Arizona on Thursday.
Has anyone been better through the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament than North Carolina forward Brady Manek? The former Oklahoma Sooner notched a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds in the Tar Heels' opening-round win over Marquette, and then followed that up with a 26-point, five rebound performance in UNC's upset win over No. 1 seed Baylor. Manek has scored in double figures in 15 straight games now, including topping the 20-point mark in five of his last six games, all of which have resulted in UNC victories.
There aren't many players throughout college basketball who are as well-traveled as Moore. After beginning his collegiate career at Cal, Moore has had stops Kansas and DePaul before eventually finding an ideal home at Miami. The senior guard has played an integral role in leading the Hurricanes to their first Sweet 16 appearance in six years. Moore has combined to score 31 points, grab 12 boards and dish out 12 assists in two NCAA Tournament games, both of which Miami was the lower seed. He was sensational in the Hurricanes' upset win over Auburn and now will head back to where his cross-country journey through college basketball began — the city of Chicago — for a Sweet 16 date with the Iowa State Cyclones.
Just like Moore, Williams has had several stops along his college basketball journey. The 6-foot-8 forward began his career at Fresno State, where he spent two years before transferring to UTEP. Following two successful seasons in El Paso, Williams made the move to Texas Tech and has been one of the Red Raiders' top players this season. Williams leads Tech in scoring at 13.9 points per game and has played his best this season against top competition. He put up 55 combined points in two regular-season games against Kansas this season and added a 20-point outing in the Red Raiders' opening-round NCAA Tournament win over Montana State.
Following an impressive four-year run at Arizona State, Martin arrived at Kansas with massive expectations. In addition to being named the Preseason Big-12 Player of the Year, Martin was looked at to be the Jayhawks' missing piece to get them back to the Final Four. After dealing with injuries and struggling throughout much of the Big 12 campaign, Martin began to hit his stride in the conference tournament and has been nothing short of outstanding in the Jayhawks' two tournament wins. He scored 15 points and dished out four assists in Kansas' opening-round win over Texas Southern, and then followed that up with arguably his best game of the season, a 20-point, seven-rebound, four-assist outing in a Round of 32 win over Creighton.
Other notable transfers:
Au'diese Toney, Arkansas (transferred from Pittsburgh)
Kevin Obanor, Texas Tech (transferred from Oral Roberts)
Josh Carlton, Houston (transferred from UConn)
DeVante' Jones, Michigan (transferred from Coastal Carolina)
Theo John, Duke (transferred from Marquette)
Myles Johnson, UCLA (transferred from Rutgers)
