The NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 has 12 of the Top 16 seeds, with a five and two sixes – and the lone “Cinderella” is a 10-seed, Arkansas, which comes from a power conference in the SEC and is coached by the legendary John Calipari.
Colorado State almost beating Maryland is the closest we got to a true run (and more than just a one-game upset), but when Kevin Brockway, who covers the Terps' next opponent, Florida, joined BMitch & Finlay to preview that game Wednesday, JP asked him if the state of NIL and the transfer portal has something to do with that…and considering Florida’s best player came from Iona, yeah, it does.
And Florida may be a perfect example of that, a top seed whose top three players in terms of minutes were all transfers, starting with leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr.
“They’re eight or nine deep, but Walter Clayton is kind of the engine that makes them go; he’s averaging 23 points per game in the tournament, but a really strong three-guard backcourt in him, Will Richard, and Alijah Martin, the transfer from FAU that's brought a little toughness and leadership, particularly on the defensive end of the floor,” Brockway said. “Up front, you've got Alex Condon, an All-SEC sophomore, and Rueben Chinyelu, who transferred from Washington State and has a 7-foot-6 wingspan, more of a physical guy in terms of his body size. They’re deep in the frontcourt too, one of the top offensive teams in the SEC and an improving defensive team, too.”
Listen to Brockway’s entire visit with BMitch & Finlay above!