I came across some interesting tidbits due in part to the UT Arlington men's basketball coaching change. I briefly mentioned it in the last post, but one of my main concerns is losing the High School pipeline that was temporarily halted when Scott Cross was fired.
Some of that was mended when Royce "Snoop' Johnson was added to the staff of failed head coach Chris Ogden. That still didn't help as many of the local coaches had a loyalty of some kind or another to Cross. Some of the coaches were his former players and highly looked down on the way the school and Athletic Director departed with Cross.
When Greg Young was promoted and Johnson stayed on, the pipeline started re-opening, as freshmen Brandon Walker and Chendall Weaver have shown this year and Montez Young, Jr last year, that is paying dividends. One reason Mavs fans were frustrated with the coaching change, at least those I talked to or observed, was that Greg Young compiled a talented, young team and then tried to fill the gaps with older, experienced transfers. There was no doubt they were getting better as the year progressed. There's also no doubt the inconsistent play exhibited is a trademark of young teams.
But let me get to the point of this post. A large fear is that some of the talented youngsters may depart at the end of the year. Obviously nothing can be done now except let it play out. But in the meantime, I wanted to take a look at a few recent Mavericks who utilized the transfer portal and may be regretting that decision.
I spoke to Coach Young over the summer and there's a belief the "bigger" schools are unofficially recruiting smaller school's players. Some of the players see the bigger more recognizable names of these larger programs and think they have a chance to showcase their skills and get into the NBA or another professional league. But that doesn't seem to pan out.
Last year, UTA was one player away from a really good year. In 2020/21, Shahada Wells averaged 16.8 points per game and 3.8 assists per game. He immediately transferred to TCU and played the next year, averaging 1.9 points and 1.1 assists in an injury-riddled senior season. As a graduate student this year, he's doing better, but way below where he was at UTA, getting 6.7 points and 2.6 assists a game.
Last year, Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu averaged 4.7 points and 4.6 rebounds, but was a block machine with 74 in one season. He's third all-time on the UTA charts in just two seasons, sitting at 147 blocks for his career here. This year with the Memphis Tigers, he's only getting 11.7 minutes per game as a senior. In those minutes, he's getting 2.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks (42 total) per game.
Leaving with Kao was Patrick Mwamba and Nicolas Elame. Mwamba went to Oral Roberts via the transfer portal. Mwamba is currently averaging 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game after getting 9.9 and 4.3 respectively in his sophomore season at UTA.
Elame went to Longwood after getting 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in his sophomore season. He's received no playing time and is back in the transfer portal.
As far as making it to the next level, neither of the four players who transferred have improved their stat line. Hard to say you deserve a pro contract if your production slips.
Now the thing they may have done is get into the NCAA tournament this year. TCU is ranked and looks as close to a sure thing as there may be. Wells made it last year. Memphis is second in the American Athletic Conference, has twenty wins and is in great position for an at-large. Oral Roberts is undefeated in Summitt League play at 15-0, 24-4 overall.
Had Wells played at UTA last year. the team's chances of making the tourney goes way up. Had Kao stayed, I guarantee he gets more minutes and has better production. That is likely the same outlook for Elame too. Mwamba probably produces more, but he's been effective on a team that will play in the postseason somewhere, even if his individual numbers are smaller.
Mav fans are hoping there isn't another mass exodus with several of UTA's young stars. They may not know it, but from the case study, the players may not want it either.
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