Nate Oats and Alabama just got a Kentucky transfer. How will John Calipari respond?
Transfer portal activity -- and intrigue -- in SEC basketball are increasing. Significant news is developing, and John Calipari of Arkansas is certainly weighing his options at the moment.
Nate Oats and Alabama landed Kentucky transfer Brandon Garrison in the portal. Alabama is, according to some, the favorite to land another Kentucky transfer, Jasper Johnson, who might want to join Garrison -- a teammate -- in Tuscaloosa.
Why do we mention Calipari here? Because Coach Cal recruited Johnson when he was still the Kentucky coach. Now Calipari has to ask himself if Johnson is a high-value player worth bringing to Arkansas.
On3 Sports has more on Johnson at Kentucky:
"He averaged 4.9 points, 1.6 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per contest across 35 games. Johnson came to Kentucky as Mark Pope‘s highest-ranked recruit of all time, finishing at No. 25 overall and No. 9 at his position. He grew up rooting for North Carolina and saw a fit at Alabama under Nate Oats, but opted to stay home and play for his hometown Wildcats, following in his father’s footsteps as a former All-SEC pass-rusher for the program from 1998-2001."
The article later continued:
"'Jasper Johnson is just danger, danger, danger, danger, right? He just is a dangerous gravity guy,' Pope said of the local five-star after he signed. '… Jasper Johnson has a chance to be a really, really special player here in Kentucky, for sure.'
"The vision did not become a reality for Johnson, who played just 20 combined minutes in three SEC Tournament games and eight combined in two NCAA Tournament games with 11 total shot attempts in that stretch for 10 points. Known as one of the most dynamic bucket-getters in high school basketball before arriving as a Wildcat, he’d finish with just five double-figure scoring performances — three coming before Christmas against low-major competition.
"Pope himself admitted that Jaland Lowe’s shoulder injury — one that ultimately ended his season — derailed Johnson’s debut season as a Wildcat, forcing him into a backup point guard role rather than being the ‘dangerous scoring two guard that he was brought here to be.’
“'Jasper Johnson had moments of his season that were super frustrating for him, for sure,' he said. 'It really wasn’t fair to ask him to play the backup point guard role, but it was something we needed.'”
Precisely because Jasper Johnson was thrown into an unenviable situation, he has wanted to transfer. Calipari could see this and think he can create an ideal scenario for Johnson at Arkansas. Is it worth the effort, or should Calipari look at more proven, polished players in the portal?
As we said, the intrigue is building.