Men's college basketball transfer grades for 2024-25 - ESPN

The men's college basketball transfer portal is deeper than ever. With an increase in NIL budgets and the potential introduction of revenue sharing, there is more money to distribute, and the majority of those funds are being directed toward experienced players in the portal. It's become the primary way for teams to build rosters to compete for championships.

The balance of power between transfers and freshmen has completely shifted in recent years, with fewer freshmen being heavily relied upon. The elite prospects, the five-stars? Sure. But for the most part, transfers are the better bet when it comes to playing a significant role. (This year's Duke team is an outlier, mostly because Cooper Flagg is an outlier.)

Just take the top-10 teams in last week's AP poll. In the starting lineups of those 10 over the weekend, 15 were first-year transfers and just four were freshmen. Three of those four freshmen were from Duke. Purdue was the lone top-10 team without a first-year transfer.

Here's a look at some of this season's notable impact transfers — and the ones who haven't panned out yet.

Most stats are as of Feb. 17.

1. John Tonje, Wisconsin Badgers

There is not a player on this list with more big performances in big games this season than Tonje. Just look at the numbers: 41 points against Arizona, 33 against Pitt, 32 at Purdue, 31 against Illinois. Eleven games with at least 20 points, including seven instances in the past eight. He's averaging 19.6 points and 4.8 rebounds after injuries limited him to 2.6 points in eight games at Missouri last season. And, Tonje is playing the best basketball of his career in recent weeks: Over his past eight games, the 6-5 senior is averaging 25.1 points and is a legitimate All-American