• Chattanooga transfer Sam Alexis, a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward who averaged 10.9 points and 9.1 rebounds.
• Toledo transfer Ra’Heim Moss, a 6-4 junior guard from Springfield who averaged 15.5 points.
• Memphis transfer Jonathan Pierre, a 6-9 forward who played limited minutes in one season at Memphis.
Nevada coach Steve Alford talked about the challenge of continuing to recruit while preparing for a NCAA tournament game on Wednesday in a press conference at the Delta Center.
“It’s made it just a busier time,” Alford said. “I was talking to our athletic director and staffs, boosters that we have in the hotel this morning about it. Normally this is all about watching tape on Dayton, watching as many game tapes as you can that they’ve played, the schemes that you want to try to devise both offensively and defensively. Yet we’re on the phone doing Zooms last night for almost two hours with recruits. It’s very, very different now. Recruits are on visits now. That part of it’s odd.
“I still wish there was a period of time that the 68 teams that are in the field can enjoy being something that you’ve worked for for four or five months, to be a part of something special like that — that’s your only focus. When we get past Phoenix, the Final Four, then we open it up. That’s always been the norm. Coaches know once your season is over, that’s when recruiting happens. It’s odd the recruiting is now happening before your season’s even over. I think that’s an odd thing that really shouldn’t happen.”
With Dayton forward Zimi Nwokeji entering the portal on Monday, UD has one open scholarship, assuming former walk-on Brady Uhl remains on scholarship next season. That number will increase if DaRon Holmes II turns pro, or if any other current players leave.
Dayton coach Anthony Grant talked Wednesday about how the portal has changed his job.
“I think obviously part of our job as coaches is to adapt to situations,” Grant said. “I think it’s in flux right now — college athletics, period — because there’s been so many changes. ... The transfer portal and NIL, to go along with the impact of the extra COVID year, college basketball has gotten a lot older where you’re seeing 24- and 25-year-olds competing against 18- and 19-year-olds.
“Along with the NIL is the influence of the agents and then the different sponsors that guys have a responsibility to, along with the ability to change locations multiple times. I think it’s a different game than what it’s been. I think the beauty of college athletics has always been the ability to bring a team together and grow a team together. I think some of that, as a coach, you begin to question if that piece of it can remain a part of the game. Whether it’s basketball or football, really any sport, I think that’s in the balance right now. So we’ll have to see where it ends up.”
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