Indiana State freshman guard S. Nordheim just entered the portal.
That brings Indiana States total to 10! What the heck is going on there? It’s a state school with decent football revenue.
Case by case. Maybe they don't like Graves. But they are transferring from many places. Ric Barnes just four promising returning players transfer out at the blink of an eye. What's the transfer list up to now? 1,200?
Does anyone know the %-age of those entering the portal who end up playing nowhere and/or can't return to their previous school?
@burnee77 Then there is Purdue with the whole team returning.
I believe that Purdue had 1 or 2 low-end players, who may have been injured/red shirted or whatever that entered the portal.
@burnee77 your only off by about 1000 players. 2244 players currently in the transfer portal per verbal commits.
@valpo64 last year over 2500 players were in the transfer portal, about 20% did not find a new home, maybe 1/3 of those were players that were seniors with one more year of eligibility because of Covid.
I believe that Purdue had 1 or 2 low-end players, who may have been injured/red shirted or whatever that entered the portal.
Walk on Aaron Fine transferred from Purdue to Ball State but I think he may be the only one. There are a few teams in the Valley doing a complete rebuild. I wouldn’t cry much to see Bradley have their turn at the bottom of the Valley standings next year.
I believe that Purdue had 1 or 2 low-end players, who may have been injured/red shirted or whatever that entered the portal.
Just one walk-on who transferred to Ball State. Every scholarship player (besides those who exhausted eligibility) is returning.
Long post, just my thoughts on the recent addition Kai Yu and what he is bringing to our 5-spot next year - Welcome aboard Kai!
I spent some time digging into Kai Yu’s game logs and advanced numbers on KenPom, and while I’m probably lower on his projection than some others here, I’m still genuinely excited he’s on the roster and think he’ll have a positive impact. I just view that impact a little differently than the more optimistic takes—and I fully admit I could be missing an X‑factor that hasn’t shown up yet.
Based on the data and his usage at Bradley, Yu was largely deployed as a matchup-driven rotation big who brought value through size, rebounding, and interior efficiency, rather than volume offense or highlight defense. Part of that was context—he was playing behind a better big in Jonovic—but part of it was also that Yu tended to be neutralized against starting-caliber Valley centers. He’s had some flashes in limited opportunities, but over the years I’ve learned not to bank on flashes alone, especially heading into a third-year college season.
At 7’0”, 240, Yu gives us real interior size—something we badly need and something that’s a clear step up from a Tucker Tornatta-type player backing up that spot last year. Yu averaged roughly 8 minutes per game, and Bradley treated him as a situational piece rather than a foundational one. I do expect his role to expand somewhat here, but not dramatically, I think 16 mpg ish.
Offensively, he’s been most effective doing simple big-man things. He shot 55% on twos, finishes dump-offs, cleans up misses, and generally doesn’t hijack possessions. His usage rate (~18–20%) was actually a bit lower than Carter’s last year giving you an idea of his opportunity. His assist rate—especially in league play—suggests he can make the right read when the ball finds him, which would be a positional upgrade for us. He also shot 71% from the free throw line, which matters for a center playing through contact and is something I’d expect to translate reliably next season.
I’ve seen a lot of discussion about his three-point potential, especially in contrast to Shon, where defenses clearly didn’t respect the shot, and for good reason. The honest takeaway for me is this: the three-point shot exists… but barely. He hit a few—including that memorable 2-for-2 night at Drake—but overall he was around 27% from deep. Defenses will contest, but no one is rearranging coverages because of him. Think “keep them honest,” not “stretch five.” It may pull defenses a step or two farther out than they did with Shon, but Yu isn’t the perimeter threat Cooper was a few years back—at least not based on what he’s shown so far. It may slightly improve the paint sagging next season.
Where Yu really helps is on the glass, which becomes even more important with Shon’s departure. His defensive rebounding rate is strong, and he’s chipped in legitimate offensive rebounding games in limited minutes. He’s good at ending possessions and occasionally creating extra ones simply by being big, physical, and in the right spot.
Defensively, he’s much more positional than disruptive. He’s not close to the defender Shon was, and I’d argue he isn’t any better than Carter on that end either. The block and steal numbers are low, which matches the eye test—he’s not a rim eraser or switch defender. He walls up, uses his body, rebounds, and moves on. The tradeoff is foul susceptibility, which is why most of his college minutes so far have come in short, controlled stretches.
The biggest red flag in the data is how his numbers change against better competition. Against Tier A/B opponents, his efficiency drops sharply—scoring, shooting, free throws, all of it. That doesn’t make him unplayable in those games, but it does suggest he’s far more effective against traditional and off the bench bigs than against elite size and athleticism.
I’m also not fully convinced he slots in ahead of Carter. If we’re looking strictly at last season, Yu was slightly better. But Carter was a freshman, while Yu was effectively in his third year after a redshirt year that followed an additional prep season, and I think Carter’s developmental upside is still higher. Right now, I see Yu at best competing for the starting spot early, but more realistically fighting with Walker for general minutes, in a role similar to what he had at Bradley—just slightly extended. That said, sometimes a change of scenery matters, and if he’s on the precipice of a real developmental jump and ends up making an All-Valley team, I’d happily admit I was wrong. No one has seen him in Roger’s system yet so I’m looking at this with one eye closed.
Bottom line:
Kai Yu looks to me like a useful rotation center whose value comes from rebounding, size, and efficient interior play. He’s not a lineup-carrying piece in my view, but in the right matchups he can stabilize things and help us control possessions better at the 5. Used correctly, he’s a positive contributor. Pushed beyond that, I think his limitations start to show. We will see, I am really hoping he has that X factor and develops this offseason into something Bradley is really going to regret. Welcome aboard Kai.
I’m wondering whether or not Valpo’s faith based school together with their coach was the draw for Kai. He went to Link and then to Liberty! Perhaps Coach Wardle wasn’t his cup of tea.
I guess I was right on the Christian draw.
This from today’s press “Coach Powell is a cool guy. The most important thing to me is that he is a Christian who believes in Jesus”
Shon to Murray. Really disappointed. All the more reason to hate the portal.
So if Coach Powell was a really cool guy and a great person, but was Jewish, he would not have transferred to Valpo?I’m wondering whether or not Valpo’s faith based school together with their coach was the draw for Kai. He went to Link and then to Liberty! Perhaps Coach Wardle wasn’t his cup of tea.
I guess I was right on the Christian draw.
This from today’s press “Coach Powell is a cool guy. The most important thing to me is that he is a Christian who believes in Jesus”
So if Coach Powell was a really cool guy and a great person, but was Jewish, he would not have transferred to Valpo?I’m wondering whether or not Valpo’s faith based school together with their coach was the draw for Kai. He went to Link and then to Liberty! Perhaps Coach Wardle wasn’t his cup of tea.
I guess I was right on the Christian draw.
This from today’s press “Coach Powell is a cool guy. The most important thing to me is that he is a Christian who believes in Jesus”
I think that is a reasonable assumption given that he went on to say "I try to find a coach who is a Christian so I can build my faith."
Shon to Murray. Really disappointed. All the more reason to hate the portal.
I could NOT agree more. Shon got a lot of money to go to Murray. It should be interesting to watch as they signed another center (from Belmont) within hours of announcing the Shon signing. Will be curious to see if Shon ultimately starts and/or finishes games for Murray. We have all talked about the amount of NIL dollars that Murray can spend versus the rest of the league. The difference is substantial.