D.J. Jeffries to Mississippi State; Chet Holmgren to Gonzaga

D.J. Jeffries is finally making his way to the SEC.

On Monday, the former Memphis forward announced his transfer to Mississippi State.

As you may recall, Jeffries was once committed to the Kentucky Wildcats as a four-star Class of 2019 recruit. However, he went on to become the first decommitment of the John Calipari era before landing at Memphis alongside Penny Hardaway, who previously coached Jeffries on the AAU circuit.

Despite the ties to Penny, there was a lot of buzz Jeffries could still end up with Mississippi State or Ole Miss. That’s why it’s no surprise to see Mississippi native join the Bulldogs after announcing his decision to transfer from Memphis earlier this offseason.

Mississippi State suddenly looks like a dangerous SEC team that’s easily been one of the biggest winners of the transfer portal since the offseason began. Just last week, they added former North Carolina Tar Heels forward Garrison Brooks, who Kentucky showed interest in.

Watch out for Ben Howland’s club in 2021-22.

In other big man news, top-ranked 2021 recruit Chet Holmgren committed to Gonzaga today on ESPN. He joins former Kentucky recruit Hunter Sallis in what could end up being the best recruiting class any teams assembles this year.

The 7-0, 190-pound Holmgren averaged 20.6 points, 12.6 rebounds. 5.2 blocks and 4.5 assists per game for Minnehaha Academy (MN) and won three state championships during his high school career. All three major recruiting services have him ranked No. 1 overall in 2021.

Oddly enough, Holmgren never drew much of any interest from Kentucky or Duke, though he did hold offers from North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Ohio State, USC, Baylor and Florida among others.

The news wasn’t all good for the Zags today, as star freshman guard Jalen Suggs declared for the NBA Draft and is projected to be a top-five pick. Despite this loss, the West Coast Bulldogs should be a preseason top-five team next season and could be No. 1 depending on how other NBA Draft decisions play out.

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