Transfer Talent: Will Wiltjer Be Latest All-American After Switching Schools?

January 2nd, 2015 - 10:34

"Stepping onto a brand new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation which is not nurturing." - Maya Angelou

Whether schools are simply filling out a roster with a backup or chasing a pot of gold at the end of a Larry Bird rainbow, they seem to be looking around every corner and under every rock for a transfer. Bird left a potential powerhouse at Indiana but never played for the Hoosiers before becoming national player of the year with Indiana State.

How many All-Americans actually played varsity basketball for two different four-year schools? The average is about one every two years. Duke and Kansas, two of the five schools with the most All-Americans in history, had their first transfer in that category two seasons ago - Duke guard Seth Curry (Liberty) and KU center Jeff Withey (Arizona). If voters are paying attention, there could be an all-time high of transfer All-Americans this season as guards Sterling Gibbs (Texas to Seton Hall), Angel Rodriguez (Kansas State to Miami FL), Juwan Staten (Dayton to West Virginia) and Dez Wells (Xavier to Maryland) guided their respective schools to a Top 25 ranking.

Mississippi State lost a transfer All-American several seasons ago when Ben Hansbrough departed for Notre Dame but the Bulldogs had their own player in this category earlier this century after Lawrence Roberts left Baylor. In an era when transfers have almost become an obsession for various reasons, there was a modest uptick in the ratio with seven All-Americans in this category in a six-year span from 2000 through 2005 before Louisville's Luke Hancock (George Mason) became Final Four Most Outstanding Player two years ago. After departing Kentucky, forward Kyle Wiltjer of Gonzaga, averaging 17 points in only 26 minutes per game, is a prime candidate to join the following alphabetical list of All-Americans who began their collegiate career at another four-year school:

Transfer All-American Pos. Original School All-American School
Courtney Alexander G Virginia 96-97 Fresno State 99-00
Elgin Baylor F College of Idaho 55 Seattle 57-58
Vince Boryla F-C Notre Dame 45-46 Denver 49
Michael Bradley F-C Kentucky 98-99 Villanova 01
Charley Brown G Indiana 56 Seattle 58-59
Art Bunte C-F Utah 52-53 Colorado 55-56
Frank Burgess G Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54 Gonzaga 59-61
Reggie Carter G Hawaii 76 St. John's 78-80
Seth Curry G Liberty 09 Duke 11-13
Dan Dickau G Washington 98-99 Gonzaga 01-02
Toney Douglas G Auburn 05 Florida State 07-09
Larry Fogle F Southwestern Louisiana 73 Canisius 74-75
Ricky Frazier G-F St. Louis 78 Missouri 80-82
Eric "Hank" Gathers F-C Southern California 86 Loyola Marymount 88-90
Gerald Glass F Delta State (Miss.) 86-87 Mississippi 89-90
Joey Graham F Central Florida 01-02 Oklahoma State 04-05
*Harvey Grant F Clemson 85 Oklahoma 87-88
*Ed Gray G Tennessee 94 California 96-97
Al Green G North Carolina State 76-77 Louisiana State 79
Ben Hansbrough G Mississippi State 07-08 Notre Dame 10-11
William "Red" Holzman G Baltimore 39 City College of New York 41-42
Wesley Johnson F Iowa State 07-08 Syracuse 10
Greg "Bo" Kimble F-G Southern California 86 Loyola Marymount 88-90
Jim Krivacs G Auburn 75 Texas 77-79
John Lucas III G Baylor 02-03 Oklahoma State 04
Kyle Macy G Purdue 76 Kentucky 78-80
Billy McCaffrey G Duke 90-91 Vanderbilt 93-94
Bob McCurdy F-C Virginia 72 Richmond 74-75
Mark McNamara C Santa Clara 78-79 California 81-82
Chris Mills F Kentucky 89 Arizona 91-93
James "Scoonie" Penn G Boston College 96-97 Ohio State 99-00
Lawrence Roberts F-C Baylor 02-03 Mississippi State 04-05
Carlos Rogers C UALR 91 Tennessee State 93-94
Marshall Rogers G Kansas 73 Pan American 75-76
Clifford Rozier C-F North Carolina 91 Louisville 93-94
Kevin Stacom G Holy Cross 71 Providence 73-74
Dan Swartz C Kentucky 52 Morehead State 54-56
Brandon Joel "B.J." Tyler G DePaul 90 Texas 92-94
Bill Uhl C Ohio State 52 Dayton 54-56
Jeff Withey C Arizona 09 Kansas 10-13
Win Wilfong F Missouri 52-53 Memphis State 56-57
Leon Wood G Arizona 80 Cal State Fullerton 82-84
Andre Woolridge G Nebraska 93 Iowa 95-97

*Attended junior college between four-year school stints.
NOTE: Burgess was an Air Force veteran.