It’s December 16 and it’s still difficult to work out a cohesive pecking order for the SEC heading into conference play.
No team has been dominant through 10 games in what has been a complete 180 from the SEC’s historic 2024 nonconference run. Florida has very real backcourt issues. Tennessee is missing Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack’s ability to stop the ball. Alabama still can’t play defense at all, and Kentucky… well, Kentucky is trying.
The Wildcats and Vanderbilt both had the same strategy this past offseason and built around their top talent through the transfer portal. But while Kentucky’s expensive class has struggled (without Jayden Quaintance and largely Mo Dioubate, to be fair), Vanderbilt’s class has taken Mark Byington’s team from good to the SEC’s No. 1 team at KenPom with 3 weeks to go until SEC play. Georgia and LSU, in similar fashion, have raised their stock through the portal, and just about every SEC team not named Arkansas will see their ceiling dictated by the play of a few key transfers in some way or form.
With that said, here’s a look at the top 5 top-performing transfers in the SEC as we near league play.
1. Duke Miles, Vanderbilt
You name it, Duke Miles has done it for Vanderbilt this season. The Oklahoma transfer is shooting at a high level from everywhere on the court, averaging a team high 16.6 points per game at 50% from the field, 38% from 3 and 83% from the free throw line. A good defender for a 6-2 guard, Miles is especially adept at creating turnovers at just over 2 steals per game. Finally, he doesn’t turn the ball over and gets to the line better than most guards in the SEC through the first 6 weeks of the season.
Vanderbilt moves the ball exceptionally well, and Miles is a big part of the reason why. He, Tyler Tanner and Frankie Collins are all talented playmakers, each averaging more than 4 assists per game. When you mix that ball movement with several knockdown 3-point shooters and impressive ball security, it’s not hard to see why Vanderbilt has been torching opponents on offense all season.
We’ll see how it all looks in SEC play, but Vanderbilt is a serious contender for the SEC title if Miles continues leading the Commodores like he is now.
2. KeyShawn Hall, Auburn
KeyShawn Hall is the SEC’s 2nd leading scorer, and anyone who watched him tear it up at UCF last season would understand how easy that is to believe. Hall is a threat to put the ball in the bucket from anywhere on the court and the only player in the SEC who is currently ranked in the top 5 for both points and rebounds per game.
The former Knight has also been remarkably consistent, something that new head coach Steven Pearl has surely appreciated early. Hall has scored at least 13 points in every game Auburn has played this season with 5 double-doubles on the year. He scored 20, 15, 20 and 13 points against Houston, Michigan, St. John’s and Arizona, respectively.
So why is he not at the top of the ranking? Defense, which is far from his strong suit. Hall grades out as the worst defender on this list, a problem that appears to have followed him from the Big 12.
3. Jeremiah Wilkinson, Georgia
Jerimiah Wilkinson is the real deal, and he offers a perfect excuse to pull out an all-timer:
EvanMiya and other advanced analytics platforms don’t hold Wilkinson in this high of regard through the first month and a half of the season. They all knock him for his defense, which, fine, whatever. The computers simply fail to see something that just doesn’t show up on a stat sheet: This man is an absolute dog.
Wilkinson was the ACC 6th Man of the Year as a freshman last season, and his offensive prowess and explosiveness have definitely translated to the SEC. The former Cal guard is averaging just over 21 points across his past 4 games and led Georgia to a 9-1 start for a second straight season. How high Georgia can go may ultimately depend on he and fellow star guard Blue Cain.
4. Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, when he’s on, is probably the most talented offensive player in the SEC apart from Labaron Philon. The East Tennessee native and former Maryland guard is Tennessee’s best offensive player and a knockdown shooter, though one really bad outing against Kansas has skewed his now-decent 3-point percentage through 10 games. He also, admittedly, has to protect the ball better as the senior lead guard.
All that considered, Gillespie is still averaging 17.3 points and 5.4 assists per game, and he’s reached double figures in every matchup except for the first of his Tennessee career against Mercer, where he had 8 points. Gillespie has been Tennessee’s only consistent high-volume shooter in the backcourt, which has caused his usage rate to skyrocket and opposing defenses to crack down on him the second he crosses the half court line.
Gillespie needs just an inkling of help from Nate Ament and the rest of Tennessee’s offense to be considered among the true elites in the conference.
5. DJ Thomas, LSU
Former UNLV point guard DJ Thomas leads the way for a really, really fun LSU squad. Alongside fellow transfers Marquel Sutton, Max MacKinnon and Pablo Tamba, Thomas has reshaped LSU basketball during a crucial year for head coach Matt McMahon.
This No. 5 spot on this list was very difficult to nail down, but I decided early that it had to go to one of the Tigers mentioned above. Just about every transfer LSU brought in is worthy of a discussion, but Thomas separated himself from the pack.
Why? For starters, Thomas is the best playmaker in the SEC, without question. He’s averaging just under 7 assists per game (No. 1 in the league by nearly 2 assists) and has a pair of double-digit assist games already. Thomas is also a very smart player, avoids fouling, draws fouls and rarely turns the ball over. There’s some work to be done defensively — that’s true for LSU as a whole — but Thomas has been all you want from a point guard in Baton Rouge this season.
Honorable Mentions (no order): Marquel Sutton, Nijel Pack, Matas Vokietaitis, Mo Dioubate, Dailyn Swain
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
