Marcus Carr Enters Transfer Portal

This morning, I’m (again) the bearer of bad news for Minnesota Gopher basketball fans. Marcus Carr has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per Jeff Goodman (Stadium). Carr is far and away the best player on the men’s basketball roster but most expected him to leave via the NBA Draft process, not the portal.

Minnesota’s Marcus Carr is in the transfer portal, source told @Stadium.

Averaged 19.4 points per game this past season.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 19, 2021

Carr joins Jamal Mashburn Jr as the second Minnesota point guard to fill out the NCAA transfer form since season’s end. He can still enter the draft but this allows him to keep his options open.

There are a lot of ways to look at these transfer portal entries. If Gopher players think this hiring process will be drawn out in any capacity, and they aren’t sure they want to play under a new coach, then entering the transfer portal makes sense even if a player is open to returning. The new coach will then have to recruit said transfer portal player just like other schools.

If a player wants to keep their options open, then letting other schools know of their availability only makes sense. I still think it’s unlikely that any of Carr, Mashburn or Omersa end back with the Gophers. But at the end of the day, who cares. This isn’t football. A new coach could bring over one or two kids from his current job or from his 2021 recruiting class and completely change everything.

We just have to trust in Mark Coyle, who has earned our trust through past head coaching hires (Fleck, Motzko, Whalen), and wait…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan