Potential Grad Transfer: PF Jack Whitman

It is still really early in the off-season process, but the college basketball world never sleeps. Looking towards next season, regardless of whether John Collins comes back to Wake Forest or moves on to the NBA, the Deacs will likely need an additional guy inside to rebound and play defense.

Currently Wake Forest has two open scholarships one open scholarship for next season, and there is a really good chance that it will go to a grad transfer. I’m unsure if there is anybody else in the 2018 class that Coach Manning is looking at, but one-year guys tend to make more sense here because it doesn’t tie up a scholarship long-term.

William and Mary’s Jack Whitman announced earlier this week that he would be graduating early to transfer and play his final year elsewhere. Whitman is 6-9, 235, and will have one year of eligibility wherever he lands.

A quick look at this guy indicates that he is exactly what Danny Manning should be looking for as a grad transfer. Whitman played 55% of the Tribe’s minutes last year, presumably limited a bit by his 5.1 FC/40 rate.

In those minutes he showed great skill around the basket, shooting 66% from the field, but only 60% from the free throw line. Given his 94.9 foul rate (he gets to the line A LOT), that’s something that would likely need to be improved upon.

He ranked 147th in the nation in offensive rebound percentage, and 133rd in block rate. This gives Wake the presence that they would want inside from a guy who is playing 15-20 minutes a night.

His 10% assist rate shows that he has reasonable court vision for a big man and isn’t necessarily a black hole once the balls goes inside.

As other guys become available there will be more articles like this highlighting players that could help the team in 2018.