Pinging The Portal: West Virginia Guard Sean McNeil Visiting UC; Bearcats Contact Detroit Mercy Guard Antoine Davis; Memphis Star Emoni Bates Entering Portal

CINCINNATI — Transfer portal season is red hot and the Bearcats are right in the thick of things. Wes Miller added Old Dominion forward Kalu Ezikpe yesterday in what's turning into a big three-day stretch for the program.

One of the contributing factors to that is a visit from West Virginia guard Sean McNeil.

4/19 UPDATE: McNeil told Jon Rothstein that he is visiting Virginia (Today and Tomorrow) Cincinnati (Thursday) Indiana (This Weekend) Ohio State (This Weekend) McNeil also plans to visit Louisville and the date is TBD.

The 6-foot-3 graduate transfer averaged 12.2 points and 2.5 rebounds last season for the Mountaineers. Over the last two seasons, the sharpshooter nailed 37.8% of his 333 3-point attempts and finished third and sixth among all Big-12 players in made triples in those two seasons.

According to Evan Miya, McNeil is the 45th-best transfer in 2022 and the 10th-best shooting guard.

Cincinnati has also reached out to a new face in the portal—Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis. A top-25 scorer in college basketball history, Davis averaged 24.6 points per game in four seasons in Detroit and has a great chance to finish top-three in total points scored all-time due to the pandemic eligibility year.

At 6-foot-1, 165 pounds, the 2021-22 Horizon League Player of the Year won't help Cincinnati at all defensively. He is famously poor on that end allowing a 110-plus point defensive rating in all four seasons.

That being said, Davis can fill it up and could be hidden around better defenders. It's hard not to like that offensive efficiency surrounding a 24.2 PER (fourth in Horizon) and 56.7% true shooting (12th in Horizon).

According to Evan Miya, Davis is the 79th-ranked transfer overall and the 27th-ranked point guard.

Last on the list of news is Memphis forward Emoni Bates entering the transfer portal, according to Joe Tipton.

“I’d like to thank Coach Penny, my teammates, and the entire coaching staff at the University of Memphis for giving me the opportunity to be a Tiger. Thank you Tiger Nation for embracing me and all of you who supported our team throughout this season. With that being said, I have decided to enter the transfer portal,” Bates said in a statement to On3.

The polarizing freshman averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 2021-22. Bates missed a month and a half of the season due to injury and could be headed to the G-League or stay in college. At 6-foot-9, Bates showed a package of skills in high school that made him the top player in 2022 before re-classifying and playing at Memphis.

It's a pipe dream that Cincinnati could land a transfer like Bates, but talent like that is always worth a phone call. Bates was ESPN's third-ranked recruit in 2021 and the top-ranked small forward.

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