Former five-star guard and Stanford target JJ Starling enters name into transfer portal

There are two main reasons that college basketball is stealing the national spotlight right now, with the first of course being the NCAA tournament. The second one more so pertains to the explosion of the college basketball transfer portal.

While teams and fans are preparing for March Madness, there has been a massive surge of players entering their names into the transfer portal. I recently touched on three transfers that Stanford should be pursuing to help end their drought of missing out on the NCAA Tournament, and today that list grew after the entry of another player.

Former five-star and Notre Dame guard, JJ Starling, has emerged as the No. 1 player in the transfer portal following his decision to find a new home. Now, taking in transfers at Stanford is not the most simple process but Starling actually held a Stanford offer coming out of high school.

The Cardinal were among the programs pursuing him as Duke, Syracuse, and Maryland were other notable schools vying for his services. Starling who was also a McDonald's All-American who ranked No. 22 overall in the class of 2022, averaged 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game as a freshman.His numbers weren't as lucrative as many expected but the coaching situation with Mike Brey and adjusting to the college game are two things that most experts pinpoint as why.

Stanford has not had the most consistent guard play, and adding Starling who could use a fresh start would only help. Not to mention, pairing him with incoming four-star Kanaan Carlyle and five-star Andrej Stojaković would be a great trio for the Cardinal.

As it stands right now, Syracuse is the favorite to land Starling due to the fact that he is familiar with the program and grew up down the road. However, these are the kinds of big swings that Jerod Haase needs to be making to get Stanford out of their rut.