Transfer Wire: Hancock to Louisville, Johnson to NC State and more

Following Jim Larranga”s departure to Miami (FL), George Mason sophomore wing Luke Hancock announced his desire to transfer. This weekend, Hancock decided to take his talents to Louisville.

Hancock could be a perfect fit for Louisville.

Hancock is not a superstar, he averaged 10.9PPG, 4.3APG, 4.2RPG in 28.6MPG, but BallinIsAHabit says the rising junior is a perfect fit for Rick Pitino’s system.

Most of you might remember Hancock for his dazzling 18 point, 5 assist and 3 rebound performance against Villanova in the first round of this year’s NCAA tournament. Hancock will be eligible for two more seasons starting in 2012-13 and will look to put up similar numbers when he faces Villanova again.

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Cal State Bakersfield senior point guard Alex Johnson is headed to NC State to play for first year coach Mark Gottfried, the news was broken by Dave Telep.

Johnson is surely a replacement for departed point guard Ryan Harrow, who decided to transfer last month. Johnson is listed as a point guard, but he attempted 228 three pointers last season for the Roadrunners, converting on 34.6% of them.

Johnson is taking advantage of the NCAA rule that allows players that have graduated to transfer to another school for one season, much like Eniel Polynice’s move to Seton Hall last summer.

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With Luke Hancock’s transfer out of the CAA, it looks like Paul Hewitt found a replacement in Seton Hall’s Anali Okoloji. The freshman decided to officially transfer early last month after many tweets that gave away his course of action.

Okoloji will be eligible in 2012-13 for George Mason.

Yesterday, the versatile forward decided on George Mason as a new home over Long Island. The word is that Paul Hewitt is family friends with Anali’s mother, the Patriots were on his list of potential suitors from day one.

Okoloji saw little playing time last season, sparking his desire to transfer. However, its clear that Anali is more of a SF than a PF. His athleticism was on a Big East level, however his basketball IQ was not quite there. He should fit in well with the Patriots starting in 2012-13, he will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Anali will be a fan and coaches favorite at George Mason. From all reports,  he has a phenomenal work ethic in and out of the gym (3.5GPA). He was also very cordial on Twitter to me and handled his transfer with utmost professional. There are usually a lot of bitter fans when it comes to a transfer in college basketball, but I couldn’t spot one Seton Hall fan who didn’t wish Okoloji the best of luck.

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More transfers:

-USC transfer Bryce Jones finally decided on a school after several months of deliberating, the shooting guard chose UNLV. Jones will be eligible as a redshirt sophomore starting in the 2012-13 season.

-Utah State added 6’11 Jared Shaw of Oklahoma State this weekend. Shaw averaged 1.2PPG and 1.2RPG in just 7.3MPG for the Cowboys this past season. He will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2012-13 season.

- Niagara transfer Kashief Edwards is headed to Northeastern. After the paperwork is complete, he will be eligible immediately. The forward averaged 12.4PPG as a junior for Niagara.

-Louisiana Tech transfer Olu Ashaolu is headed to Oregon. The forward averaged 14.2PPG & 9.4 RPG as a junior for the Bulldogs. He will have one year eligibility remaining.

- The aforementioned Ryan Harrow of NC State will make a decision this week. He is considering Kentucky, Texas, Louisville, Georgia and St. John’s. The point guard has visited all of his potential destinations except St. John’s.