Manny Bates to transfer; Terquavion Smith and Dereon Seabron going through NBA Draft process

Is Kevin Keatts going to be able to snag enough quality talent from the transfer portal to save his job? Because that’s what it’s going to come down to for him. Manny Bates announced today that he will be transferring, which is the most significant loss for the program so far.

Joe Giglio is also reporting that both Dereon Seabron and Terquavion Smith have submitted their names to the NBA Draft advisory committee—which is not a surprise in either case. Everyone has been assuming that Seabron will not be back, and the way things are going, I won’t be surprised if Baby T is gone as well.

I don’t blame Manny for seeking a better opportunity next year because this program is a disaster at the moment and he can more effectively showcase his talent for NBA scouts on an actual good team with a functional point guard. No question that’s the right move for him, though it’s still a bummer.

Kevin Keatts is going to have to land multiple impact players through the portal to field a competitive team next year, and that figures to be a hell of a challenge—especially since he still has a couple of coaching vacancies on his staff. Maybe this wasn’t the best offseason for those particular changes, but what do I know.

This is all very depressing.