Tre Mitchell Overlooked in ESPN Transfer Rankings, Ranked Outside Top 50

This offseason, many fans were upset about Kentucky missing out on Hunter Dickinson (Kansas) and Keshad Johnson (Arizona), and the Wildcats’ lack of activity in the transfer portal in general. However, the stars aligned perfectly as they received a commitment from West Virginia transfer, Tre Mitchell.

When Mitchell entered the portal, Kentucky just made sense. Both Mitchell and John Calipari are from the Pittsburgh area, his step-father and Calipari have a decades-long working relationship, and there was even some mutual interest out of high school. Considering those things, is it easy to see why Kentucky was Mithcell’s only visit, committing just days after entering the portal.

A four-year collegiate player, Mitchell brings experience and a versatile offensive skillset to the roster and that can be seen in his career averages of 13.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 34.7 shooting from three.

It was also seen during the Wildcats’ trip to Canada for GLOBL JAM earlier this month, where Mitchell looked like a perfectly fitting piece. In four games, Mitchell topped his career averages with 14.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists on 44.4 percent from three.

Last week and following that performance, ESPN”s Jeff Borzello ranked his top 100 transfers. On one hand, Mitchell did make the list, but on the other hand, is he ranked too low?

Ranked 64th, Mitchell is ranked ahead of all four of Kentucky’s outgoing transfers, but is also ranked behind the likes of Arterio Morris (Kansas), MJ Rice (NC State), and Yohan Traore (UC Santa Barbara), none of which have started a game at the collegiate level. With that said, there are more talented players in Borzello’s rankings, but there are few that could fit this Kentucky roster as well as Mitchell.

This is unusual as Borzello ranked Mitchell as a Top 5 transfer in 2021 when transferring from UMass. With that said, this isn’t the first controversial ranking for Borzello as he ranked Antonio Reeves as the 36th-best transfer in 2022.

What is your opinion? Is Tre Mitchell ranked too high, too low, or just right?