Top 7-Foot Transfer Recruit Makes Commitment Decision on Thursday
The pressure has been on all spring for college basketball programs, with coaches working tirelessly to assemble the best possible rosters ahead of the 2025–26 season.
Although the transfer portal has officially closed for new entries, several high-profile players remain available, giving teams one last shot to strengthen their lineups.
Advertisement
One of the latest big moves comes from ESPN's Jonathan Givony and DraftExpress, who reported that FAU transfer Baba Miller has committed to Cincinnati, according to agents Guillermo Bermejo and Deirunas Visockas.
Miller, a 21-year-old from Spain, began his collegiate career at Florida State.
After two seasons with the Seminoles (2022–24), he transferred to Florida Atlantic for the 2024–25 season. He's now headed to Cincinnati to play for head coach Wes Miller.
Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Wes Miller.Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
During his time at Florida State, Miller appeared in 48 games. As a sophomore, he averaged 22.4 minutes and 6.6 points per game. At FAU, he played in 34 games, averaging 30 minutes and 11.3 points.
Advertisement
His final game with the Owls came in an 86–79 loss to Dayton on March 19, where he posted 16 points and 7 rebounds. He averaged 11.3 points per game with FAU.
Before his college career, Miller was part of Real Madrid's youth team that won the 2020–21 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament.
Cincinnati's transfer activity has been busy this offseason. The Bearcats lost Tyler Betsey, Arrinten Page, C.J. Anthony, Dillon Mitchell, Dan Skilling Jr. and Josh Reed to the portal.
In addition to Miller, the Bearcats added Jalen Celestine, a 6-foot-6 guard from Baylor, and Moustapha Thiam from UCF.
Advertisement
Cincinnati is coming off a 19-16 season, including a 7-13 mark in Big 12 play. With Miller and other new additions, Wes Miller's squad is hoping for a bounce-back year.
Related: Duke's Cedric Coward Sends Strong Message on Jon Scheyer At NBA Draft Combine
Related: Tyrese Proctor Makes Clear Decision on NBA Draft After Leaving Duke
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Stock Watch: Konnor Griffin, Luis Peña, Chase Burns headline first-half storylines
With the midway point of the 2025 season rapidly approaching, it feels like the perfect time to take a 10,000 foot overview of the dynasty landscape, which is in the process of undergoing a dramatic overhaul. This week's Dynasty Stock Watch column identifies a handful of compelling prospect-related storylines and players that fantasy managers need to know entering the second half. We've spilled enough electronic ink across Rotoworld's wide range of fantasy baseball-related columns on household names like Roman Anthony and Jac Caglianone in recent weeks. This space digs a little deeper with a focus on the next wave of top prospects that are going to send shockwaves through the fantasy landscape in a couple years. 1) Konnor Griffin and Luis Peña have achieved top-10 dynasty prospect status. Life comes at you fast. Griffin and Peña's meteoric ascents into the top-10 dynasty prospect stratosphere took than a half season as they've spent the past few months destroying the Low-A Florida State and Carolina Leagues, respectively, as two of its youngest position players. The fact that Griffin and Peña remain several hyperspace jumps, respectively, from the big leagues makes it challenging to forecast their long-term future. However, the pair look like potential future five-category impact fantasy contributors, which puts them in some lofty territory already. The unmistakable indicators were there for Griffin when he showed up to spring training a couple months ago and immediately looked like one of the top prospects in baseball. The 19-year-old shortstop, who was selected ninth overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, has hit .317/.376/.519 with eight homers and 25 steals across 46 contests for Low-A Bradenton in a highly impressive professional debut. He leads the entire Florida State League in hits (60) while also ranking second in stolen bases and third in OPS (.895). It's not hyperbolic to say that he looks like a potential fantasy star based on his combination of talent and early-career production. Meanwhile, Peña's long-term stock has risen more than any other prospect in the dynasty landscape as he's torn the cover off the ball in his stateside debut, slashing .344/.407/.563 with five homers and 24 steals across 32 games for Low-A Carolina. The 18-year-old phenom, who put up strong numbers last year in the Dominican Summer League, has displayed above-average plate skills and a power/speed upside combination on-par with other elite shortstop prospects like Sebastian Walcott, Leo De Vries and Jesús Made. According to Baseball America's Geoff Pontes back in late May, Peña is among a handful of prospects in the entire minors that have seen a significant uptick in 90th percentile exit velocity, jumping from 99.9 mph last year to an impressive 106.5 mark. There's a bit of an anchoring effect going on right now where it might take some additional time for some dynasty managers to truly value him in the same neighborhood as those other elite prospects, which creates a buying opportunity. Advertisement 2) In a vast prospect ocean filled with uncertainty, Kevin McGonigle represents a safe harbor. From a purely probabilistic standpoint, McGonigle's combination of elite contact skills and consistent hard contact make him one of the most likely prospects to make the leap to a consistent fantasy contributor at the highest level. The 20-year-old supplemental first-round selection from the 2023 MLB Draft missed one month at the outset of the year after suffering an ankle injury in his season debut, but he's been destroying the Midwest League ever since, hitting .444 (20-for-45) with 10 extra-base hits through 12 games this season for High-A West Michigan. He's still growing into some additional over-the-fence pop, but he looks like the quintessential high-floor fantasy prospect with the potential to emerge as an extremely impactful multi-category impact bat, especially if he manages to stick at second base, which remains one of the weakest position groups in the fantasy landscape. He lacks the stratospheric power/speed combo upside of a Roman Anthony, Walcott, Made, De Vries, Griffin or Peña, but he's rapidly cementing his status as a borderline top-10 dynasty prospect. 3) No pitching prospects improved their stock more than Chase Burns and Jacob Misiorowski during the first half. Let's start with Burns, who has blossomed into arguably the top pitching prospect in baseball over the last few months during his electrifying professional debut, recording a microscopic 1.93 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 69/9 K/BB ratio across 46 2/3 innings (10 starts) between High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga. The hard-throwing 22-year-old righty, who was the second-overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, has put himself squarely in the Bubba Chandler and Andrew Painter tier of elite starting pitching prospects. The typical risk/reward caveats apply here, as they would with any pitcher, but he's clearly one of the most promising long-term gambles in the dynasty landscape based on his early-career performance in the upper minors. We still need to see the noticeable gains Misiorowski has made in the control department this season, slashing his walk rate from 14.4 percent last year to a more respectable 11.9 percent, stick in the majors if he's going to be a truly impactful fantasy starter. The triple-digit velocity and strikeouts have always been there thanks to his potent fastball/curveball combo, but he's made serious strides this season at the Triple-A level, compiling a sparkling 2.47 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 73/28 K/BB ratio across 58 1/3 innings (12 appearances, 11 starts). The risk that he wouldn't succeed as a start, eventually winding up as a high-leverage reliever, made him one of the more challenging pitching prospects to value for dynasty purposes. He'll continue rising in long-term rankings lists as the likelihood increases that he's going to make it as a starting pitcher. Advertisement 4) Arjun Nimmala and Bryce Rainer are among the fastest rising hitting prospects in the lower minors entering the second half. Unfortunately, Rainer suffered a potentially serious shoulder injury earlier this week and could be facing a lengthy absence. There should be some clarity on his status at some point in the coming days. Prior to the injury, Rainer was ascending into top-25 territory from a dynasty rankings perspective based on his elite exit velocity data relative to his age and level, recording a sky-high 108 mph 90th percentile average exit velocity, per MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old shortstop, who was selected 11th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, was hitting .288/.383/.448 with five homers and nine steal across 35 games for Low-A Lakeland in his professional debut. Detroit's front office has done an outstanding job in the Scott Harris era with Rainer looking like another potential franchise cornerstone someday. Speaking of future franchise icons, Nimmala has a chance to be the next one for Toronto in a couple years. The 19-year-old prodigy has looked like an elite fantasy prospect this season at High-A Vancouver, slashing .288/.376/.513 with nine homers and five steals across 48 games. He ranks among the top five in the entire Northwest League this season in hits (55), home runs (nine) and OPS (.889) despite being one of its youngest position players. He's made one of the biggest jumps over the past few months from a long-term dynasty rankings standpoint, ascending to top-25 range status heading into midseason. 5) There's no shortage of interesting pitching prospects in the dynasty landscape. Throwing a dart at the second half of Rotoworld's upcoming Top 500 Dynasty Rankings update typically results in hitting a compelling pitching prospect. They're not quite ready to make the leap to top-50 range status yet in most cases, but they're all compelling. Blue Jays phenom Trey Yesavage might be the closest as he continues to excel in his professional debut. The Athletics have a pair of intriguing arms in southpaw Gage Jump and righty Luis Morales, who have looked extremely impressive this season. Nationals flame-thrower Travis Sykora is healthy again and missing bats. Logan Henderson has emerged as a viable big-league option for the Brewers. The Mets might have the most intriguing arm in this territory in strikeout machine Jonah Tong, who continues to dominate at the Double-A level. Advertisement We haven't even touched on guys who deserve a mention in this space like Robby Snelling (Marlins), Nolan McLean (Mets), Grant Taylor (White Sox), Ryan Sloan (Mariners) and Payton Tolle (Red Sox). Dynasty managers are understandably leery when it comes to pitching prospects, but there are compelling cases for rolling the dice on a bunch of names right now. Bonus) My personal affinity for Aroon Escobar is reaching unhealthy levels. We all have a favorite prospect. Avoiding personal biases or attachments to any singular prospect is an essential component of my overall process when it comes to compiling Rotoworld's dynasty rankings. Change is inevitable and we need to be open to changing our opinions as uncomfortable as it can be in some cases. With that important caveat out of the way, let's talk about Escobar, who is rapidly evolving into one of my favorite prospects in baseball. The 20-year-old infielder has become one of the Phillies top prospects over the last few months, hitting .324/.421/.533 with 10 homers and five steals over 45 games for Low-A Clearwater. He's shown an ability to make consistent hard contact without selling out from an approach standpoint to get to it in games and he looks like a potential impact fantasy contributor at second base in a couple years.

NBC Sports
4 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Stock Watch: Konnor Griffin, Luis Peña, Chase Burns headline first-half storylines
With the midway point of the 2025 season rapidly approaching, it feels like the perfect time to take a 10,000 foot overview of the dynasty landscape, which is in the process of undergoing a dramatic overhaul. This week's Dynasty Stock Watch column identifies a handful of compelling prospect-related storylines and players that fantasy managers need to know entering the second half. We've spilled enough electronic ink across Rotoworld's wide range of fantasy baseball-related columns on household names like Roman Anthony and Jac Caglianone in recent weeks. This space digs a little deeper with a focus on the next wave of top prospects that are going to send shockwaves through the fantasy landscape in a couple years. 1) Konnor Griffin and Luis Peña have achieved top-10 dynasty prospect status. Life comes at you fast. Griffin and Peña's meteoric ascents into the top-10 dynasty prospect stratosphere took than a half season as they've spent the past few months destroying the Low-A Florida State and Carolina Leagues, respectively, as two of its youngest position players. The fact that Griffin and Peña remain several hyperspace jumps, respectively, from the big leagues makes it challenging to forecast their long-term future. However, the pair look like potential future five-category impact fantasy contributors, which puts them in some lofty territory already. Two Run Triple by SS Konnor Griffin @The_Marauders #LetsGoBucs The unmistakable indicators were there for Griffin when he showed up to spring training a couple months ago and immediately looked like one of the top prospects in baseball. The 19-year-old shortstop, who was selected ninth overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, has hit .317/.376/.519 with eight homers and 25 steals across 46 contests for Low-A Bradenton in a highly impressive professional debut. He leads the entire Florida State League in hits (60) while also ranking second in stolen bases and third in OPS (.895). It's not hyperbolic to say that he looks like a potential fantasy star based on his combination of talent and early-career production. Luis Peña earns Carolina League Player of the Week 🏅 in his return to the @CarolinaMudcats lineup, lacing 2 home runs and a triple in 5 games! Peña owns a 1.035 OPS in 17 games since the beginning of May and has stolen 10 bases in that span!#ThisIsMyCrew Meanwhile, Peña's long-term stock has risen more than any other prospect in the dynasty landscape as he's torn the cover off the ball in his stateside debut, slashing .344/.407/.563 with five homers and 24 steals across 32 games for Low-A Carolina. The 18-year-old phenom, who put up strong numbers last year in the Dominican Summer League, has displayed above-average plate skills and a power/speed upside combination on-par with other elite shortstop prospects like Sebastian Walcott, Leo De Vries and Jesús Made. According to Baseball America's Geoff Pontes back in late May, Peña is among a handful of prospects in the entire minors that have seen a significant uptick in 90th percentile exit velocity, jumping from 99.9 mph last year to an impressive 106.5 mark. There's a bit of an anchoring effect going on right now where it might take some additional time for some dynasty managers to truly value him in the same neighborhood as those other elite prospects, which creates a buying opportunity. 2) In a vast prospect ocean filled with uncertainty, Kevin McGonigle represents a safe harbor. From a purely probabilistic standpoint, McGonigle's combination of elite contact skills and consistent hard contact make him one of the most likely prospects to make the leap to a consistent fantasy contributor at the highest level. The 20-year-old supplemental first-round selection from the 2023 MLB Draft missed one month at the outset of the year after suffering an ankle injury in his season debut, but he's been destroying the Midwest League ever since, hitting .444 (20-for-45) with 10 extra-base hits through 12 games this season for High-A West Michigan. He's still growing into some additional over-the-fence pop, but he looks like the quintessential high-floor fantasy prospect with the potential to emerge as an extremely impactful multi-category impact bat, especially if he manages to stick at second base, which remains one of the weakest position groups in the fantasy landscape. He lacks the stratospheric power/speed combo upside of a Roman Anthony, Walcott, Made, De Vries, Griffin or Peña, but he's rapidly cementing his status as a borderline top-10 dynasty prospect. 3) No pitching prospects improved their stock more than Chase Burns and Jacob Misiorowski during the first half. Let's start with Burns, who has blossomed into arguably the top pitching prospect in baseball over the last few months during his electrifying professional debut, recording a microscopic 1.93 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 69/9 K/BB ratio across 46 2/3 innings (10 starts) between High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga. The hard-throwing 22-year-old righty, who was the second-overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, has put himself squarely in the Bubba Chandler and Andrew Painter tier of elite starting pitching prospects. The typical risk/reward caveats apply here, as they would with any pitcher, but he's clearly one of the most promising long-term gambles in the dynasty landscape based on his early-career performance in the upper minors. Can you feel the Burns? 🔥 MLB's No. 11 overall prospect, Chase Burns (@Reds), completes a professional-high six scoreless frames for the Double-A @ChattLookouts. We still need to see the noticeable gains Misiorowski has made in the control department this season, slashing his walk rate from 14.4 percent last year to a more respectable 11.9 percent, stick in the majors if he's going to be a truly impactful fantasy starter. The triple-digit velocity and strikeouts have always been there thanks to his potent fastball/curveball combo, but he's made serious strides this season at the Triple-A level, compiling a sparkling 2.47 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 73/28 K/BB ratio across 58 1/3 innings (12 appearances, 11 starts). The risk that he wouldn't succeed as a start, eventually winding up as a high-leverage reliever, made him one of the more challenging pitching prospects to value for dynasty purposes. He'll continue rising in long-term rankings lists as the likelihood increases that he's going to make it as a starting pitcher. 4) Arjun Nimmala and Bryce Rainer are among the fastest rising hitting prospects in the lower minors entering the second half. Unfortunately, Rainer suffered a potentially serious shoulder injury earlier this week and could be facing a lengthy absence. There should be some clarity on his status at some point in the coming days. Prior to the injury, Rainer was ascending into top-25 territory from a dynasty rankings perspective based on his elite exit velocity data relative to his age and level, recording a sky-high 108 mph 90th percentile average exit velocity, per MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old shortstop, who was selected 11th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, was hitting .288/.383/.448 with five homers and nine steal across 35 games for Low-A Lakeland in his professional debut. Detroit's front office has done an outstanding job in the Scott Harris era with Rainer looking like another potential franchise cornerstone someday. Speaking of future franchise icons, Nimmala has a chance to be the next one for Toronto in a couple years. The 19-year-old prodigy has looked like an elite fantasy prospect this season at High-A Vancouver, slashing .288/.376/.513 with nine homers and five steals across 48 games. He ranks among the top five in the entire Northwest League this season in hits (55), home runs (nine) and OPS (.889) despite being one of its youngest position players. He's made one of the biggest jumps over the past few months from a long-term dynasty rankings standpoint, ascending to top-25 range status heading into midseason. 5) There's no shortage of interesting pitching prospects in the dynasty landscape. Throwing a dart at the second half of Rotoworld's upcoming Top 500 Dynasty Rankings update typically results in hitting a compelling pitching prospect. They're not quite ready to make the leap to top-50 range status yet in most cases, but they're all compelling. Blue Jays phenom Trey Yesavage might be the closest as he continues to excel in his professional debut. The Athletics have a pair of intriguing arms in southpaw Gage Jump and righty Luis Morales, who have looked extremely impressive this season. Nationals flame-thrower Travis Sykora is healthy again and missing bats. Logan Henderson has emerged as a viable big-league option for the Brewers. The Mets might have the most intriguing arm in this territory in strikeout machine Jonah Tong, who continues to dominate at the Double-A level. We haven't even touched on guys who deserve a mention in this space like Robby Snelling (Marlins), Nolan McLean (Mets), Grant Taylor (White Sox), Ryan Sloan (Mariners) and Payton Tolle (Red Sox). Dynasty managers are understandably leery when it comes to pitching prospects, but there are compelling cases for rolling the dice on a bunch of names right now. Bonus) My personal affinity for Aroon Escobar is reaching unhealthy levels. Aroon Escobar went deep twice last night! 🚀🚀 He now has 10 home runs this season. We all have a favorite prospect. Avoiding personal biases or attachments to any singular prospect is an essential component of my overall process when it comes to compiling Rotoworld's dynasty rankings. Change is inevitable and we need to be open to changing our opinions as uncomfortable as it can be in some cases. With that important caveat out of the way, let's talk about Escobar, who is rapidly evolving into one of my favorite prospects in baseball. The 20-year-old infielder has become one of the Phillies top prospects over the last few months, hitting .324/.421/.533 with 10 homers and five steals over 45 games for Low-A Clearwater. He's shown an ability to make consistent hard contact without selling out from an approach standpoint to get to it in games and he looks like a potential impact fantasy contributor at second base in a couple years.


USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Yaxel Lendeborg discusses choosing Dusty May, Michigan over NBA draft
Yaxel Lendeborg discusses choosing Dusty May, Michigan over NBA draft Michigan basketball made a big coup via the transfer portal, not only getting former UAB standout Yaxel Lendeborg to commit to the Wolverines, but also getting him to withdraw from the NBA draft after it appeared he'd likely be league-bound. But now it's time for Dusty May and the enigmatic forward to get to work. Lendeborg would have likely been a first-round NBA draft pick had he stayed in the process, but with something of a promise of further developing and being selected higher with a guaranteed contract. But that notion isn't the only thing that attracted Lendeborg to Ann Arbor. Initial impressions on Dusty May and Michigan Lendeborg's first impression of the Michigan basketball head coach and the program are two separate things. While May made the early push for the former UAB star to get him to Ann Arbor, Lendeborg's first impressions actually came before they met in the process of May working to get him to transfer. "The initial conversation was great. I already liked Dusty May as a coach," Lendeborg told Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block Podcast. "My first year watching basketball, me and my friends (in) JUCO, we were watching March Madness, we're watching FAU and then another team watching this so I just started to like how he coached his team, how he looked. "Obviously, when he was coaching, because a lot of coaches are always just fired up, angry. He just seems so cool, calm, and collected. That's how I try to be as a player as well. So it's kind of nice to have that. It's refreshing. But when he came out to visit me, it was amazing. It was big time. It was huge for me and just like my emotions, because I always wanted a coach to be like a father figure for me, someone I can look up to. I feel like Dusty May is going to be a real big part of that. He can for sure be a father figure for me and help me grow as a person rather than just a basketball player." As far as Michigan itself, the big move started when Lendeborg visited Ann Arbor in April and ended with the combine. Lendeborg was blown away by everything that the Wolverines have to offer once he got to see Ann Arbor in person. Knowing the level of development that the coaching staff could bring, seeing the facilities and the city, and meeting with the staff helped ease Lendeborg's mind when it came to the idea of staying in college for one more year. But when he got to Chicago for the NBA combine, he learned that it might be his best route to see his commitment through. "Well, there was two things: No. 1 was when I came out here on my visit, it pretty much turned everything around for me," Lendeborg said. "Because the NBA, I was like, oh my gosh, I can make it. But then when I came out here, it was like, he's promising me like next year, I can be better than what I was last year, higher ranking draft-wise than I can be if I come here and put the work in. "And then, two, was this: I spoke to NBA teams, the majority of them were saying that it wouldn't be a bad idea to come back here, develop a little bit more, play at a higher level, just to see what I'm capable of doing. And I've always asked that question to make sure because my mind was always like, I want to come to Michigan, but the NBA is the NBA. You have to go when you have the chance. So just hearing that type of feedback from NBA teams is pretty much what helped me more lean towards Michigan." More on his game and his expectations with Michigan Lendeborg is a walking double-double, averaging 17.7 points per game, 11.4 rebounds, while also managing an average of 4.2 assists per game -- all at the forward position. He told Boesch that the best part of his game is the facilitation. But now that he's joining the maize and blue, he hopes that his shooting improves, while he reshapes his body to become more NBA-ready. "Most confidence I have in my game, I would say my passing ability and my rebounding -- for like a natural gift with passing, my favorite thing to do as well," Lendeborg said. "Things that will get better with the help of Michigan, of course, is my shooting, just shooting off the dribble or shooting a little quicker, and just being on target -- and my defense as well. Just helping my body out, my strength, my speed. "I have a lot of faith that they'll get me right, body-wise. I didn't really put up the most athletic numbers at the combine, but I do feel like that's going to change." Lendeborg is one of four transfer portal additions that Michigan basketball made this offseason. He joins North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau, Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr., and UCLA center Aday Mara becoming new Wolverines this year.