The League: Transfers thriving

<p>Starting over is sometimes a good thing.</p><p>Currently, four of the top 10 scorers in the Southeastern Conference are players that transferred from other Division-1A schools in the last two years.</p><p>As of Thursday, Mississippi guard David Huertas, who left Florida after the 2005 season, is the fourth-leading scorer in the SEC at 19.3 points per game. After averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 35 games in his freshman season with Florida in 2005, Huertas was the Rebels’ third-leading scorer with 10.7 points per game and made 24 starts in 2007.</p><p>Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said that while Huertas’ transition from Gainesville to Oxford, Miss., wasn’t difficult, his year off from action hurt him initially when he finally stepped on the court for the Rebels.</p><p>“He started off a little slower than we had anticipated,” Kennedy said. “I may have underestimated the fact that he had not played (in a year), and we play such a game of rhythm and flow that his timing was off early.”</p><p>Once comfortable, Huertas started to show why he was one of the top high school prospects coming out of the state of Florida. He scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games and averaged 16.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 3-pointers over that span.</p><p>When recruiting Huertas after UF granted him his release, Kennedy sought help from UF coach Billy Donovan.</p><p>“The first call was to Billy because first, I wanted to see if he was OK with the kid going away in the league,” he said. “Then I was getting some background on David, and then it was just a matter of recruiting. Once Billy gave it his blessing and gave me all the information that I needed, we recruited him just like we would if he were coming out of a high-school situation.” </p><p>South Carolina is also having success with transfer guards Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick. Downey is second in scoring in the SEC (20 points per game.), while Fredrick sits 10th at 15.9.</p><p>Downey left Cincinnati in 2006 as the Bearcats’ third-leading scorer (12.3) and leader in assists (4.1) and steals (2.0) as a freshman. He also was a member of the Big East All-Rookie Team. In 2007, Downey made both the Associated Press and the Coaches All-SEC Teams, leading the Gamecocks with 18.4 points, 3.2 steals, and 5.4 assists in 37.4 minutes per game with 32 starts.</p><p>Fredrick spent two seasons at Georgia Tech before transferring to USC. Fredrick increased his scoring to almost 15 points a game and made 31 starts in his first season at USC in 2007.</p><p>Tyler Smith went from being a third team All-Big Ten selection at Iowa in 2007 (14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game) to an honorable mention for the AP All-America team with Tennessee in 2008. Smith is currently seventh in the SEC with 17.2 points per game.</p><p>At Auburn, two transfers’ impacts are being felt behind the scenes. Sophomores Tony Neysmith and Brandon McGee, who transferred from Oklahoma and Indiana respectively in 2008, are sitting out this season per NCAA rules, but are a part of Auburn’s scout team.</p><p>Auburn coach Jeff Lebo said having two talented players constantly challenging his regular rotation makes for better preparation for his team as a whole.</p><p>“It’s good competition to play against every day,” he said. “They’re not playing in games, but they’re at practice every day working hard and trying to simulate what the opponents are going to do.</p><p>“It certainly makes your practices much better.”</p>