Tag: Brandon Gardner

Arizona State basketball adds USC transfer Brandon Gardner

Brandon Gardner gets a fresh start at Arizona State under Bobby Hurley.

USC transfer portal forward Brandon Gardner has committed to Bobby Hurley and the Arizona State basketball program. Gardner, a 6-foot-8 forward, entered the transfer portal back on April 23, after medically redshirting his freshman year at USC and seeing action in one game.

Coming out of Christ The King Regional High School in the Class of 2023, the Georgia native was listed as a four-star prospect by the 247Sports index and was the nation’s 93rd-ranked player. He also checked in as the 38th-ranked player at his position and the fifth-ranked player in the state of New York.

Gardner held offers from Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Alabama, Miami, St John’s and Georgetown, among others.

It will be fascinating to see how Bobby Hurley uses Gardner at Arizona State, a program which — to remind everyone — will play in the Big 12 next season. It is notable that multiple USC players from the past season have transferred to schools which competed in the Pac-12 last year and will be in new conferences this year.

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Former USC forward is down to six programs, including Texas A&M

Former USC forward Brandon Gardner has included Texas A&M as a potential transfer destination

Texas A&M head basketball coach Buzz Williams has surprised a bulk of the Aggie fan base this offseason with increased utilization of the transfer portal, already adding former Nebraska sharpshooter CJ Welcher, former Minnesota forward Pharrel Payne, and now, former SMU veteran guard Zhuric Phelps as of Monday afternoon.

However, Williams apparently isn’t done adding more front-court depth. It has been revealed that USC forward Brandon Gardner, who redshirted during his only season with the Trojans, has included the Aggies, Arizona, Arizona State, NC State, San Francisco, and Jacksonville as potential transfer portal destinations.

As a former four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, Gardner was one of the top players in the New York area during his senior season, averaging 12 points, ten rebounds and two blocks per game in his final year at Christ the King High School, while being named “Mr. Basketball” at the end of the season.

Standing at 6-8 and nearly 220 pounds, Gardner is a highly athletic big who, on paper, looks like the perfect fit in Buzz Williams’ system.

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Watch: 4-star PF Brandon Gardner announces commitment to USC

USC basketball is building up a special class of 2023.

USC basketball is building up a special 2023 class.

A few weeks ago, they scored the highest-profile recruiting win in years as they earned a commitment from Bronny James. Bronny may not stay long before he jumps to the NBA, but for now, his presence will make the Trojans a draw for other top high school basketball recruits around the country.

Last Thursday, another blue-chip recruit joined the group. Here’s how Christ the King Regional (NY) four-star power forward Brandon Gardner announced his commitment to the Trojans on his Twitter page.

Going by the 247Sports composite rankings, Gardner (6-foot-7, 210 pounds) is No. 4 in the state of New York, No. 21 among power forwards and No. 91 nationally in the class of 2023. He had offers from 21 other programs, including St. John’s, Alabama, DePaul, NC State and Wake Forest.

USC’s class of 2023 now ranks No. 4 in the nation.

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2023 four-star power forward Brandon Gardner commits to USC

USC has a crowded roster, but if the Trojans can use one more player, it’s at the four. We’ll see if Gardner can make an impact.

The USC Trojans and Andy Enfield will go to Greece and Croatia in August to play against European basketball teams and give their roster a chance to play together.

One more player can be added to the Trojans’ traveling party.

On Friday, Enfield and USC gained a late pickup in the 2023 recruiting cycle. They added four-star power forward Brandon Gardner to the mix in a very interesting move which raises some obvious questions:

First, how much playing time can Gardner reasonably expect on a roster which is loaded with depth? Bronny James, Isaiah Collier, Kobe Johnson, and Boogie Ellis have the backcourt and wings locked down, but USC has depth in the frontcourt as well with Vince Iwuchukwu, Joshua Morgan, Kijani Wright, Arrinten Page, and D.J. Rodman. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. What can Gardner realistically hope for?

Second, is Gardner more valuable for 2025 than 2024? That might be the true value of this pickup. Gardner is in position to learn quite a lot this season, but mostly from the bench. When Bronny, Collier, Boogie, Morgan, and Iwuchukwu all leave after the 2024 season (or at least, that’s the industry expectation), USC will need bodies. Gardner figures to be a core part of the 2025 USC rotation. That’s probably his true importance to Enfield and the Trojans.

The third obvious question surrounding Gardner: How much will he be able to integrate himself into the 2024 team in this upcoming European trip? Enfield will want to mix and match combinations and see who plays well with each other. Just playing ball is the best way to learn which lineups work best. Can Gardner make any sort of impression on Enfield this summer?

It will be fascinating to find out.

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Auburn basketball target Brandon Garnder trims list to four, sets commitment date

It could be a big Monday for Bruce Pearl and Co.

[autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] and Auburn basketball are looking to land theirt first commitment for the 2023 class.

That could be changing shortly, four-star power-forward [autotag]Brandon Gardner[/autotag] is set to announce his commitment Monday and Auburn is one of the finalists. According to Joe Tipton of On3, Gardner will be deciding between Auburn, LSU, St. John’s, and Georgetown. He will make his commitment on Monday, June 27th at 7 a.m. CT.

The 6-foot-7, 210-pound Gardner officially visited Auburn back in February and watched the Tigers crush Alabama 100-81.

He discussed his finalist with On3 and one interaction with Jabari Smith stuck out with him from his visit to the Plains.

“I love Jabari Smith, Jr,” Gardner said. “He asked me if I felt like I would become a better player if I came to Auburn. I told him that I did, and that has stuck with me. If I go to Auburn, I feel like I could be a great player. I didn’t know it was a small town. I am from a small town, my mom loves small towns, and they are a small little college town. Everything about it is good.”

From Raleigh, North Carolina, he is ranked as the No. 71 overall player and No. 14 power forward in the 247Sports Composite ranking. He is also the No. 1 player from North Carolina.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, heavily favors St. John’s, giving them an 89.1% chance of landing him. Auburn has the second best odds at 3.1%

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Auburn among top schools for four-star power forward

Four-star power forward drops his top 10 schools.

It wasn’t all bad news on Friday as the Auburn Tigers were named among the top 10 choices for four-star forward Brandon Gardner.

The North Carolina product announced that Auburn, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida Gators, and LSU Tigers of the SEC would be among the teams vying for his commitment. The 6’7″ forward plays predominately on the inside. He can be a rim protector and glass cleaner.

Gardner scores a good amount of his points from in the paint and fights through contact. He is a player that will get to the charity stripe quite a bit. Gardner will need to develop a mid-range shot to keep defenses from limiting his impact at the next level.

Brandon Gardner’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 4 47 2 6
Rivals 4 53 – –
ESPN 4 – 6 9
On3 Recruiting 4 – – –
247 Composite 4 73 3 10

Vitals

Hometown Raleigh, North Carolina
Projected Position Power Forward
Height 6-7
Weight 200
Class 2023

Recruitment

  • Offered on Jun. 15, 2021
  • No visit scheduled

Offers

  • Auburn
  • Alabama
  • Florida
  • Georgetown
  • Georgia Tech
  • Kansas
  • LSU
  • Memphis
  • Overtime Elite
  • St Johns

Crystal Ball

No projections submitted

Film

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