From 2021 to 2023, the amount of NCAA athletes entering the transfer portal increased from 6,749 to 8,767. Since the creation of the transfer portal in 2018, the college sports scene has rapidly changed with teams’ use of transfers dictating their success and failures.
Despite losing star guard Max Mackinnon to the transfer portal this past offseason, Elon men’s basketball has a bright season ahead thanks to an impressive cast of four transfer acquisitions.
The 2024 signing class includes redshirt sophomore Andrew King, junior Jameel Rideout, sophomore TJ Simpkins and graduate student Matthew Van Komen. Head coach Billy Taylor focused on bolstering the team’s perimeter game by picking up three guards.
TJ Simpkins joins his twin brother TK Simpkins on the team after taking a year off from each other by attending junior college at Northwest Florida State College. He excelled there, averaging 15 points per game, including a 44-point effort in his third collegiate game. TJ said it felt good to rejoin his brother.
“We've been doing this forever, since we were kids,” TJ said. “When we got back on the court together, it didn't feel like we missed a beat.”
TJ is excited to play this season alongside his brother and believes their natural chemistry translates onto the court.
“He can just give me a look and I know what he wants me to do,” TJ said. “So, just the natural twin chemistry, it just works everywhere.”
The transition to Elon was easy for TJ thanks to his frequent FaceTimes with TK while he was away at NWF State. TJ said he would always FaceTime his brother and had met many of TK’s teammates at Elon, making it an easy transition when he met them in-person for the first time.
TJ is off to a great start at Elon, scoring 18 points in the season opener, and 21 against Bluefield University — currently leading the team in scoring. He said it was a great experience to be able to start his time at Elon in front of a large crowd at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
“That was the largest crowd I ever played in front of, so it was a good feeling,” TJ said. “But, I just had to kind of get used to the Division I game. I got settled down, and had a good second half — so proud of that.”
While TJ had a simple path to Elon’s team with TK being a start for the Phoenix, Van Komen came to Elon by chance. Van Komen — who played at Division II school Hawai’i Pacific University last year — transferred to Elon thanks to a lucky opportunity. In the offseason, he was working out with someone in Arizona who knew Elon assistant coach Greg Herenda. Herenda then talked to Taylor and Elon flew Van Komen out for a visit, and after seemed like a good fit, an offer was made.
Van Komen — who is 7-foot-4 and the third tallest player in college basketball right now — brings size and interior defense to a team that has relied on 6-foot-11 senior Sam Sherry exclusively for this. He has made an immediate impact for the Phoenix with 13 total points and 15 rebounds. Despite being a transfer, Van Komen has been immediately inserted into Elon’s gameplan, having been in the starting lineup in every game so far. He said he didn’t expect to be in the starting lineup from the start.
“I did not know that coming in. I didn't start in Division II, so, I'm not really used to that role,” Van Komen said.
King has also immediately found a starting role in Elon’s offense. King, who was hurt last year at the University of Illinois, Chicago, competed for a starting guard position and won it.
“Last year I was hurt, so I wasn't even expecting to have a big role,” King said. “I was expecting to have to prove myself, but I was able to keep believing in myself, and coach believed in me. So, that was big.”
King said he was attracted to Elon by its atmosphere and environment.
“I could just see how family oriented it was when I first got here, and how it’s a college atmosphere,” King said. “Because the schools I was at, it wasn't really a college atmosphere, a college feel; kind of just I was there. Being here feels like I'm at actual school, and so that was pretty big for me.”
Coming off an injury, King said he is a bit rusty, and these first few games he is still adjusting to being back on the court but hopes to have a good season. His primary goal is to be the Coastal Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year.
“The first two games were a little rusty, just being honest,” King said. “But eventually I feel like it will get there. Everyone believes in me, the coaches trust me. So, if I just keep building the trust and believe in myself, it will shake off.”
Rideout, who transferred from the University of South Carolina, Aiken, is nursing an injury right now but expects to debut for the Phoenix later in the season. At USC Aiken, Rideout helped the team win two conference championships, averaged 8.7 points per game over two seasons and he made 38.8% of his 3-pointers last season.
Rideout said it was an easy transition to Elon thanks to the welcoming nature of the team.
“The team was really open. They welcomed you with open arms, and I kind of fit in right away,” Rideout said. “There were some learning curves, like getting adjusted to Billy and figuring out how he wants to play, like the style of the play. But once I figured that out, it’s going pretty well.”
Coming from a DII school, Rideout said he wants to prove that he can compete at the DI level, along with helping Elon win a CAA Championship.
“The main thing is just that I know I belong,” Rideout said. “I believe I’m one of the best if not the best guard in the conference, and I want to show that I can impact winning at this level.”
So far, Elon’s additions from the transfer portal have made a big splash on the court, accounting for almost 32% of the team’s scoring. Elon will likely rely on the efforts of TJ, Van Komen and the rest as they progress deeper into the season.