Morning reads: Sonny DiChiara for player of the year? Plus, new NCAA transfer portal data and more

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Sonny DiChiara for Player of the Year?

The Auburn first baseman certainly has a case as April comes to a close. Kendall Rogers from D1Baseball.com had this to say recently about DiChiara to NCAA.com:

“But look at Sunny D. He goes from Samford where he had a lot of power… hit around .275,” Rogers said. “Not only has he gone to Auburn and had success on a SEC team… You’re talking about a guy that is hitting .460 in the Southeastern Conference with premium power. He might be six-foot-2, 270, but he’s a pure hitter, he’s a powerful hitter, and he as much as anybody has a case for National Player of the Year.”

DiChiara continues to lead the league in batting average (.447), on-base percentage (.595) and slugging percentage (.862) and leads the nation in batting average and on-base percentage while ranking third in slugging. Heck, no other SEC player is within 100 points of DiChiara in on-base percentage. The senior also leads the league in average (.426) and on-base percentage (.573) during conference games while ranking second in slugging (.820).

ESPN releases latest NBA mock draft

With college basketball season in the rearview mirror, all eyes are looking forward at the 2022 NBA Draft, which will take place on June 23. Ahead of the draft, ESPN has released a new and updated NBA mock with right around two months remaining before draft night.

The mock draft has Auburn’s Jabari Smith slated to go No. 2 overall to the Orlando Magic, joining former Auburn player Chuma Okeke.

The mock draft also has Auburn’s Walker Kessler slated to go No. 23 to the Brooklyn Nets.

Auburn underrated in latest Power 36 from Andy Katz

College basketball’s Andy Katz released his latest Power 36 rankings and Auburn came in at No. 27.

I have a feeling that number will improve as next season comes closer, especially if Auburn closes the recruiting/transfer cycle strong.

NCAA creates new dashboard displaying Transfer Portal data

NCAA research has created a new dashboard displaying Division I data from the Transfer Portal for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years. The data used in this dashboard is static and reflects Transfer Portal information available as of January, 2022.

What stands out? According to the data, 43 percent of student-athletes are “active”, meaning they are still exploring options, transferred to a non-Division I school, or left the sport. Now, it’s also possible some players’ status haven’t been changed in the portal despite finding a new home, but that’s likely a small number of outliers.

It also notes that 59 percent of FBS scholarship players who transferred ended up staying on scholarship wherever they ended up. That means, on average, four out of 10 transfers lost their aid.

Bottom line: that’s a large percentage that seemingly didn’t find the grass greener on the other side.

Former Auburn wideout Darius Slayton on trading block

New York Giants wideout Darius Slayton is reportedly on the trading block. The former Auburn standout has been an explosive player, but has struggled with inconsistency catching the football. Slayton is still young, and should be a coveted player. The Giants are also shopping other receivers, so clearly they’re trying to make roster moves beyond just Slayton.