Eddie Lampkin is not the first, nor will he be the last, college basketball player to fall over an obstacle and need to transfer.
The center from Houston came to Fort Worth in 2021 as a four-star recruit, and despite considerable promise it didn’t work.
As expected, Lampkin joined the NCAA’s transfer portal on Monday, the day after TCU received an at-large bid as a six seed in the NCAA Tournament.
If Lampkin needs some inspiration, he should look at TCU’s roster from 2018.
TCU had a four-star recruit from Houston named Kendric Davis, a wonderfully talented guard who fell over an obstacle. Himself.
Despite showing so much talent and promise as a freshman in 2018-19, his relationship with the coaching staff wasn’t great; there were some off-the-court issues as it relates to school.
He was basically told he needed to look elsewhere, which led him to SMU for three years.
Davis was an all-conference player at SMU but the Mustangs never did make the NCAA Tournament.
With one more year of eligibility remaining, Davis transferred to Memphis for his final college season where it all finally came around.
On Sunday in Fort Worth, Davis was named the Most Outstanding Player of the American Athletic Conference as Memphis upset top-seed Houston to win the conference tournament at Dickies Arena.
With his toddler son at his feet, Davis was with his Memphis teammates when CBS announced the NCAA Tournament bracket. Davis will make his first appearance in the NCAA Tournament when Memphis plays Florida Atlantic on Friday night, less than one hour before TCU tips off its tourney game.
“This is what we dreamed of. When I first said I was coming here this is what we dreamed of,” Davis said this weekend.
He is the best player on a good team.
When he was at TCU, he showed considerable talent. He had elite ball handling skills, and could penetrate around any defender.
Problem was he really didn’t know what he was doing. He knew how “to hoop,” but he really didn’t how to play college basketball along with being a college student.
It was a problem.
“I was trying learn how to play college basketball as a freshman. I really didn’t know the magnitude,” he said on Saturday, after Memphis defeated Tulane in the semifinals of the AAC tourney.
“I really didn’t know anything. The game was fast. I couldn’t shoot. I just worked on my game, and I’m playing for something now. When I was at SMU last year (Memphis coach Penny Hardaway) ruined my dreams.”
Memphis defeated Davis and SMU in the AAC Tournament last year, and the Mustangs went to the NIT.
“I still have room to grow,” he said.
His former TCU teammate, guard Desmond Bane, is a regular at the University of Memphis practices and games. Bane, now a starter for the Memphis Grizzlies, played with Davis in his one season at TCU.
Bane is a perfect mentor.
Like Bane did at TCU, Davis dreams of playing in the NBA. Bane kept working at it, and now is close to signing the coveted big NBA contract.
Davis is currently not listed on most NBA mock draft boards, most likely because he is listed as 6-feet. He is a brilliant, fearless college player whose NBA prospects don’t look great because of his height.
Davis averages 22.1 points and 5.6 per game this season, and was named a third-team All-American by The Sporting News.
The TCU observer may bemoan his departure from the team, but had he stayed it’s doubtful junior guard Mike Miles comes to Fort Worth. The two play the same position.
Davis’ time at TCU didn’t work out for a reason, but that didn’t stop a potentially successful college career.
He figured some things out, and now he will play in the NCAA Tournament.
There is no reason the same can’t happen for Eddie Lampkin.
