One of the top players in college basketball is back in the transfer portal. After committing to Juwan Howard and Michigan in early April, Caleb Love has de-committed from the Wolverines.
With Memphis’ desire for a lead guard, Love certainly fits the profile. So, the question must be asked: Will Memphis pursue Caleb Love?
High Expectations for Love
Caleb Love remains one of the most talented guards in the country. As a result, he has seen his fair share of time in the spotlight. Love, a consensus five-star guard prospect out of St. Louis, Missouri, committed to North Carolina out of high school.
Love was expected to follow in the footsteps of former UNC guards Coby White and Cole Anthony as a one-and-done prospect for legendary head coach Roy Williams. With UNC looking to rebound after one of their worst seasons in program history, the Tar Heels looked to the talented guard to lead the way toward a successful season.
How We Got Here
However, it was a freshman year of disappointment for the former five-star, who had one of the most inefficient seasons for a UNC player in program history. Love averaged a measly 10.5 PPG on 31.6% shooting from the floor and 26.6% shooting from beyond the arc.
Thus, Love elected to return to the Tar Heels for his sophomore season, where he would have his best season yet. He saw markable improvements in his game, and along with his success, so did the Tar Heels. Love finished as the second leading scorer for a UNC team that would make it to the national championship game under first-year head coach Hubert Davis.
Love’s impressive performances helped the 8-seeded Tar Heels make a run for the ages, including a 30-point performance against UCLA in the Sweet 16. Later, he finished with a 28-point performance against arch-rival Duke in the Final Four.
Love averaged 15.9 PPG and led the team in assists during his sophomore season, and all signs were pointing toward Love leaving for the NBA after two seasons in a UNC uniform. However, Love eventually decided to run it back with his teammates, as he looked to culminate his college career in a national championship and pair it with improvements to his efficiency and draft stock.
The Fall of Caleb Love
Caleb Love and UNC came into the 2022-23 college basketball season with great expectations. The Tar Heels were ranked #1 in just about every preseason ranking, with the expectation that Love would lead the program back to the pinnacle of college basketball.
Months later, the Tar Heels shocked the college basketball world once again, but in a different way than expected. Under Hubert Davis, UNC missed the NCAA tournament altogether, becoming the first team in history to miss the NCAA tournament as a preseason #1 team since the tournament field was expanded in 1985.
Love could not deliver on his preseason goals, as he didn’t see his name on draft boards and shot a measly 37.8% from the field and 29.9% from three.
After a largely disappointing season, the UNC roster would face significant turnover, seeing a whopping seven players enter the portal, including Love. After two weeks in the transfer portal, the star guard committed to Michigan and Juwan Howard. He hoped to lead another Jordan-brand program to new heights.
Love Enters the Portal Once Again
For weeks, speculation arose regarding how solid Caleb Love’s commitment to Michigan was. Rumors began flying after a tweet from insider Trilly Donovan questioned his commitment to the Wolverines.
Love personally shot down these rumors on multiple occasions, but it failed to completely end the rumors. As they persisted, the college basketball world started to understand that there was some legitimacy to these rumors.
These rumors were confirmed today, as Love re-entered the portal just one month after committing to Michigan.
It was a decision that was primarily caused by academic issues. Reports revealed that Love could not acquire the academic credits necessary to complete his enrollment into Michigan University.
However, in what is not a surprise in today’s day and age, NIL issues also emerged as a factor. Tiger Blueprint’s own, Hitmen Hoops, dove into the Caleb Love de-commit rumors weeks ago and gained a clearer picture behind Michigan’s NIL issues.
“The AD is a huge problem in the distribution of NIL money at Michigan,” he said. “They don’t have enough NIL collectives for the basketball program, and it’s causing a lot of issues.”
The issues eventually resulted in Love’s de-commitment from the Michigan program, and the rise of a critical question emerged: Where will Caleb Love go?
Is Memphis a Fit for Love?
Penny Hardaway and Memphis’ main goal this off-season was to find a lead guard capable of replacing the services of Kendric Davis.
Hardaway recruited multiple successful players in the transfer portal this off-season, with his transfer portal class headlined by talented players like FSU transfer guard Caleb Mills, MTSU transfer wing Teafale Lenard Jr., and D2 transfer wing Jonathan Pierre.
However, the one thing that the Tiger faithful can agree upon is that Hardaway still needs to acquire a true lead guard at the point guard position. After missing out on Alabama’s Jaden Bradley earlier this off-season, Memphis’ current best in-house options to man the ‘1’ are freshman Mikey Williams and UCF transfer Jayhlon Young.
While both are solid options for Hardaway in the backcourt, it’s safe to say that Memphis is looking for better alternatives at the point guard position. After averaging 16.7 points per game last season for North Carolina, Caleb Love could fit that bill.
Can Love Play the Point Guard Position?
However, determining Love’s true capabilities at the point guard position requires a deep analysis of his career in a UNC uniform.
Caleb Love has totaled just 337 assists for his career while racking up 277 turnovers in 101 career games. Love has struggled with his ball security throughout his college career, which is one of the primary reasons his draft stock has fallen considerably since his freshman year.
In the 2020 recruiting class, UNC paired Love with four-star guard R.J. Davis. For most of their careers, the 6’4 Love and the 6’0 Davis have played alongside one another in the backcourt. That fit has been questionable, to put it simply.
Both players are best with the ball in their hands, and it was Love who was put off the ball at the shooting guard position when UNC was able to make their run late in the 2021-22 season.
Love demands the ball and takes a large percentage of his team’s shots, especially during clutch moments. He has ups and downs with his consistency, and his erratic playstyle doesn’t please fans.
For Caleb Love, the lows are very low, and the highs are very high. If he’s been able to do one thing consistently throughout his college career, it’s be inconsistent.
Love has been unable to find the formula to create an efficient season thus far. One can question the fit at UNC as a primary reason for this, with questions surrounding his fit with R.J. Davis and Love playing with non-shooters in the starting lineup at UNC.
Will Memphis Go After Love?
For Penny Hardaway, these considerations must be weighed when determining whether or not to pursue Caleb Love a second time around.
Based on their current roster construction, he understands Memphis’ need for a point guard. And Love certainly has the talent to fill that spot. However, his inconsistency and erratic play throughout his three-year career are concerns when evaluating just how well he can fit with the Tigers’ roster.
Personally, I expect Memphis to show strong interest in Caleb Love. How Hardaway and the remainder of the Memphis staff evaluate Love’s game will determine the extent of their pursuit.
