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Among the biggest challenges facing college basketball programs, at least as it pertains to establishing budgets for roster retention and building, is when a role player becomes a star year-over-year. Suddenly, they get way more expensive quickly.
Which brings me to David Punch, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound forward who didn’t cost TCU too much coming out of high school as a sub-100 prospect in the Class of 2024, or after a freshman year in which he averaged 6.5 points for a Horned Frogs team that finished 16-16. But Punch isn’t any of those things anymore. Now, he’s a 6-foot-7, 245-pound forward who just averaged 14.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks for a TCU team that advanced to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament — and that’s the type of player who can demand millions of dollars on the open market, which is among the reasons Punch officially entered the transfer portal Thursday.
Does it stink for TCU? Yes, obviously.
But, in this era of the sport, it’s hard for me to shame any young person for wanting to see exactly what is and isn’t out there for him in an attempt to ensure every good opportunity is explored and considered. And now TCU will presumably use the money that would otherwise be set aside for Punch on another prospect who is either already in the portal or will soon enter it — and round and round we go.
TCU is down to No. 24 in Version 2 of the 2026-27 CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings, where Michigan remains No. 1 based on the idea that the Wolverines will pair a top-two recruiting class with a core featuring four of the top six scorers — specifically Morez Johnson Jr., Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney and LJ Cason — from a team that went 37-7 and won the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Florida, Illinois, Michigan State and Duke round out the top five.
The only other change in Version 2 of the Top 25 And 1 is Texas dropping one spot — from No. 12 to No. 13 — with the news that Nic Codie is entering the transfer portal. Codie is a 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 26.5 minutes in the Longhorns’ final two games of the season. He got 12 points and four rebounds in UT’s 74-68 win over Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Way-too-early Top 25 And 1 rankings for 2026-27