NCAA basketball rumors: Louisville, Baylor among schools to watch for Mountain West DPOY

It’s already transfer portal season in college basketball, and more than 1,000 names are already looking for new homes for next season. Not every one of those names will find a new team to play for, but the top teams are busy pursuing some of the best players in the nation looking for a new opportunity.

Naturally, the big-time scorers are the players getting the most attention, as are the players who are transferring from top programs. However, there are plenty of gems to be found at the mid-major level.

Perhaps none of those players are better than San Diego State wing Miles Byrd, who has been a huge part of a winning program for multiple seasons now. Now, Byrd feels like a likely candidate to land at the high-major level, and his early interest on the open market is backing that up.

As the portal window starts to heat up, Louisville and Baylor are among the teams to watch in Byrd’s recruitment, according to Joe Tipton of On3 Sports. Cincinnati is also in the early mix.

Byrd has been at San Diego State for four seasons now under Brian Dutcher, and the Aztecs just narrowly missed out on the NCAA Tournament in 2026. His scoring won’t wow anyone, though he was up in double figures at 10.4 points per game this past season. He isn’t a knockdown shooter, but he has been above 30% from 3-point range for three consecutive seasons now.

However, the offensive end of the floor isn’t where Byrd makes his money. He is one of the best perimeter defenders in the sport and collected Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2026. He has averaged about two steals and more than a block per game over the last two seasons since he became a starter for the Aztecs.

Louisville and Baylor both had talented offensive players in 2025-26, but they both were lacking on the defensive end of the floor. That is a big reason why both teams fell short of expectations last season, and an addition like Byrd would go a long way toward fixing that problem in 2026-27.

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