Transfers often transform. (Insider: college basketball).

Georgia coach Jim Harrick sounds as if he is stumping for an aspiring senator rather than an SEC Newcomer of the Year candidate when speaking of Bulldogs junior forward Damien Wilkins.

"He's mature beyond his years, unselfish, motivated, understands how to play the game of basketball," Harrick says. "He's like no transfer I've ever had."

Could this be the same Damien Wilkins who was not welcomed back to the NC State program--coach Herb Sendek saying, "I believe that his return would not be in our best interest"--in June 2001? Well, yes and no.

Wilkins is the same guy: 6-6, 225 pounds of athletic possibility, the progeny of former NBA guard Gerald Wilkins. But the act of transferring from one major school to another is likely to make him a dramatically different player.

Look at two recent examples:

* When forward Byron Mouton began his career at Tulane, he was slightly more active than fire Venus de Mile and even more fragile. He mostly restricted himself to attempting 3-point shots though he wasn't much of a 3-point shooter. After moving to Maryland, Mouton was transformed into a team-oriented warrior who sacrificed his body and individual glory to help the Terps secure the 2002 NCAA championship.

* Ryan Humphrey left Oklahoma after a Sweet 16 season because he wanted to play small forward. But the promises that attracted him to Notre Dame departed when Matt Doherty moved to coach North Carolina. New coach Mike Brey provided as much offensive freedom as he could, but Humphrey had to accept two seasons of scratching along the baseline as a power forward and center--seasons that ended with consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and Humphrey's selection in the first round of the NBA draft.