In the corporate world, climbing the ladder means working hard, proving yourself and looking for the next opportunity. A bigger role, a better organization, a higher salary.
And when those opportunities aren't available where you are, you look around to see if someone else will offer them.
College basketball players are increasingly doing the same thing.
For some, the transfer portal isn't an escape hatch. It's a career ladder. Unrecruited by Division I programs out of high school? Go to JUCO, perform and earn an offer from a low-major. Play a year there, show your skills and move to a stronger program. Not getting the minutes you need to prove yourself? Move someplace else.
Gone are the days of playing four years and waiting for good things to happen. The portal is the place that unlocks new opportunities, forgives sins and provides another rung on the college basketball ladder.
Chris Fields Jr., a 6’8” senior forward for the Grizzlies this year, has made that climb.
A highly productive high school player from Virginia, Fields Jr. averaged 25 and 10 his senior year after being named Virginia Class 3A player of the year as a junior. He parlayed that performance into a D1 offer at Norfolk State, where he made the MEAC all-freshman team after averaging 6.9 points and 3.3 boards per game.
He made another leap as a sophomore for the Spartans, averaging 8.4 points and 4.3 rebounds and helping propel Norfolk State to a MEAC title and a berth in the Big Dance.
Then came the game that may have helped him find the next rung.
In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Fields Jr. scored 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting against eventual national champion Florida.
One of the assistant coaches sitting on the Gators' bench that day was John Andrzejek.
Shortly after Florida's championship run, Andrzejek left Gainesville to become head coach of the Campbell Camels. When Campbell later announced Fields Jr.'s signing, Andrzejek specifically referenced watching Fields Jr. in that NCAA Tournament matchup, highlighting his transition play, drives, post-ups, short rolls and offensive rebounding.
One NCAA Tournament game had become an audition, whether Fields Jr. knew it at the time or not.
And before you ask whether Norfolk State to Campbell represented a move up the ladder, the numbers suggest it did. Campbell finished 185th in KenPom in 2025–26 while playing in the Coastal Athletic Association while the Spartans sat in the 300-ish range.
Fields Jr. started five games and appeared in 27 for Campbell, but only ticked up his minutes to 19 per game. His scoring increased to 9.7 points per game, while his rebounding jumped dramatically to 6.9.
His numbers were buoyed by a legacy game against Virginia-Lynchburg, where Fields Jr. came off the bench and produced 23 points, 22 rebounds and 11 assists. The triple-double was the first in Campbell history and a Campbell D-I-era record for rebounds.
He'd climbed another rung. And he'd produced.
Now he's moving again.
Fields Jr. comes to Oakland, a program that finished 168th in KenPom in 2025–26 and 81st nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency.
What Oakland is Getting
Oakland Coach Greg Kampe recently detailed what he sees in Fields Jr. in an Instagram video. As many Grizz fans know and Kampe readily admits, he likes 4s and 5s that can take the ball and go to work. Think Tuburu Naivalurua and Isaac Garrett last year and Oakland legend Trey Townsend for the four years before that.
Those players, however, could also provide value away from the basket. That's where Fields Jr. becomes interesting. Kampe says that he “struggles on defense” and “needs to learn the zone,” two statements that might be a cause for concern for a team that relies on an intelligent, connected zone defense. Fields Jr. also doesn’t register as a 503(c) because he struggles from the charity stripe, which might frustrate Oakland fans.
But the offensive production and rebounding are already there.
And maybe that's the point.
The transfer portal doesn't require a player to be a finished product before moving up. It allows him to find another opportunity to become one.
Fields Jr. arrived at Norfolk State as a productive Virginia high school player looking to prove he belonged in Division I. He left as an NCAA Tournament player.
He arrived at Campbell looking to prove he could produce at another level. He left averaging nearly a double-double despite playing fewer than 20 minutes per game.
Now Oakland is the next rung.
What Fields Jr. does with it will determine whether there's another ladder waiting for him when college basketball is over.
Words by Air the Bear · September 27, 2026
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