Kansas State Wildcats lose another basketball player to the transfer portal
Just when it seemed like Bruce Weber had stabilized Kansas State’s basketball roster, the Wildcats experienced more scholarship turnover on Tuesday when yet another one of their players entered the transfer portal.
Levi Stockard, a 6-foot-8 junior forward from St. Louis, is the latest departure.
Stockard has decided to continue his college basketball career elsewhere after spending the past three seasons at K-State. Stockard was never a major contributor for the Wildcats, but he played in 100 games for the Wildcats and had a few memorable games, such as the time he scored 17 points against Saint Louis last year. Overall, he averaged 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds as a junior.
“Levi has informed me of his desire to transfer,” Weber said in a statement. “Although we are disappointed with his decision, we wish him the best. He was part of some special moments here at K-State, including a run to the Elite Eight and a Big 12 Championship. He is a quality young man and is on track to graduate on time, which is the most important thing. We appreciate what he has given us these last three seasons.”
His departure comes as a surprise, because he appeared to be in line for a bigger role next season. Following the graduation of Makol Mawien, he would have been one of the top returning big men on the team and a potential favorite to start at the five while incoming freshman Davion Bradford and UTEP transfer Kaosi Ezeagu got acclimated to the Big 12.
In any case, he is far from the only K-State player to explore his transfer options this offseason. He is the sixth K-State player to enter the transfer portal, joining Nigel Shadd, James Love, David Sloan, Cartier Diarra and Shaun Williams.
That means Weber will need to replace nine scholarship players as he looks to rebuild next season.
With only Mike McGuirl, DaJuan Gordon, Montavious Murphy and Antonio Gordon returning, the Wildcats bring back 22.6 points from a roster that averaged 64.2 last season.
K-State has never experienced that much roster turnover during the Weber era. The last offseason that rivaled this one in terms of player departures was 2015 when the Wildcats brought in seven players, including future stars Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade.
Transfers are more common now than they were five years ago. And now seems like as good a time as any to hit the reset button, as K-State is coming off an 11-win season and a last-place finish int he Big 12 standings.
Stockard’s departure leaves the Wildcats with one open scholarship to use before next season.
K-State has already signed seven incoming recruits, in addition to Ezeagu who is already enrolled.
The recruiting services rate K-State’s incoming class among the nation’s best. It is currently No. 14 by Rivals.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 11:49 AM.