Freshman forward Samis Calderon latest KU player to enter NCAA transfer portal
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Samis Calderon enters NCAA transfer portal after limited freshman minutes at KU.
- Several KU players — Bidunga, Tiller, Mbiya, Jackson and McDowell — also entered portal.
- Kansas holds nine scholarship spots and incoming freshmen including Kinney and Adkins.
Kansas men’s basketball forward Samis Calderon, who played sparingly as a freshman, will enter the NCAA transfer portal, Overtime Elite sources in Atlanta confirmed to The Star on Thursday.
Calderon, a native of Espirito Santo, Brazil, out of the OE program played in 16 games at KU as a freshman and averaged 4.1 minutes per contest. He played in eight Big 12 games.
Calderon averaged 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game for Brazil in the 2023 FIBA U19 World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. He competed for Brazil in the 2022 Under 18 Americas Championship and 2022 Under 18 South America Championship.
Other KU players with remaining eligibility who have said they have entered or will enter the portal: Flory Bidunga, Bryson Tiller, Paul Mbiya, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell. Also, Darryn Peterson has completed his one-and-done season at KU.
Returning scholarship players at this time: Corbin Allen and Kohl Rosario. Walk-on Will Thengvall also can return and keep his walk-on status.
KU has a recruiting class of incoming freshmen Taylen Kinney, Davion Adkins, Luke Barnett and Trent Perry. The No. 1 player in the class of 2026, Tyran Stokes, has an official list of KU, Kentucky and Oregon. KU has nine scholarships available to give to portal players.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Freshman forward Samis Calderon latest KU player to enter NCAA transfer portal."
