Transfer news: One Wichita State men’s basketball player to return, two are leaving
It was a busy Monday for the Wichita State men’s basketball team in the NCAA transfer portal.
Four days after electing to transfer, junior point guard Craig Porter confirmed to The Eagle that he is removing his name from the portal and will return to WSU next season with two seasons of eligibility left.
That news followed the decisions by junior center Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler and freshman forward Jaden Seymour to enter their names into the transfer portal on Monday morning. They join junior point guard Trevin Wade, who has already committed to Eastern Kentucky, as the second and third scholarship players to transfer from WSU this offseason. Both players tweeted out their appreciation to WSU following their announcements.
“Thank you for the opportunity and love that you showed me,” Poor Bear-Chandler wrote in a tweet addressed to WSU. “I’ll always cherish the moments I shared with my teammates and coaches inside Koch Arena. Shocker fans showed me nothing but love and I couldn’t be more (grateful).”
“God’s plan!” Seymour tweeted out. “Thank you to Wichita State, Coach (Isaac) Brown), Coach (Gregg) Marshall and the entire staff for the opportunity.”
Porter’s decision to return enters him back into the race for the Shockers’ starting point guard next season. WSU is still awaiting a final decision from senior Alterique Gilbert on his plans for next season, but if he turns pro Porter would already have a year in coach Isaac Brown’s system as an advantage over any newcomer that WSU might bring in.
In his first season with WSU, Porter battled through COVID-19 protocol and nagging injuries to average 2.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists playing 12.9 minutes per game. When fully healthy, WSU coaches think Porter has the potential to be a smooth playmaker and a disruptive defensive player.
Poor Bear-Chandler, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound junior from Omaha, averaged 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds this past season for the Shockers, playing in 12.1 minutes per game. He also posted the second-best offensive rebounding rate among WSU’s rotation players. Seymour, a 6-9, 205-pound freshman from Charlotte, only saw action in six games and averaged 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds.
Because this season does not count against any players eligibility, Poor Bear-Chandler will remain a junior and Seymour a freshman for the 2021-22 season.
WSU currently has a total of four players, including walk-on Remy Robert, in the NCAA transfer portal, which is quickly approaching 1,000 names, since the conclusion of a 16-6 season that featured the program’s first American Athletic Conference championship and an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Transfers are expected to be at an all-time high this offseason with players anticipating the NCAA to pass a ruling that will allow first-time transfers immediate eligibility at their new school.
As it currently stands, the Shockers have five available scholarships to give in their 2021 recruiting class. Gilbert and fellow senior Trey Wade could decide to return to WSU for next season and it would not count against WSU’s 13 available scholarships. The seniors are both taking things “day-by-day,” according to Brown.
More playing time is likely what both departing players will be in search of. While Poor Bear-Chandler had a spot in WSU’s rotation this past season, he only averaged 12.1 minutes, ninth-most on the team, as the backup center to Morris Udeze. Seymour had only played a total of four minutes against Division I competition before playing nine minutes in a March 6 game against South Florida due to an injury to Poor Bear-Chandler.
Poor Bear-Chandler is a veteran stretch post player who could help a team right away, while Seymour is an intriguing three-star recruit who was drawing interest from ACC programs before he suffered a torn ACL in April 2019. Seymour’s length and athleticism makes him a high-upside prospect, as he impressed WSU coaches this season in practice with the strides made.
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 11:09 AM.
.jpg)