Wichita State basketball’s two most-experienced veterans enter NCAA transfer portal
The four-year careers of Dexter Dennis and Morris Udeze at Wichita State have come to an end.
Both players have filed their paperwork on Wednesday to enter the NCAA basketball transfer portal, sources confirmed to The Eagle. Both players posted on their social media accounts thanking WSU and stating their time in the program has “come to an end.”
Dennis and Udeze were the last remaining members of the eight-member 2018 recruiting class at WSU, a point of pride with the duo who developed into best friends and roommates over their four-year career with the Shockers. And now they will each explore their options to play a super senior season elsewhere in the transfer portal that features nearly 1,200 total players.
While WSU already had four players who entered the transfer portal, all four players (Monzy Jackson, Chaunce Jenkins, Joe Pleasant, and Qua Grant) averaged less than 17 minutes per game. In terms of minutes played and production, the likely departures of Dennis (8.4 points in 31.1 minutes) and Udeze (10.2 points in 24.7 minutes) are the first significant losses on the roster for head coach Isaac Brown this offseason.
It also solidifies what is shaping up to be a large overhaul of last season’s roster, a chance to wipe the slate clean from a disappointing 15-13 campaign. The six players who have entered the transfer portal accounted for 52% of minutes and 44% of points from last season and that’s not counting the expected departure of Tyson Etienne, who would bring those totals up to 68% of minutes and 65% of points if he left.
WSU also has to play the waiting game with budding star Ricky Council IV, who is testing the 2022 NBA Draft waters but maintaining his college eligibility — a decision he doesn’t have to make until June 1. The remaining scholarship players at WSU include senior point guard Craig Porter, sophomore center Kenny Pohto and the pair of redshirt freshmen from last season in wings Jalen Ricks and Isaac Abidde.
Dennis, who came to WSU as an overlooked recruit from Baker, La., has cemented a nice spot in WSU history. He became just the fourth Shocker in program history to win a Defensive Player of the Year award and registered on a handful of career lists at WSU: sixth in 3-pointers made (176), 12th in games started (94) and 16th in minutes played (3,101).
While he never became the sharpshooter WSU envisioned — everyone in the program will tell you he’s much better than his 29.7% accuracy from this past season indicates — Dennis is an athletic, 6-foot-5 wing who is a superb defender. It’s not hard to imagine that skill set attracting plenty of suitors at the high-major level.
Udeze battled shoulder injuries throughout his career, which limited him in his first two seasons with the Shockers before the 6-foot-8 undersized center became a regular starter the last two seasons. Udeze averaged 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds the past two seasons and played his best game in the biggest game of his career, scoring a career-high 22 points against Drake in the 2021 NCAA Tournament — the type of production that should be attractive for teams looking for a starting center.
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
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