Wichita State basketball lands Missouri transfer Ronnie DeGray III in recruiting
Former Missouri forward Ronnie DeGray III announced his plans of transferring to the Wichita State men’s basketball team for the 2023-24 season on Wednesday.
DeGray, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound power forward, has two years of eligibility remaining, although it is uncertain if he will be eligible immediately for the Shockers. Because he has already transferred once in his collegiate career — from Massachusetts to Missouri following his freshman year — DeGray has already burned his one-time free pass under new rule changes made by the NCAA Div. I Council.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, WSU is optimistic he could receive a waiver to play right away due to the knee injury that forced him to miss the final 16 games of this past season at Missouri. One of two ways to still receive a waiver from the NCAA includes “a demonstrated physical injury that necessitated the student’s transfer” that will require WSU to file supporting documentation, care plans and proximity of DeGray’s support system to the NCAA for review.
The clear link to WSU to DeGray is his time spent with current WSU assistant coach Chris Hollender during the 2021-22 season at Missouri when he averaged 8.3 points and 4.6 rebounds. After coach Cuonzo Martin and his staff, including Hollender, were fired following the season, DeGray remained in Columbia but saw a reduced role under Dennis Gates, the new coach.
After averaging 8.7 points at UMass as a freshman and 8.3 for Missouri the year before, DeGray saw his averages fall to 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds this past season and his playing time dwindle from more than 25 minutes per game to fewer than 10.
Much like former Shocker James Rojas, DeGray is an undersized power forward who is a magnet for drawing fouls. His foul rate of 39.4% from the 2021-22 season was top-20 in the SEC and he cashed in on 76.2% of his free throws. He also had a strong block rate and made 54.8% of his two-pointers, another strong mark. He has potential to be a forward that can stretch defenses, as he made 29.1% of his three-pointers that season on 2.5 attempts per game.
DeGray, a three-star high school prospect coming out of Parker, Colo., made an official visit to WSU last month, according to sources around the program. It is unclear what other programs he was considering in his recruitment.
The addition of DeGray comes at a position of need for the Shockers, which didn’t have a natural power forward on the roster. He is the fourth player to pick WSU out of the transfer portal, joining senior center Jacob Germany (Texas-San Antonio), junior wing Harlond Beverly (Miami) and junior point guard Bijan Cortes (Oklahoma). The fifth member of WSU’s 2023 recruiting class is incoming freshman Joy Ighovodja, who was signed to Oral Roberts before following coach Paul Mills to Wichita.
The Shockers are down to three available spots for their 2023-24 roster. Returners from last year’s team include junior wing Colby Rogers, junior guard Xavier Bell, junior center Quincy Ballard, sophomore wing Jalen Ricks and sophomore forward Isaac Abidde.
This story was originally published May 3, 2023 at 5:34 PM.
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