Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Myles Rice is one of six Washington State players who have entered the transfer portal this week.
Rice averaged 14.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 35 starts for the Cougars (25-10), who won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. Rice was Washington’s State second-leading scorer and led the squad in assists.
Just two days after Washington State lost to Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, coach Kyle Smith departed to become head coach at Stanford.
Now players are investigating opportunities and Rice confirmed his entry into the transfer portal on Thursday.
The other Washington State players to enter the portal are forward Andrej Jakimovski, center Rueben Chinyelu, forward Kymany Houinsou, center AJ LeBeau and guard Dylan Darling.
The loss of Rice is the big blow. He overcame a bout with cancer that caused him to miss last season to be one of the key cogs that helped the program halt their long NCAA Tournament drought. He redshirted his first season on campus prior to the battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“After reflecting on the recent changes in the Washington State Mens Basketball Program, I have made the difficult decision to enter my name into the transfer portal,” Rice said in an Instagram post. “I would like to thank the entire coaching staff and the administration of WSU for supporting me for the past 3 years.”
Jakimovski started all 35 games and averaged 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds. He ranked fourth on the team in scoring and second in rebounding.
Chinyelu and Houinson were part-time starters. Chinyelu started 12 of 35 games played and averaged 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds, while Houinsou started 10 of 35 games and averaged 4.3 points and 3.4 rebounds.
Washington State associate coach Jim Shaw reportedly interviewed for the head-coaching opening this week.
The Cougars defeated Drake 66-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated 67-56 by Iowa State.
–Field Level Media
