Sports
NCAA transfer portal: Missouri Valley players transferring for 2023-24 – Peoria Journal Star
The transfer portal has changed the face of college basketball. Every year, dozens of athletes move between teams.
The Missouri Valley Conference is no different.
Led by Bradley big man Rienk Mast — rated as the No. 2 player in the portal by highly regarded college basketball analytics site EvanMiya.com and No. 6 by CBS Sports early on in portal season — there have been nearly 50 Valley players to put their names in the portal.
Of the six players named to the 2022-23 first-team All-MVC squad, only Player of the Year Tucker DeVries (Drake) remains with his team. The other five are gone: Marcus Domask, SIU (portal), Ben Krikke, Valpo (portal), Rienk Mast, Bradley (portal), Roman Penn, Drake (no more eligibility), Ben Sheppard, Belmont (declared for NBA Draft).
‘Ready for new challenges’:Bradley basketball star goes into the NCAA transfer portal
Here are the MVC players in the portal as of Tuesday May 2, listed by team.
We will update the list as it changes. A school listed in parentheses after player’s name indicates he’s chosen that as his new team.
The Bruins have lost four players: point guard EJ Bellinger (Tennessee State), center Even Brauns, forward Frank Jukubicek and forward Michael Shanks (Tennessee State). And star Ben Sheppard has announced he’s entering the NBA Draft.
All-MVC center Rienk Mast (Nebraska) entered the portal. Backup point guard Pop Weathers entered the portal on Friday, March 24. He signed with Texas A&M-Commerce on May 16. Starting wing Zek Montgomery (Rhode Island) entered the portal on Tuesday, March 28. Guard Ville Tahvanainen opted out of his fifth year to turn pro, while BU also lost Ja’Shon Henry when his eligibility expired.
Bulldogs backup point guard Okay Djamgouz (Maine) and forwards Bryceson Burns and Issa Samake entered the portal. The Bulldogs are also losing three key players in Roman Penn, Garrett Sturtz and DJ Wilkins, all aging out.
Forward Antoine Smith Jr., reserve shooting guard Blaise Beauchamp and forward Trey Hall went into the portal. They were followed into the portal on March 24 by shooting guard Matus Malovec (Eastern Florida State College), shooting guard Chris Moncrief, forward Preston Phillips, shooting guard Zaveion Chism-Okoh, point guard Gabe Spinelli (Monmouth, N.J.). Point guard Logan McIntire (Kentucky Wesleyan) entered the portal on March 28.
Run it back?How Bradley basketball plans to improve its roster for next season
The Flames lost point guard Jalen Jackson (Purdue Fort Wayne) and star shooting guard Jace Carter (16.6 points per game, signed with Texas A&M), shooting guard Damaria Franklin (Memphis), point guard Shaun Williams and center Bessanty-Aimé Saragba.
The Redbirds lost forward Joe Petrakis (Western Illinois), forward Liam McChesney, reserve forward Alston Andrews, shooting guard Jayden Johnson and center Alex Kotov.
Shooting guard Zach Hobbs, shooting guard Cameron Crawford (Marshall), point guard Rob Martin (Southeast Missouri State), shooting guard Isaac Holmes.
The Bears have lost starting forward Jonathan Mogbo (San Francisco), center Dawson Carper, forward Jonathan Dunn and forward James Graham.
Forward Kenny White Jr., who started more than half the Racers’ games, entered the transfer portal. D.J. Burns, 6-7 forward (Youngstown State). Shooting guard Braxton Stacker. Guard Jaxson Edwards. Small forward Marlon Lestin.
Point guard Dalton Banks (Illinois State) and all-MVC forward Marcus Domask (Illinois, and also entering NBA Draft), all-MVC guard Lance Jones (Purdue) and shooting guard Foster Wonders (Green Bay).
All-Missouri Valley Conference center Ben Krikke (Iowa), point guard Preston Ruedinger (Green Bay), point guard Cam Palesse (Canisius), power forward Maximus Nelson (Purdue Fort Wayne) and freshman Ibra Bayu.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
