Kansas Jayhawks sophomore guard Bobby Pettiford enters NCAA transfer portal

Kansas sophomore guard Bobby Pettiford, who averaged 12.1 minutes a game while playing in 32 of the Jayhawks’ 36 contests this past men’s basketball season, has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal, Kansas Athletics confirmed on Wednesday.

“Forever Rock Chalk. Always will have a special place in my heart.” Pettiford, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Durham, North Carolina, wrote on Twitter Wednesday in response to a post that his name was in the portal.

Pettiford, who was bothered by injuries in both of his seasons at KU, averaged 2.2 points a game with 43 assists to 36 turnovers during the just-completed 2022-23 season for 28-8 KU.

He hit 31 of 58 shots for 53.4% and was 3-of-10 from three.

Pettiford arrived for summer school before his freshman season sidelined by three torn ligaments (and a severe bone bruise) of his left ankle area sustained in mid-May back home in Carolina country.

He played in just 14 games for KU in that initial 2021-22 season. He had a lingering abdominal injury that hampered him basically the entire campaign, until he had surgery late in the season to to repair a core muscle in Pettiford’s pelvic area.

He was bothered by a hamstring injury at various junctures of his sophomore season.

Pettiford in 2020-21 averaged 19.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game for 12-4 South Granville High. As a junior Pettiford earned all-state honors in North Carolina, where he averaged 21.8 points, 7.4 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 2.9 steals in helping South Granville to a 30-1 record and the NCHSSAA Class 2A state semifinals.

His sophomore year, Pettiford averaged 19.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals. He played for the CP3 AAU program.

He is the second KU player to enter the portal in the past two days. Cam Martin entered the portal on Monday.