Transfer portal tracker: Evansville, Southern Indiana men's basketball players
EVANSVILLE — After more than 1,000 Division I scholarship men's basketball players entered the NCAA transfer portal in each of its first two years, the list of names this spring continues to balloon daily.
This past Friday was particularly busy locally as five University of Evansville players entered along with one from the University of Southern Indiana.
This is the new era of college athletics as players basically exercise free agency, using a one-time waiver to find new surroundings with immediate eligibility. The portal opened on March 13 and will close on May 1.
Let’s break down who has decided to test the waters at the two men's basketball programs in town. This story will be updated with each new entry.
University of Evansville
Antoine Smith Jr.
March 14: The 6-foot-7 senior played two seasons for the Aces, averaging 6.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 42 overall games. He made 23 starts and was one of just three players to stay through the coaching change from Todd Lickliter to David Ragland. If he transfers, he'll be on to his fourth school after also playing at Incarnate Word and Collin County Community College.
Trey Hall
March 21: Standing at 6-9, Hall retains three years of eligibility and wasn't officially part of the Aces this past season. He instead focused on academics. Hall also redshirted the 2021-22 season, so he has not played since Jan. 21, 2021, when he was a true freshman. The Connecticut native appeared in just 19 games, though he was a UE student for three years.
Preston Phillips
March 24: The 6-8 sophomore forward played two seasons for the Aces and was a part of the rotation in both. Phillips earned some starting minutes for Ragland but was mainly one of the first to come off the bench. He averaged 3.9 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 54% from the field.
Gabe Spinelli
March 24: The 6-2 freshman guard was part of Ragland's regular rotation from the first game and started once. The son of former Boston College coach Scott Spinelli, he averaged 4.6 points and 1.6 rebounds while shooting 46% from the field. He originally committed to Lickliter's staff but also had offers from Bryant and Wyoming.
Reflection, transfer portal, scheduling: UE coach David Ragland's offseason approach
Chris Moncrief
March 24: Moncrief, another Lickliter recruit, worked his way into Ragland's rotation by the midway point of the non-conference schedule and was a major contributor from that point forward. The 6-6 freshman averaged 2.4 points and 1.1 rebounds while primarily working as a passer. He had a career-high five assists at Southern Illinois and previously held offers from Akron, Bryant, Hofstra, Robert Morris and Boston University coming out of high school.
Zaveion Chism-Okoh
March 24: Also a freshman, the 6-3 Chism-Okoh appeared in three games before being listed as a redshirt. He averaged 13.6 points and 2.6 steals in his senior year of high school. UE was the only publicly known Division I school to offer him and he spent a season at Link Year Prep, the same prep school Hall attended.
Matúš Malovec
March 24: The Slovakian youth international spent the season as a redshirt. Known for his shooting prowess, the 6-6 guard chose UE over a junior college but had spoken to other schools in the process. He is the only player Ragland recruited to enter the portal so far.
Logan McIntire
March 28: The 6-4 freshman guard appeared in four games for the Aces before being listed as a redshirt. The North Harrison High School graduate averaged 21.9 points during his senior year. UE was the first Division I program to offer McIntire during Lickliter's tenure.
What the departures mean
Friday's five-man exodus means the Purple Aces are in full rebuild mode. That makes eight players to enter the portal since David Ragland took over last year when including Blaise Beauchamp, who left the program during the season. Although the only major scorer to depart so far is Smith, with the likes of Phillips, Moncrief and Spinelli entering there will be plenty of playing time on the table for potential incoming transfers and freshmen. UE has the 98th-ranked incoming freshman class nationally, per 247Sports.
University of Southern Indiana
Tyler Henry
March 20: The 6-4 senior will graduate this spring with two degrees after spending three years with the Screaming Eagles. He still has one year of eligibility remaining and hopes to transfer closer to his home of Brooklyn, New York. Henry averaged 9.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 72 games with USI. Formerly played at Lane College.
Isaiah Swope
March 22: After starring at Castle, the 5-10 Swope made quite the impact in his two years on the West Side. He led USI's offense averaging team-bests of 15.6 points and 3.6 assists to earn First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors. Swope's departure might be surprising considering Stan Gouard said after the OVC tournament, "We’re going to build our team around Isaiah Swope.” He routinely made clutch shots to energize the Eagles, notably scoring 28 points in an overtime win over Indiana State.
More: USI men's basketball leading scorer Isaiah Swope enters NCAA transfer portal
A.J. Smith
March 24: The 6-10 freshman guard-forward combo played a sparing role on USI’s bench, appearing in 18 games over the course of the season. He earner more minutes later in the season, including a 20-minute showing at Tennessee Tech. Smith averaged 1.7 points on 35% shooting from the field and 1.8 rebounds.
Peter Nwoke
March 27: The 6-7 forward appeared in four games and averaged one point and two rebounds. He played a career-high 13 minutes against NAIA opponent St. Mary of the Woods. Nwoke transferred to USI after one season at Michigan State, where he redshirted.
Gary Solomon
April 5: The 6-foot-6 junior guard played in 30 of 33 games during his first season at USI, making 13 starts. He averaged 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds as he scored a season-high 21 points against Bowling Green and grabbed a season-best nine rebounds versus Southern Illinois. Previously played at Henry Ford Community College, where he led NJCAA Division II in assists.
What the departures mean
USI must replace its top five scorers, four of whom were starters. The Eagles also lost seniors Jelani Simmons, Trevor Lakes and Jacob Polakovich, who all averaged double-digit points while Polakovich ranked in the top 5 nationally in rebounding. That's a significant amount of production to replace — on average, they combined for 61.7 points and 26.2 rebounds per game while playing 70% of the overall minutes. Considering USI went just 13-17 against Division I competition, it will need to go back to the drawing board to remain competitive in this NCAA transitional period.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Transfer portal tracker for Evansville, Southern Indiana players
