Where are they now? Here’s an update on KU basketball transfers at their new schools
Seven college basketball players who competed for Kansas a year ago are earning minutes for different teams after moving on via the transfer portal.
Here’s a look at how MJ Rice, Kyle Cuffe, Bobby Pettiford, Joseph Yesufu, Ernest Udeh, Zuby Ejiofor and Cam Martin are faring at their new schools.
MJ Rice, 6-foot-5, 215, sophomore guard, North Carolina State: Rice, a former McDonald’s All-American from Henderson, North Carolina, has appeared in five games since rejoining the Wolfpack after taking a leave of absence from the program in September.
Rice has averaged 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds while playing 11.6 minutes per game in a reserve role. Rice has hit 11 of 22 shots for 50%, 2 of 8 3s for 25% and 4 of 9 free throws for 44.4%. He has one assist against four turnovers for N.C. State, 9-3.
Rice scored six points in 18 minutes against Detroit in the Wolfpack’s last game before Christmas break. He scored a season-high 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 11 minutes vs. Maryland Eastern Shore.
Of Rice, coach Kevin Keatts told PackInsider.com: “He gives us another dimension. I’m happy for him. He’s going to help us. He’s going to be really good for us.
“He gives us the ability to play a little bit more small ball. ... He’s a really good defender and can rebound the basketball. It’s going to take time. I’m trying to figure out how to kind of put him into the rotation, and now we’ve added another really good, exciting piece to it.”
In 23 games for KU in 2022-23, Rice averaged 2.2 points and 1.0 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game.
Kyle Cuffe, 6-foot-2, 190, sophomore guard, Syracuse: The Harlem, New York native, who is healthy after redshirting last season because of a knee injury, is part of Syracuse’s regular rotation. Cuffe has averaged 4.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.0 minutes a game for the 9-3 Orange. He’s played in all 12 games.
Cuffe has hit 19 of 47 shots for 40.4% and made 10 of 27 3s for 37%. He had seven points, three assists and two blocked shots while playing 18 minutes against Niagara in Syracuse’s last game.
He had a season-high 13 points against Chaminade at the Maui Invitational.
Cuffe was a medical redshirt a year ago at KU after redshirting during KU’s 2022 NCAA title season. He told Syracuse.com he’s enjoyed continuing his college career closer to home.
“I’m still away, but I’m close enough that if something happens, my parents can come up and check on me or whatever. I’ve seen them five times already,” Cuffe said.
After playing 23 minutes in the season opener against New Hampshire, he said: “This is amazing. It’s my first win playing more than five minutes in the game. That’s exciting for me. Everything is working out the way it’s supposed to.’’
Bobby Pettiford, 6-foot, 195, junior guard, East Carolina: The Durham, North Carolina native has started 11 of 12 games for 7-5 East Carolina and has averaged 29.5 minutes per contest.
Pettiford, who scored seven points and dished four assists against no turnovers while playing 28 minutes against Delaware State in ECU’s last game, has averaged 9.7 points on 50.6% shooting (10-of-25 from 3 for 40%) with 46 assists to 14 turnovers.
Pettiford scored 24 points against UNCW, 18 versus Kennesaw State, 15 versus Northeastern, 14 versus South Carolina and 11 against Florida. He had five assists versus the Gators.
Last year at KU, he averaged 2.2 points and 1.6 assists per game while on the floor for 12.1 minutes per contest.
”I’m very excited to be home, it just feels good to be here again,” Pettiford told CBS17.com. “Being at home, it’s a different feeling. And feeling the love when I visited ECU, that’s what really did it for me.
“It feels good to be a priority again and feel loved,” he added. “It’s like being back at high school again. It’s my junior year, the time I show everybody who I am and that I’m still hungry.”
Joseph Yesufu, 6-foot, 185, senior guard, Washington State: The Bolingbrook, Illinois, native has played and started in six games. He’s missed five games so far in 2023-24 because of a hip injury.
Yesufu has averaged 6.2 points, 2.0 rebounds with 11 assists to six turnovers. He’s logged 25.4 minutes per game in the six games he’s been available for Washington State (9-2).
Yesufu has connected on 36.8% of his shots, including 8-of-23 from 3 for 34.8%. He scored a season-high 15 points with five assists and two rebounds in 36 minutes versus Mississippi State. It’s his only double-digit scoring game thus far.
At KU a year ago, Yesufu averaged 4.1 points in 12.6 minutes a game.
“I love Pullman,” Yesufu said, as quoted by 247Sports.com. “They welcomed me with open arms. Very peaceful area — you might think it’s boring, but I need that peace.”
Of Yesufu, WSU coach Kyle Smith said: “He’s an explosive combo. He can really guard the ball. He can really shoot it and he can really get it going scoring-wise. But we’re going to need his premier shooting. He’s a smaller, strong, explosive guy who can get buckets.”
Ernest Udeh, 6-foot-11, 260, sophomore forward, TCU: The Orlando, Florida, native has started all 12 games for the Horned Frogs (10-2), who open Big 12 play on Jan. 6 at KU. Udeh has averaged 3.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game. He has made 60.9% of his shots and 57.1% of his free throws with nine blocks and 12 steals.
Udeh scored four points and grabbed three rebounds while playing 20 minutes against Hawaii in the Horned Frogs’ last game. He scored a season-high eight points versus Arizona State and had 11 rebounds versus Omaha and 10 against Clemson.
At KU as a freshman, Udeh averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in 30 games (8.3 minutes a game). He also contributed 20 steals, 18 blocks and 53 rebounds last season.
“An opportunity to grow as a basketball player and a young man is all I wanted,” Udeh told 247Sports after choosing TCU. “Coach (Jamie) Dixon and TCU can provide that for me.”
Zuby Ejiofor, 6-foot-9, 235, sophomore forward, St. John’s: The Garland, Texas, native has come off the bench to average 10.8 minutes a game for Rick Pitino’s Red Storm (8-4). Ejiofor has averaged 4.0 points a game on 37.1% shooting. He’s missed his only two 3-point tries and has converted 73.3% of his free throws.
In his last game against UConn, Ejiofor scored four points and secured four rebounds in 11 minutes. He scored a season-high nine points with six rebounds against Dayton.
“Very few players I’ve coached have the ability to bring it every single day,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino told The New York Post. “From the day he arrived, he has not had a bad day just from an effort standpoint. I just think he laces them up and he goes full bore.”
Ejiofor responded to his coach’s praise: “I take real pride in that, just for a coach like him to acknowledge me trying hard, just trying a little bit harder than the next person. I try to do that every single day, and bring the energy.”
At KU last year, Ejiofor played in 25 games. He averaged 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds playing 5.1 minutes per contest.
Cam Martin, 6-foot-9, 235, senior forward, Boise State: The Yukon, Oklahoma native, who started his career at Missouri Southern State and is the second-leading scorer in MSSU history, has started six of 12 games for 8-4 Boise State.
He has played 20.2 minutes per game after redshirting the past two seasons at KU. Martin has averaged 6.9 points on 46.9% shooting and 5.5 rebounds. He is 3-of-17 from 3 for 17.6%. Martin had two points and four rebounds in 16 minutes against Washington State in his last game. Martin scored a season-high 15 points with seven rebounds against Clemson.
“First goal of mine, I’ve heard people talk about Boise State making the NCAA Tournament nine times but never winning a game,” Martin told KOAMNewsNow.com “We’re going to change that and get a win in March Madness and make a run.”
There are some additional Jayhawks, who competed at KU before 2022-23, playing college hoops for other teams this season:
Tristan Enaruna, 6-foot-8, 220, senior forward, Cleveland State: Enaruna, who also has played at Iowa State, is a starter who averages 18.7 points in 31.7 minutes a game. He’s made 51.5% of his shots and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per contest.
The Netherlands native has made 12 of 31 3s for 38.7%. Enaruna scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Western Michigan in 8-5 Cleveland State’s last game.
Enaruna averaged 2.8 ppg and 1.6 rpg in 25 games his sophomore season at KU.
Tyon Grant-Foster, 6-foot-7, 210, senior guard, Grand Canyon: Grant-Foster, a graduate of Schlagle High School, sat out last season at DePaul because of a medical condition.
He’s now a starter at Grand Canyon, 10-1, where he averages 20.9 points a game on 47.7% shooting. Grant-Foster has made 17 of 53 3s for 32.1%. He’s pulled down 6.0 rebounds a game and has 20 steals with 14 blocked shots.
He had a season-high 30 points against SE Missouri State.
In 2020-21 at KU, Grant-Foster averaged 3.1 points in 22 games. He averaged 8.1 minutes in those games.
“He’s a very gifted basketball player and has raised the level of our team, given us an elite scoring option,” Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew told the AP. “The thing that we have really enjoyed is just his appreciation for the game and just the joy he brings just in life in general.”
Latrell Jossell, 6-foot-1, 185, junior guard, Stephen F. Austin: Jossell, a Chicago native, played sparingly in nine games at KU in 2020-21. Now a starter, he averages 9.2 points a game on 38.8% shooting. He is 20-of-52 from 3 for 38.5%. Also, he’s 15-of-17 from the line for 88.2%.
Jossell for the year has 18 assists to 22 turnovers for SFA, 7-5.
He scored a season-high 16 points with four assists against Middle Tennessee State and 15 points against New Mexico State.
“He tries hard every day. He has great spirit. He is fun to be around. He is all of the things coach Self said he was,” SFA coach Kyle Keller, a former member of Self’s support staff at KU, said of Jossell, adding: “He’s not very big. He’s a small 2-guard is what he is.”
Issac McBride, 6-foot-1, 175, senior guard, Oral Roberts: McBride, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, never played in a game for KU. He left the team in September of 2019.
McBride played at Vanderbilt in 2020-21 and is in his third year at ORU. He has averaged 18.4 points a game on 40.6% shooting. He’s made 36.4% of his 3s for 5-6 ORU. He averages 3.1 assists per game.
McBride has scored 27 points in a pair of games in 2023-24, versus Texas A&M and Missouri State.
Bryce Thompson, 6-foot-6, 205, senior guard, Oklahoma State: Thompson, a native of Tulsa, has averaged 11.9 points a game on 41.7% shooting while playing in eight of 11 games for 6-5 OSU. A leg injury has kept him out of three contests.
He’s made 17 of 40 3s for 42.5%. He’s also dished 15 assists against 13 turnovers.
Thompson averaged 4.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 17.2 minutes-per-game as a true freshman in 2020-21 at Kansas.
Marcus Adams, 6-foot-8, 220, freshman forward, BYU: Adams, a native of Torrance, California, never played a game at KU. He left the Jayhawk program in July, then committed to Gonzaga. He decommitted shortly after and surfaced at BYU.
He’s played in one game for the 11-1 Cougars, scoring two points (0-for-3 from 3) with one assist in eight minutes played against Bellarmine. He’s benefited from the recent ruling that allows players who have transferred more than once immediate eligibility.
“I loved that he was absolutely fearless on the offensive end,” BYU coach Mark Pope told the Salt Lake Tribune. “I like young guys that are fearless. This is a high school senior right now who is on his third school in six months, and he got the surprise call that he was going to be able to play this year.
“He walked out on the court with eight minutes left in front of 15,000 fans for the first time in his life. For him to walk out there and be fearless is really great. He’s going to have a great future. He’s got a lot of growing to do and he’s going to do it. He’s really blessed to be around these players and to learn how to be a pro from these guys.”
