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Welp, here we go again. WWU already sees two of their best players in Aidan Rice and Nehemiah Pollard enter the portal. And Miles Gurske from MSU Billings, Julian Mora of SPU (again), Braydon Olson from WOU, and Bradley Swillie from CWU. Gurske is getting a bunch of D2 offers including from WOU. Rice got an offer from UC Riverside and Pollard is hearing from D! programs
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I always think of the old U2 song I still haven't found what I'm looking for. I'm not sure what these division 2 guys are searching for. None of them are going to the NBA, few are going to Europe to play for little money and in front of small crowds.Originally posted by CWU Wildcat Nation View Post
One Western Oregon guy I met after a football game this year is in the portal, his fourth school in 4 years. I suspected when his playing time started to dwindle that he was out. Decent player and really nice guy. The only thing that was funny was he was telling me they're going to stack up a lot of wins this year. I didn't say anything but I knew they wouldn't. But now he's searching for something else. Western Oregon had a really good player two years ago, who went to Colorado Springs or something like that and now he's on his way again. Third School in 3 years. Can't remember his name, and most of these guys will be forgotten quickly. I remember guys who finish at the school, on winning teams, set records. Portal guys are just guys.
Some of these guys aren't very good ball players they're just searching for a bad team where they can get playing time. Others I'm not sure what they're looking at, Montana State Billings had a guy went to four high schools and four colleges, so for him education is a hobby. To each their own I guess. Also, coaches still run off players, which I'm not in favor of unless they are criminals.Last edited by tsull; 03-13-2026, 10:03 AM. -
One good transfer from last year was Jaxon Nap to defending national champs Nova Southeastern. He is averaging 13.8 ppg and 8.4 rpg and they are the #1 seed in their region
On the other hand, a shocking bust of a transfer was Isaiah Saams-Hoy, who starred at UAF last season. This season with D2 Washburn, he is a backup only averaging 1.6 points in 5.9 minutes per game!
Former WWU standout Will Wilson only played 1 game at Houston Christian, so maybe got hurt? And former NNU star Kye Dickson only 6 games at UTRGV, so maybe same thing there.
Another former WWU star Tijan Saine is seeing great success at Weber State, 17.5 ppg and 4.3 apg. Grant Kepley 6.2 ppg at Montana but he still has another 2 years to go.
As for the CWU guys Garrett Anderson 10.8 ppg at North Dakota but Cavin Holden I think got hurt at Montana State, 8 games 8.4 ppg.Comment
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I think the difficult part for me is if I want to donate, I don't want to donate for a player who is off to Backwoods Tech in a year. I want to donate to someone who wants to graduate from my alma mater. A guy I know, a big donor at a D1/FCS Big Sky Conference school, pulled his money when all sorts of guys in football and basketball were transferring out. He said the primary reason he donated is he wanted student-athletes to have the same experience he had at the school.
Colleges have donors, where they want them. First it was the funds like CAF (Cougar Athletic Fund), the DAF (Duck Athletic Fund) and so on, that went to the scholarships to student-athletes. Donors just tossed money into a fund, hoping it would be used wisely. Donors can direct it to a specific sport, but who knows if the player will stick around. Perhaps in the future donors need to have their own contracts and demand a refund if the student transfers. That probably wouldn't fly, but why would I donate to some dude who is out the door once the season ends? That's stupid.Comment
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Stupid. I hate this part of the season.Comment
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There's no answer. Recruit in-state kids, he'll go. Recruit more JC's, they'll go. Get the hometown kid, he'll leave. They can leave; as fans we don't have to support this. Funny story, an EWU player, who had played at Idaho, was going through the handshake line after EWU lost in the Big Sky tournament. An Idaho fan yelled at him, "Hey, looks like you picked the wrong school." To his credit, the player just shrugged his shoulders. He could be going to the Big Dance, instead he's sitting home.Originally posted by CWU Wildcat Nation View Post
If you're on your 4th school, you're probably not a very good player of each coach gave up on you, or you gave up on them. I know the previous WOU regime was a country club atmosphere. When the coaching change happened, half of them left. My take is they don't like to be pushed, they want to be coddled. College athletics is hard, some players don't like hard.
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Wow! thanks for the intel! Saams-Hoy was my fav last year and a big loss. He was a really strong defender with a lot of fire and drive. I wanna think he would have been a contender for DPOTY in the GNAC, had he stayed in Fbx. That said, it was a rough winter in Fbx; we are still breaking records daily for deep cold, and with Ostanik having his son pass in the middle of the season, it was a hard year. Maybe I am naive, but I think most / all of the UAF guys that are eligible for more seasons will stay...??? Maybe. I think they trauma bonded this year and after losing to UAA by 1 in double OT of the GNAC tourney will be hungry for more next year. They return all 5 starters (if they wanna stay), and are need of some pieces to increase their depth and height. I am excited for next year but just holding my breath to see if these guys that are core will stay for another season.Originally posted by CWU Wildcat Nation View Post
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A few more Western Oregon guys hit the portal today. Including seniors who graduated they will lose 10 guys off the roster. Coach Ryan Orton inherited a very depleted roster before and here we go again. Eventually they'll have to stabilize this roster a bit that's the only way you can win at Western Oregon, in my opinion. We've never won with heavy turnover. I'm expecting more guys probably to leave, also.
Now granted a few guys who have portaled out today are just not very good basketball players and they probably had to take them to fill out the roster. I'm guessing they end up being division 3 because they didn't look like division 2 players to me. Eventually you have to have some athleticism and actually know how to play the game and I didn't see it from a few guys.
I said the rebuild would be 3 to 4 years and I'm probably right but losing all these players has me not very interested in the program. How can I get behind a new team each year?Comment
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WWU part time starter Trevor White in the portal. 9.9 ppg in 2 seasons at Western, 8.9 ppg this past season.
WOU's Olson getting numerous D2 offers, including MSU BillingsComment
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CWU's Jordan Clark in the portal, joining Swillie.Comment
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Losing two talented players who are your two leading scorers is a killer for CWu. Northern had a right when it was said this is killing the GNAC.Originally posted by CWU Wildcat Nation View Post
I have to admit I laughed when I read their bios and their quotes are just gushing over Central Washington U., talking about the family atmosphere and what a great place it is. Well if it's a great place, why didn't you stay?
Like I said a dozen times or more, they have the right to leave, I have the right to criticize them. Oh, if they want to go Division 1 they should be up for the criticism cuz there's a lot more of that at that level than division 2.Comment
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Wow, GNAC player of the year Kaden Hansen gone. Bummer, great player, but I don't think he'll be going to Humboldt, he might be a D1 mid-major guy. But Northern is correct, we keep losing our good players and it's hurting the league.Comment
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CWU loses two starters this year and 3 or 4 starters last year. Very frustrating.Comment
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St. Martin's had a rough two days of the portal. However, they haven't lost their coach and he's the key, he's very good. In today's world, there's no stopping the portal. Guys will literally leave for $100 more.Originally posted by CWU Wildcat Nation View PostComment
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