Washington State guard Tyrell Roberts enters NCAA transfer portal
PULLMAN – Tyrell Roberts, a sharpshooting guard who finished his first season at Washington State as the team’s No. 2 scorer, has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal.
Verbal Commits reported Friday morning that Roberts will explore playing his final year of eligibility elsewhere.
Roberts started 31 games as a junior and first-year Cougar last season, averaging 11.4 points per game. He shot 83 of 241 (34.4%) from 3-point range, 35.5% from the field and 92.5% from the foul line, contributing 2.6 rebounds and 2 assists per game as WSU posted its best season in a decade, registering 22 wins and reaching the semifinal round of the NIT.
Before joining WSU, the 5-foot-11 native of Sacramento, California, scored over 1,000 points across just two seasons at UC San Diego and earned Division II All-America honors in 2019-20. He opted out of the 2020-21 season. WSU coach Kyle Smith saw star potential in Roberts and signed him last April.
Roberts captured starting duties immediately and played more minutes than every Cougar except standout point guard Michael Flowers, who has graduated. Roberts was an active, albeit undersized, perimeter defender and a streaky shooter last season, but could turn a game in WSU’s favor if he got the hot hand. His best showing came in a first-round NIT win over Santa Clara on March 15, when he hit 7 of 16 3-pointers and totaled 23 points.
“Just not playing a while and coming from D-II to playing 30 minutes a game in a Power Five conference and having the season we did, it was just an incredible experience,” Roberts said after WSU bowed out of the NIT with a loss to Texas A&M on March 29 in New York. “I tried to stay locked into the moment, but at the same time I remembered to enjoy it – the places I was going and just knowing I’m supposed to be here. It was good for us moving forward.”
WSU’s program built momentum last season, but now it seems the Cougars will spend the offseason rebuilding the core of their roster.
Starting forward Efe Abogidi put his name into the transfer portal earlier this month, three days after declaring for the NBA draft. Fellow big man Mouhamed Gueye announced this week that he will also be testing the draft waters this off-season, but could return to Pullman. Junior guard Noah Williams, a 65-game starter at WSU, committed to Washington on April 11.
Reserve guards Ryan Rapp and Jefferson Koulibaly also transferred out. Rapp found a new home in the University of Hawaii. Verbal Commits reported Friday that backup forward Tony Miller has entered the portal. Miller missed all of last season with an injury and appeared in only 10 games off the bench the year prior, but averaged 7.7 points and 3.3 rebounds across 23 games in 2019-20.