Report: Efton Reid becomes third Gonzaga player to enter NCAA transfer portal
The transfer portal hit Gonzaga’s backcourt last week. Now one of the Bulldogs’ young frontcourt players is reportedly entering the portal to explore options .
Sophomore center Efton Reid III, who came to Gonzaga via the transfer portal after spending his freshman season at LSU, is re-entering, according to multiple reports.
Reid becomes the third GU player to enter, joining sophomore guards Dominick Harris and Hunter Sallis, who went into the portal last week.
In the current college basketball environment, it’s not uncommon for anywhere from three to five players to enter the transfer portal in the same offseason, but this marks only the second time three Gonzaga scholarship players have entered since the portal’s inception in 2018-19.
Oumar Ballo, Pavel Zhakarov and Aaron Cook all entered the portal after the Bulldogs’ run to the national championship game in 2021.
A former five-star recruit, Reid started in every game at LSU during his freshman season before transferring to Gonzaga after Tigers coach Will Wade was terminated last offseason for alleged recruiting violations.
As a two-time transfer, it’s possible Reid will have to sit out in 2023-24 before being eligible to play again in 2024-25, unless the center is able to apply for a waiver that would give him immediate eligibility.
A 7-foot, 240-pound center, Reid was the first frontcourt player off Gonzaga’s bench early on, playing 12 and 11 minutes, respectively, in the team’s first two games against North Florida and Michigan State.
Reid’s playing time waned as Ben Gregg continued to give the Zags valuable bench minutes and grabbed a spot in what became an eight-man rotation.
Reid played more than 10 minutes in just one other game this season, scoring 16 points in 19 minutes off the bench in a post-Christmas game against NAIA opponent Eastern Oregon.
He averaged 2.1 points and 1.0 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per game this season, playing just 6 total minutes in the West Coast Conference Tournament.
Reid made one brief cameo in the NCAA Tournament, with 2 minutes at the end of Gonzaga’s 82-54 loss to Connecticut in the Elite Eight.
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Reid may have had a better chance at cracking Gonzaga’s rotation in 2023-23, with the Bulldogs losing All-American forward Drew Timme and potentially Anton Watson, a senior who hasn’t announced whether he’ll return to school and use a fifth year of eligibility or leave to pursue a professional career.
If Gonzaga loses Timme, Watson and Reid, Gregg would return as the only scholarship player who received minutes in Mark Few’s frontcourt.
Freshman Braden Huff, a 6-foot-10 forward from the Chicago area, used a redshirt in 2022-23 and sophomore forward Kaden Perry sat out while dealing with nagging back injuries.