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WSU Men's Basketball

Carlos Rosario, a backup forward at Washington State, enters NCAA transfer portal

Washington State forward Carlos Rosario, left, defends against Oregon guard Jermaine Couisnard during a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal round game on March 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rosario entered the NCAA transfer portal on Friday. (Getty Images)
By Colton Clark coltonc@spokesman.com
Washington State forward Carlos Rosario, left, defends against Oregon guard Jermaine Couisnard during a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal round game on March 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rosario entered the NCAA transfer portal on Friday. (Getty Images)

PULLMAN – Forward Carlos Rosario, who joined Washington State’s basketball program three years ago as a highly ranked recruit but struggled to find playing time with the Cougars, has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Verbal Commits first reported the news Friday morning.

Rosario, a Dominican Republic native who played his high school ball at Veritas Prep in California, chose WSU over offers from Utah, Mississippi State and Boise State. He became WSU’s No. 6-rated recruit since 2000 when he signed with the team ahead of the 2020 season, according to 247Sports.com.

Rosario dealt with a shoulder injury as a true freshman and played seven games. He took a medical redshirt in 2021-22.

The 6-foot-7 small forward served as a backup last season, averaging 10 minutes per game in 22 appearances. He recorded 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds per game, shooting 17 of 40 (42.5%) from the field.

Rosario’s decision shouldn’t come as a surprise. He is presumably searching for a new home where he can have a more significant role. The Cougars are returning two veteran forwards – DJ Rodman and Andrej Jakimovski – and they recently added a promising recruit out of the transfer portal. On Wednesday, WSU signed 6-7 forward Jaylen Wells, a Division II All-American who scored 22.4 points per game last season at Sonoma State. With Wells in the mix, Rosario might have had limited playing time if he were to remain at WSU.

Rosario is the fourth WSU player to enter the portal since the season ended, along with guard TJ Bamba, and centers Dishon Jackson and Jack Wilson.

Bamba, the Cougars’ leading scorer last season (15.8 points per game), committed to Villanova last week. Jackson started 19 games between 2020-22, but missed this past season with an unspecified medical issue and entered the portal on March 24. Wilson, who appeared sparingly last year after spending two season as a backup offensive tackle with WSU’s football team, committed to Minnesota earlier this month.