Three more Great Danes enter transfer portal
Seven players now exploring options after Will Brown’s departure
As the hiring of a new coach becomes official, three more University at Albany basketball players have entered the transfer portal, according to Verbalcommits.com.
Jamel Horton, Jarvis Doles and Kellon Taylor, all starters on this season’s 7-9 team, added their names to the portal as of Tuesday morning, bringing the total to seven Great Danes who have done so.
The latest three came as word leaked Monday night that Marquette associate coach Dwayne Killings will become the new head coach, two weeks after the university declined to extend Will Brown’s contract. The university is expected to schedule a news conference for later this week.
Others who have entered the portal are Trey Hutcheson, Antonio Rizzuto, Cameron Healy and walk-on Will Kondrat.
All three of the latest players to declare their intentions were firstyear transfers into the Ualbany program.
Horton, a 6-foot-4 junior point guard, came from Pratt (Kan.) Community College. He started 11 of 16 games, averaging 9.4 points and a team-high 3.1 assists in 29.1 minutes per game. Horton has two years of eligibility remaining.
Doles, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, started 11 of 14 games, missing two because of COVID -19 protocols. He averaged 10.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 24.3 minutes. Because of an injury redshirt last season at Drexel, he still has two years of eligibility and indicated earlier this season that he would like to stay in school.
Taylor, a 6-foot-6 graduate transfer from Duquesne, was the only one of the Great Danes to start all 16 games this season. A former football player at Duquesne, he averaged 9.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 31.9 minutes. He led the
team in the latter two categories. Taylor is eligible to play next season because of the temporary NCAA rule allowing all winter sports athletes who played this season to retain a year of eligibility. Players who enter the transfer portal are eligible to return to their current school. Placing their names in the portal allows them to see which other schools may have an interest.
This probably isn’t the last of the moves. Ualbany’s remaining roster includes C.J. Kelly, Chuck Champion, Adam Lulka, Sam Shafer, Will Amica, Brent Hank, Jojo Anderson and Jackson Brown, a walk-on who is the former coach’s son. Lulka and Hank are Australians whose playing time was reduced significantly this season. Lulka already is working on his master’s degree, and Hank is on track to graduate in May.