Rutgers men's, women's basketball teams lose key players to transfer portal, targeting fresh faces for future
It has been a week since the college basketball transfer portal opened, and the Rutgers men's and women's basketball teams have already had their rosters shaken up. The Scarlet Knights have lost three key starters and seven total players to the portal on the men's side and three more players on the women's team.
For the men's team, the dominoes began falling when redshirt freshman forward Antonio Chol decided to enter the portal on the day it opened. Chol was initially brought to the Banks in head coach Steve Pikiell's 2022 recruiting class as a three-star power forward.
The same players who joined Chol in that recruiting class wound up joining him in the transfer portal the same day, as sophomore forward Antwone Woolfolk and sophomore guard Derek Simpson entered their names shortly after Chol did.
Simpson started 25 games in his sophomore season, averaging 8.3 points per game (PPG) on 30.5 percent shooting from the field. Woolfolk started six games this season and averaged 3.3 PPG. Chol played a minor role, appearing in just 11 games across his two seasons with the team.
Freshman guard Daniel Vessey and sophomore guard Jacob Morales, both walk-ons, also entered the portal.
Two days later, two of Rutgers' top men's players entered the portal, as senior center Clifford Omoruyi and senior forward Mawot Mag announced their intentions. Each player spent four years on the Banks, playing major roles and helping lead the program to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
Omoruyi is one of the top players available in the portal and is drawing interest from just about everywhere. Omoruyi has a visit planned to St. John's, and the Red Storm seem to be the early favorites to land him.
For the women's team, three Knights have gone to the portal: sophomore guard Kaylene Smikle, senior guard Erica Lafayette and freshman guard Jillian Huerter each entered their names within the first week of the portal's opening.
Smikle's decision seemed to be expected for some time now, as she appeared in the team's first 15 games before missing the rest of this season for what was deemed "undisclosed medical issues," by head coach Coquese Washington.
Lafayette spent four years on the Banks, starting 34 total games. Huerter will be departing after just a single season in what was a bit of an unexpected move. Huerter started 13 games as a freshman and was a three-point specialist, shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc.
While many players are on their way out, both Washington and Pikiell have gotten to work immediately in looking for fresh faces to bring in through the transfer portal.
For the men's team particularly, numerous names have surfaced as potential Rutgers targets.
Princeton transfer Zach Martini is a name to look out for. The 6-foot-7 forward started all 29 games for the Tigers this season and averaged 8.4 PPG on 38.5 percent three-point shooting.
The Knights are also interested in Merrimack transfer Jordan Derkack. Derkack averaged 17 PPG this season as a sophomore and was the Northeast Conference Player of the Year.
Both Martini and Derkack hail from New Jersey.
Drexel transfer Amari Williams is one of the top players in the portal, and Rutgers is interested. The 6-foot-10 big man is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in his conference and would fill the void left by Omoruyi nicely. Williams originally hails from Nottingham, England, and averaged 12.2 PPG this season with nearly two blocks per game.
With so many players leaving their schools in today's era of college basketball, both the Knights' men's and women's teams have not been spared. Rutgers has some work to do moving forward in the transfer portal.
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