Over a year ago, 6’7 forward Tyreek Smith elected to leave SMU and enter the transfer portal. His destination was the Memphis Tigers, set to play a key role in their frontcourt. However, just weeks before the start of the 2024-25 season, he elected to part ways with them. On November 18th, Smith committed to the Kansas State Wildcats and redshirted last season.
However, according to the NCAA, Smith wasn’t allowed to use his COVID-19 year 5th season of eligibility as a healthy redshirt. Therefore, his college basketball eligibility has been exhausted.
It’s an unfortunate end to Smith’s college career, averaging 5.0 ppg and 3.8 rpg in 128 total games for three different teams (Texas Tech, OK State, and SMU), while never suiting up for Memphis and Kansas State. But while his stats were never gaudy, Smith’s loss is a big late blow to the Wildcats’ frontcourt.
After losing Coleman Hawkins and David N’Guessan from last season, Kansas State added a couple of transfers in Marcus Johnson (16.2 ppg and 5.0 rpg at Bowling Green) and Khamari McGriff (11.5 ppg and 4.0 rpg at UNC Wilmington), along with JUCO transfer Stephen Osei and Dorin Buca and Elias Rapieque, a pair of international newcomers.
Will this group be good enough to compete in the Big 12? They won’t have to lead the way, as the focal points for Kansas State will be in the backcourt. The Wildcats have a pair of incoming former Conference Player of the Year transfers in PJ Haggerty (Memphis) and Nate Johnson (Akron), as well as a 6’7 transfer wing Abdi Bashir Jr., who averaged around 20 ppg at Monmouth last season.
Still, the frontcourt has to hold its own in order for Kansas State to bounce back this year. That’s gotten harder with Smith not being around.