With so many losses to transfer portal, SDSU hoops must scramble to fill holes

Following a disappointing season in its history, change is coming to the San Diego State men’s basketball team. Numerous changes. Big changes. In fact, many are already in progress.

Unlike last year, when SDSU managed a high retention rate, so far since the end of the
Aztecs’ season, after they failed to make the NCAA tournament, nine players have either
entered the transfer portal or are expected to leave, including last season’s four highest points-per-game contributors and the team’s three leaders in minutes played.

So when the team begins its 2026-27 campaign this fall, it might be with a completely new
starting lineup.

Departures

The team’s biggest departure, in the literal sense, is that of seven-foot, 210-lb. forward
Magoon Gwath, who committed to DePaul on Tuesday. Gwath, who’ll be entering his junior season, played two seasons for the Aztecs, averaging 8.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and two blocks over 51 games.

He also entered the transfer portal last offseason, but pulled out as he was recovering from a
knee injury. He then missed the early portion of this past season while recovering from knee
surgery, then dealt with a hip injury midway through the campaign.

Other players who entered the portal include Miles Byrd, a six-foot-six guard entering his
junior season. Byrd, a Stockton native who’s transferring to Providence, averaged 10.4 points
and 4.7 rebounds last season. He also led the team in steals with 1.9 per game.

Pharoah Compton, a six-seven forward from Chicago who scored 7.5 points in less than 14
minutes per game is transferring to Oregon. And BJ Davis, a six-foot-two junior guard from
Modesto who scored 10.8 points a game in 22 minutes per contest is moving over to Creighton.

Also transferring are junior guard Taj DeGourville; Reese Dixon-Waters, a six-five senior from
Long Beach who led the team with 13.1 points per game; Miles Heide, a six-foot-nine junior who was second on the team behind Byrd with 4.5 rebounds per game, and Sean Newman, a senior guard who played 15.4 minutes per contest last season and averaged about 3.3 points.

So, with so many players on their way out, who’ll replace them?

Arrivals

During the season, the Aztecs weaknesses included rebounding, three-point shooting and
defense, so the team plans to bring in players who can improve those statistics. So far this offseason, two players have announced their intentions to transfer to San Diego State.

On April 11, Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry, a six-foot-eleven, 250-pound forward senior, announced
that he was leaving Sacramento State and heading to SDSU, his third team in as many years.

Cherry is a San Diego native who averaged 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds for the Hornets in
six games as a starter during the 2025-26 season before missing the rest of the year due to a
leg injury.

The season before, he played for UNLV and averaged about 10 points and five rebounds in
33 games (32 starts). If he can stay healthy, the sturdily built Cherry would be an upgrade in
physicality from the reedy Gwath.

Also incoming is six-foot-three senior guard Nick Anderson. He played in all 31 games for
Rice last season, with 29 starts, averaging 15.5 points on nearly 44% shooting in 29 minutes
per contest. The year before, he was with Prairie View A&M in his native state of Texas and
averaged just under 19 points in 31.5 minutes.

He led his team last year in three-point percentage (40%) as well as number of three-
pointers taken (84).

Another commitment to SDSU was made months ago from the high school level: Zach White, a six-foot-six wing player from Notre Dame High School in the Los Angeles area, committed to the Aztecs last November.

White, a 6-6, 165-pound forward, is the son of Russell White, a former All-American running
back with UC Berkeley who played in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams for a year.

Potential signings

Regarding student athletes from other college programs, one player to keep an eye on is
Kjay Bradley Jr., a six-foot-one guard at the University of San Diego. Bradley, who’s from the
Los Angeles area, is a little undersized but still averaged 14.5 points, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals
per contest last season with the Toreros. He could look to level up to a higher profile school.

San Diego State is likely to try luring a forward or center who get boards, such as Mouhamed
Sylla, a six-foot-ten, 240-lb Senegal native who entered the portal after playing for Georgia Tech in his freshman season last year. Sylla average 7.2 rebounds and 9.6 points in just 21 minutes.

Another option would be Samet Yigitoglu, a seven-foot-two center from Turkey who put 10.7
points and almost eight rebounds up in 29 minutes per game during his second season with
Southern Methodist last year.

With so many holes to fill and so many weaknesses to shore up, the Aztecs will be busy in
the coming days and weeks transforming the team and hoping that their new-look roster can
give the team a boost – and a return in the NCAA Tournament.