Memphis basketball adds South Dakota State transfer William Whorton
Whorton is Memphis’ 11th transfer portal acquisition this offseason. (Image Credit: South Dakota State University Athletics)
Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway added more frontcourt depth Tuesday afternoon.
Former South Dakota State forward William Whorton is committed to the Tigers, he announced on social media. Whorton becomes Memphis’ 11th transfer portal acquisition this offseason.
The 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman tallied 3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game on 63.6% shooting this season. He made 21 appearances and started twice in his only true campaign with the Jackrabbits.
Whorton averaged 7 points and 8 rebounds in the two starts, including a 6-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist outing against Chadron State on Dec. 19. But he only played six times during SDSU’s Summit League slate.
The Milwaukee native, who entered the transfer portal on March 25, originally committed to Indiana University Indianapolis before flipping to Memphis. He heads into next season with three years of eligibility left.
Memphis is expectedly losing Tyrese Hunter, Colby Rogers, Nick Jourdain and Moussa Cisse to expired eligibility, along with All-American PJ Haggerty (Kansas State), PJ Carter (LSU), Dante Harris, Baraka Okojie (Mercer), Jared Harris (Wyoming), redshirt Bouna Kebe and walk-on Damarien “Dink” Yates (Alabama State) to the transfer portal.
Hardaway has replenished much of that core with Kansas State guard Dug McDaniel (11.4 points, 4.9 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game), McNeese State guard Sincere Parker (12.2 points and 2.5 rebounds), Western Kentucky guard Julius Thedford (12.4 points and 3.8 rebounds), Temple guard Quante Berry (10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals) and LSU guard Curtis Givens III (4.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists).
He’s also added wing pieces in South Carolina forward Zachary Davis (8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals) and Texas Rio Grande Valley guard Hasan Abdul Hakim (13.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals), as well as frontcourt contributors like Whorton, Ohio State center Aaron Bradshaw (6 points and 2.7 rebounds), Saint Mary’s forward Ashton Hardaway (2.1 points and 1.2 rebounds) and Lane College forward Mason Matthews (11.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists).
Star center Dain Dainja (14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks) is presently out of eligibility. But he officially petitioned the NCAA last month for a waiver to rejoin Memphis next season, multiple sources tell Bluff City Media. Dainja didn’t enter the transfer portal ahead of the April 22 deadline, despite multiple reports claiming the opposite.
McDaniel, Parker, Davis, Abdul Hakim, Bradshaw, Thedford, Berry, Givens, Ashton Hardaway, Whorton, Matthews, Eastern Florida guard Felipe Patino and Overtime Elite guard Daniel Vieira-Tuck make up the incoming players for next year’s team as of now.
Memphis currently has no open scholarships remaining headed into Penny Hardaway’s eighth season, though it can gain two if the House v. NCAA settlement is officially approved.
Memphis has reached out to the following players in the transfer portal:
Maryland center Tafara Gapare (visited this month)
Temple forward Elijah Gray (visited last month)
High Point guard Kezza Giffa
UMass forward Daniel Rivera
Fairfield guard Prophet Johnson
North Carolina A&T guard Ryan Forrest
Gonzaga forward Graydon Lemke