Junior college transfer Nic McClain, returning players could keep Eastern Washington near the top of Big Sky
Eastern Washington announced the signing of junior college transfer Nic McClain to its men’s basketball team on Tuesday, part of another offseason spent retooling its roster.
“Nic has an incredible IQ and feel for the game,” Eagles head coach David Riley said in a team release. “His energy, toughness and swagger along with his court vision and finishing ability will help our team immediately.”
McClain, who will be a junior next season, averaged 10.5 points, 3.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds for Daytona State, which plays in the Mid-Florida Conference of the National Junior College Athletic Association. A 6-foot-4 guard, McClain helped the team to a 27-3 record last season and over his last eight games averaged 18 points.
Riley said McClain can play the point or on the wing and praised his all-around game as someone who can “fill up every category of the stat sheet.”
McClain’s presence will help fill the void left by the departure of six players from last year’s Big Sky Conference regular-season champion. Three of the players who transferred – Amarion Savage, Ty Harper and Imhotep George – played limited minutes. But the three others – Angelo Allegri, Steele Venters and Deon Stroud – were part of the Eagles’ regular rotation.
Allegri, an all-conference first-team selection who averaged 13.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, exhausted his eligibility and is pursuing a professional career.
Stroud entered the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining and has not officially announced a new destination. He averaged 5.1 points and 1.7 rebounds last season.
Venters completed his undergraduate degree at Eastern and left for Gonzaga as a grad transfer with two years of eligibility remaining. He is the reigning Big Sky MVP and led the Eagles in scoring (15.3 points), made 3s (78) and free-throw percentage (84.5) during 2022-23.
But the Eagles do plan to have back next year a core of juniors-to-be in Casey Jones, Cedric Coward, Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup, all of whom played significant minutes as sophomores. Guards Ellis Magnuson and Tyreese Davis will be seniors in the fall, and freshman LeJuan Watts, who redshirted, is still with the Eagles.
Jackson Seale, a high school senior 6-10 forward from Texas, and Mason Williams, a 6-5 guard from O’Dea High School in Seattle, signed with the Eagles’ 2023 class last fall.
Multiple recruiting websites list Emmett Marquardt as committed to Eastern next season. The 6-8 forward averaged 11.2 points and 8.7 rebounds as a senior last season at Garfield High School in Seattle.
Top players for Bobcats, Vandals transfer
Montana State, which finished second behind Eastern in the regular season but won the Big Sky Tournament, will also be looking to replace a number of its top scorers after Danny Sprinkle left as head coach to take the same position at Utah State.
Bobcats guard RaeQuan Battle, a first-team All-Big Sky selection, transferred to West Virginia. Darius Brown II, the conference’s defensive player of the year, and Big Sky top reserve Great Osobor also transferred, following Sprinkle to Utah State.
Idaho’s Nigel Burris, Big Sky Freshman of the Year, also transferred to Utah State. Vandals forward Isaac Jones, the conference’s newcomer of the year, also entered the transfer portal.
The Vandals added four new players to their 2023-24 roster in transfers Tyler Linhardt, Quinn Denker and Tyler Mrus, and freshman signee Takai Hardy.
Denker, a 6-3 guard, averaged 14.5 points per game at Cal State San Marcos.
Linhardt and Mrus are both 6-7 Washington natives.
Linhardt transferred from Washington after his freshman season. Linhardt won a State 1A championship with King’s and was the No. 1-ranked prep player in Washington, according to recruiting site On3.
Mrus spent one year at Division II Alaska Fairbanks and averaged 11.9 points per game.
Hardy comes to Idaho after a season at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, where he averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game.