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WSU Men's Basketball

WSU guard Tomas Thrastarson to enter transfer portal, fifth Cougar to do so

Washington State guard Tomas Thrastarson shoots under pressure from Portland forward Austin Rapp during the second half of a Jan. 18 West Coast Conference game at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman. (Geoff Crimmins/For The Spokesman-Review)
By Greg Woods gregw@spokesman.com(509) 459-5587

PULLMAN – Another Washington State player is on his way out.

Sophomore guard Tomas Thrastarson is planning to enter the transfer portal, a source confirmed to The Spokesman-Review on Friday, becoming the fifth Cougar to make that decision this offseason.

In his second year at WSU, the 6-foot-6 Thrastarson averaged 8.8 points and 4.1 rebounds, shooting 44% from the field. He missed 12 games with a foot injury, which played a big role in the Cougars’ forgettable finish to the season, and a 12-20 overall record. But when he was healthy, he played a key role for WSU, becoming the team’s best perimeter defender, a capable catch-and-shoot threat and a hard-nosed, all-around player.

League Ready was the first to report the news.

A native of Iceland, Thrastarson finishes his WSU career averaging 6.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game on 33% shooting from beyond the arc, including 49.3% overall. He played in 50 total games with 24 starts.

Thrastarson joins Eemeli Yalaho, Emmanuel Ugbo, Parker Gerrits and Kase Wynott as WSU players planning to move on from the program. Yalaho started all but five games for the Cougs last season, making hIS and Thrastarson’s departure the most impactful yet for WSU.

Gerrits is a reserve guard, Wynott missed nearly the whole season with an injury and after playing 22 games, Ugbo was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him. The Cougs also won’t return point guard Adria Rodriguez, who is headed back to his home country of Spain on a professional contract, and forward Simon Hildebrandt has exhausted his eligibility, a source confirmed to The Spokesman-Review.

That makes seven departures for WSU, which is still awaiting decisions from key players like Ace Glass, forward ND Okafor and wing shooter Ri Vavers, all of whom could likely fetch big paydays via the transfer portal. If the Cougars could retain them, it would amount to a giant win for the program. But if not, it’ll be another offseason of roster reconstruction for head coach David Riley and his assistants.

WSU is also trying to retain guard Jerone Morton, whose return could provide some meaningful stability for a Cougar program beset by roster turnover in each of the last two offseasons. But either way, the Cougs will miss the versatility of Thrastarson, whose size and shooting ability will likely earn him all manner of suitors in the portal.