Michael Ajayi becomes third Gonzaga player to enter NCAA transfer portal

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Michael Ajayi indicated he’d mull the idea of returning to college for one final season through a blanket NCAA waiver given to former junior college athletes.

Ajayi may still exercise that option, just not with Gonzaga.

The forward who transferred to Gonzaga after an all-conference season at Pepperdine is back in the transfer portal a year later. Ajayi’s agency, CAA Basketball, confirmed to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on Thursday he was entering the portal and the forward later reposted the report on Instagram. Givony’s report didn’t specify whether Ajayi would also enter the NBA draft.

Gonzaga has lost three players to the transfer portal – one each day since it opened Tuesday – with Ajayi following guard Dusty Stromer and forward Jun Seok Yeo.

Ajayi, a former Pierce (Washington) Community College standout, arrived at Gonzaga after leading the West Coast Conference in scoring at 17.5 points per game while also averaging 10.2 rebounds and shooting 47% from the 3-point line.

Ajayi committed to Gonzaga before the team’s Sweet 16 matchup with Purdue and simultaneously entered the NBA draft, posting impressive numbers at draft combine scrimmages before withdrawing his name on March 29.

The forward had a bumpy season at Gonzaga, coming off the bench for the first two games, starting in the next 12 and returning to a reserve role for 19 of the final 20.

Averaging roughly more than half of the minutes he did at Pepperdine, Ajayi scored just 6.5 ppg on 44% shooting from the field and 18% from the 3-point line while pulling down 5.4 rebounds. He totaled 18.9 minutes per game after playing 34.7 the season prior.

Ajayi played 21 total minutes in the NCAA Tournament, scoring six points and contributing six rebounds in an 89-68 win over Georgia and a 81-76 loss to Houston. Ajayi was on the floor late against Houston when the Zags went to their “13 press” defense and chipped away at the Cougars’ lead in the final minutes.

After the second-round NCAA…

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Source link : http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/27/michael-ajayi-becomes-third-gonzaga-player-to-ente/

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Publish date : 2025-03-28 02:02:00

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