Hilltoppers men鈥檚 basketball lose two to transfer portal following NIT Quarterfinals loss
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (BVM) — After finishing the season at 21-8 and with a conference-best winning percentage of .786 after going 11-3 in Conference USA this past season, the 2021 season could be seen as a year of missed opportunities for the Western Kentucky men鈥檚 basketball team. Boasting an All-American and the conference鈥檚 defensive player of the year in junior center Charles Bassey and a No. 1-seed in the C-USA Conference Tournament, it seemed as though the Hilltoppers would finally get over the hill (no pun intended) and make it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
The Hilltoppers made it to their third consecutive C-USA Tournament championship, excluding the 2020 championship which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the outcome remained the same with the Hilltoppers once again falling, this time to the lower-seeded North Texas Mean Green in a 61-57 overtime loss. While the team would make it into the National Invitational Tournament and make their way to the quarterfinals, their championship chase would again be extinguished by a fellow conference foe, this time in a 72-65 loss to Louisiana Tech.
One of the highlights in the game however was a breakout performance for sophomore guard Jordan Rawls. Rawls would lead the Hilltoppers in scoring, tying a career-high with 20 points while also shooting 58.3% from the field, the best on the team. Add that Rawls matched a career high in rebounds with five and set a new career high in assists with eight and it seemed that the Hilltoppers had found a new budding star.
. hits his 4th 3-pointer of the night to get us within four! | @bluegrasscell
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— WKU Hilltopper Basketball (@WKUBasketball)
But this new star will shine somewhere else.
On March 27, just one day after his best performance, Rawls confirmed on Twitter that he would be entering the transfer portal, leaving the Hilltoppers program and faithful wondering what could have been. Now, the former four-star recruit out of Hamilton Heights Chistian Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn. will be looking to bring his potential, and his career average of 8.1 points and 2.2 assists, elsewhere.
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— The 1 (@thejordanrawls)
Rawls was not alone in his decision to leave either. Fellow Hilltopper Kevin Osawe also confirmed he would be entering the transfer portal on March 29.
Osawe came to the program as a highly-touted transfer from Vincennes University. The junior forward earned National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Third-Team All-American honors following his sophomore season and was rated the No. 10 overall junior-college prospect in the nation by JUCORecruiting.com. Osawe was unable to break through the Hilltoppers rotation only averaging eight minutes a game while only putting up 2.2 points and 1.9 rebounds a contest.
Western Kentucky F Kevin Osawe (JR) has entered the transfer portal.
— Verbal Commits (@VerbalCommits)
With the team potentially losing up to five seniors depending on their decision to opt-in and maybe the loss of Bassey, who is projected to be selected in the NBA Draft, the Hilltoppers have work to do. While the team will still have talent coming in, including four-star recruit Zion Harmon, the WKU roster will look completely different. Regardless of what happens this offseason, the Hilltoppers will be facing an uphill climb to return to the C-USA championship for a fourth straight time.
