Reports: Three WSU Cougars, including Jaz Kunc, enter transfer portal - CougCenter

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Jaz Kunc played a major role for the Washington State Cougars this season. He put up career numbers and stepped up when the team was shorthanded. But now, it appears that the junior is moving on from the program.

According to VerbalCommits.com, Kunc is one of three WSU players to enter their name into the transfer portal on Tuesday. The other two were walk-ons Myles Warren and Brandton Chatfield.

Kunc is headliner in this news for Kyle Smith and the Cougs. The junior started his career back in 2018-19 under Ernie Kent and, while he played in nearly all of the team’s games that season, didn’t exactly put up eye-popping numbers. During that season, he averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds.

But the Slovenia native took a big jump once Kyle Smith arrived. His numbers jumped in the 2019-20 season and led to career highs last year. During the 2020-21 season he averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds, while scoring in double figures six times — including some big performances down the stretch that might not have been wins without him.

Kunc, however, likely saw the talent that was around the corner at his position. If he were to stay in Pullman, Kunc would be competing for time with younger players that also made a big jump this season, including Andrej Jakimovski and DJ Rodman.

Earlier this season in a press conference, Kyle Smith talked about Kunc and his impressive season with the Cougs. Even if Kunc is on his way to another program, it’s clear that Smith and the coaching staff have a lot of respect for him as a worker and as a person.

“You’re just proud of guys like this that have stayed the course,” Smith said. “There’s no magic to it, but he’s a true pro. He’s always been a diligent worker and I think it’s just his hard work... I’m really proud of the guy. He’ll be really successful with whatever he does moving forward and he’s playing really well for us.”

As for Chatfield and Warren, both walk-ons played important roles for the Cougs at times this season and have a great chance to land in a good spot next season — and that’s not just my opinion either.

They will, they are both good scholarship D1 Players. And terrific kids that left the program better than they found it

— John Andrzejek (@CoachAndrzejek) March 16, 2021

(Off topic: Make sure to listen to WSU assistant coach John Andrzejek on the latest episode of Pod vs. Everyone. It’s great.)

Here’s a look at the scholarship situation as it stands now. Still no word on whether Isaac Bonton will return for one more season:

Report: Washington State forward Jaz Kunc enters transfer portal | The Spokesman-Review
Despite posting career-high scoring and rebounding numbers this season at Washington State, forward Jaz Kunc may be finishing his college basketball career somewhere other than Pullman.

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If you're a college basketball fan in the Inland Northwest, it's more than likely you'll have a dog in the fight when the NCAA Tournament begins later this week.

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