Following the Oakland University men’s basketball team’s conclusion to one of its most successful seasons in program history, many players have chosen to enter the transfer portal.
At the time of this writing, six players from the Golden Grizzlies roster have entered their names into the transfer portal. Below is a list of those players and their notable performances this past season for OU.
Trey Townsend | F | 17.3 PTS, 8.1 REB, 3.1 AST
Trey Townsend, crowned the Horizon League player of the year, started every game last season and led the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and minutes played.
Townsend delivered plenty of standout performances for OU this season, including his performance against the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin.
Townsend’s display in the Horizon League Championship lifted the Golden Grizzlies to their first NCAA Division I men’s tournament bid since 2011.
In the championship game, Townsend scored a career-high 38 points. Furthermore, he recorded 11 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal. Remarkably, he never checked out of the game for OU.
Tone Hunter | G | 1.8 PTS, 0.4 REB, 0.1 AST
After transferring from Long Beach State University ahead of the season, Tone Hunter appeared in the most games (30) without starting a single game for OU.
The defensive maestro had a remarkable showing in a Cayman Islands Classic matchup versus Marshall University. In 15 minutes, Hunter recorded three points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Michael Rogers | G | 1.5 PTS, 0.4 REB, 0.1 AST
Following two seasons at Phoenix College, Michael Rogers transferred to OU this season and appeared in eight games off the bench for the Golden Grizzlies.
Rogers’ most notable game came against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons around the start of conference play for the Golden Grizzlies. In that game, Rogers tallied four points and an assist in the last six minutes of the game.
Osei Price | G | 1.3 PTS, 0.7 REB, 0.2 AST
Apart from Townsend, Osei Price is the sole player on this list to have cracked the starting lineup at least once for the Golden Grizzlies this previous season.
In Price’s first start last season against the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars, he scored 14 points, five rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes.
Aundre Polk | F | 0.6 PTS, 0.7 REB, 0 AST
After transferring to OU from Garden City Community College, Polk appeared in 10 games for the Golden Grizzlies.
Polk’s most notable game this season came against the Bowling Green Falcons in OU’s regular-season home opener, where Polk had two points, a rebound and a block in three minutes of playing time.
Evan Solomon | G | 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST
Originally a walk-on during the 2022-23 season, Solomon was redshirted his first season for the Golden Grizzlies.
During the last season, Solomon only appeared in three games early on. Throughout those three games, Solomon only had five minutes of playing time, the lowest of any player on the roster.
Looking Ahead
Although entering the transfer portal does not necessarily mean the definitive end for these players at OU, it’s unlikely that any players on this list will return to suit up in black and gold.
According to NCAA data, in 2023, just 6% of men’s basketball players withdrew their names from the portal to return to their team.
Additionally, considering that three of the Golden Grizzlies, Blake Lampman, Rocket Watts, and Jack Gohlke, have reached the end of their eligibility to play, the Golden Grizzlies will have nearly an entirely different roster heading into next season.
If all six players find new teams to play for the following season, just six of the 15 members of the team that won OU’s first Horizon League tournament championship and OU’s first Round of 64 game in program history will be on the roster ahead of the 2024-25 season.
