Wake Forest Basketball: Portal Update

Mar 19, 2023 - 9:45 PM

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I was trying to wait until at least after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament to get into the basketball portal, but with the way transfers are moving around so quickly these days, it turns out that was not possible. Once again, I’ll try to update this every time something chances in the transfer portal. Let’s just jump straight in with the biggest news so far of the portal.

The 2022-23 season has been over for just over a week for Wake Forest, and Steve Forbes has already secured a huge commitment for next season in Central Michigan point guard, Kevin Miller. After being named to the MAC All-Freshman team in 2021-22, Miller played just 4 games this season due to injury. In those 4 games, he averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds. Because he played just 4 games this season, Miller will likely be eligible for a medical redshirt, giving him 3 years of eligibility remaining. That should give the Deacs stability at the point guard position for the foreseeable future. Just on the little I’ve seen, Miller is extremely quick and a great finisher around the rim.

Check out some of his highlights below.

Along with the addition of Miller, the Deacs have also lost 3 players in the portal so far. Davion Bradford, Lucas Taylor, and Robert McCrae have all entered the portal and will not play for Wake Forest next season.

I’m not really sure what happened with Bradford this season. The 7-foot big man was giving the Deacs a great lift off the bench rebounding and defending the interior throughout most of the season. Something changed towards the end of February, as Bradford didn’t play a single minute for Wake Forest after their loss to NC State on the 22nd of February—that’s the final 5 games of the season. Because of that, his decision to transfer does not come as a shock but does leave Wake Forest severely lacking in size in the frontcourt.

Sophomore guard Robert McCray also entered the transfer portal this week. On November 11th, Steve Forbes announced that McCray had made the decision to redshirt this season. As such, he did not play a single minute for the Deacs all year, which makes his decision to transfer pretty expected.

Lucas Taylor also entered the portal after the end of the 2022-23 season. After starting the first 4 games of the season for the Deacs, Taylor saw his playing time diminish significantly throughout the season until Damari Monsanto’s injury. After playing 4 minutes against App State in December, Taylor did not play in another game until the 25th of February against Notre Dame. Even with his loss of minutes, Taylor stepped right in when he was needed and brought 100% of his energy and effort for the Deacs. Again, due to his loss of playing time, his decision to transfer does not come as a surprise.

All the best to these guys going forward as they continue their basketball careers elsewhere!

Go Deacs!