REPORT: USU freshman guard Vedischev entering transfer portal

Per a report from Verbal Commits and confirmed by the Statesman, USU freshman guard, Zahar Vedishchev is entering the transfer portal. He appeared in just five games for Utah State, recording a total of 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting with three rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.

Vedishchev was one of six newcomers (five of which were freshmen) in the USU backcourt who hoped to step into the shoes of former Aggies Sam Merrill, Diogo Brito and Abel Porter. Marco Anthony, Rollie Worster and Steven Ashworth have sufficiently claimed the empty spots in the rotation with Vedishchev being relegated to a bench role, only appearing in blowouts. He did dress in the Aggies’ 19-point win over Colorado State on Tuesday.

Prior to coming to USU, Vedishchev was a promising recruit out of Russia. He broke out during the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece — his first-ever appearance in an international competition — leading his native Russia in scoring with 16.5 points per game. Much of that scoring came from beyond the arc as he sank a tournament-best 21 triples in his six games played. Percentage-wise, Vedishchev made 40.4 percent of his 8.7 downtown attempts per game.

His best games during the World Cup came after the group stage. After sitting out the Round of 16 matchup against China, Vedishchev scored 20-plus points in three consecutive contests — 24 against the United States, 22 versus Serbia and another 22 against Puerto Rico. Across those three games, Vedishchev’s averages rose to 22.7 points on 45.1 percent shooting (42.4 percent from three) along with 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per contest, as opposed to 10.3 points, 1.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds in his first three games.

FIBA’s website named featured Vedishchev in an article about “Five players who blossomed” at the World Cup.