USU Men’s Hoops: McChesney To Enter Transfer Portal

An additional member of the Utah State men’s basketball team is entering the transfer portal. 

First reported by Brian Phillips of 247 sports and confirmed by Statesman Sports, red-shirt freshman Liam McChesney will look to pursue his basketball ambitions elsewhere. 

Utah State Hoops News!! 13=13 SOLVED!! Liam McChesney has made the decision to enter the transfer portal.

— BrianPhillips@aggies22 (@BrianPhillipsa1) May 14, 2021

He becomes the sixth Aggie to enter the transfer portal since the end of the last season, joining Alphonso Anderson, Marco Anthony, Rollie Worster, Kuba Karwowski, and Karson Stastny. 

6’10 McChesney – who is the second-highest recruit in USU history according to 247 sports – didn’t see much time on the floor during his Aggie tenure. He redshirted the 2019-20 season and then suffered a season-ending leg injury in a December practice last season. 

Active for the first five games, of the 2020-21 season, McChesney made appearances in three of them and recorded a career-high 2 points and 2 rebounds in a win over the College of Idaho. 

Despite the lack of experience, the departure of the highly-touted Canadian – who averaged 35 points and 8 assists as a senior at Charles Hays Secondary School in Prince Rupert, British Columbia – may come as a surprise to some.  

With Anderson transferring and Neemias Queta declaring for the NBA draft, it appeared that if healthy, the athletic forward could have had a larger role on the roster next season.

But the recent additions of 6’10 Brandon Horvath from UMBC, and 6’7 Norbert Thelissen from the Netherlands, as well as the arrival of 6’10 return missionary Cade Potter likely motivated his decision to move on. 

It’s been a busy off-season so far for new head coach Ryan Odom and the Aggie basketball program, which has now lost 8 of the 15 players since the start of last season and have signed five new players in the past two months. But with 178 days to go until the upcoming NCAA basketball season commences on November 9, they currently have all 13 scholarships filled. So here is an unofficial glance at the 2021-22 USU men’s basketball roster:

1. Junior forward Justin Bean

2. Junior guard Brock Miller

3. Senior guard RJ Eytle-Rock

4. Senior forward Brandon Horvath

5. Sophomore guard Rylan Jones

6. Freshman guard Steven Ashworth

7. Freshman guard Max Shulga 

8. Sophomore center Trevin Dorius 

9. Freshman center Szymon Zapala

10. Sophomore guard Sean Bairstow

11. Freshman forward Norbert Thelissen

12. Freshman Muzamil Ameer Hamoda 

13. Freshman forward Cade Potter

14. (Walk On) Freshman forward Matthew Wickizer