Abel Porter commits to Ohio State

Former Utah State point guard Abel Porter, who entered the transfer portal in early March, has announced he will play his next and final basketball season at Ohio State University.

I’ve officially committed to play basketball at The Ohio State University 🔴🔴 #BuckeyeNation pic.twitter.com/t1yyo8YsZa

— Abel Porter (@Ah_bell) April 11, 2020

The former walk-on earned a spot in the starting lineup during one of the greatest two-year runs in USU basketball history, one in which the Aggies won their first regular season Mountain West championship and took home back-to-back conference tournament titles. During his time as a starter — dating back to the middle of the 2018-19 season — Porter averaged 6.5 points, 3.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds with shooting percentages of 40.2 overall and 36.4 from three.

In just his second start, Porter made his impact felt with a game-winning 3-point shot against New Mexico. It was after that game, the Farmington native was given a scholarship. He later stepped up in the 2019 Mountain West Conference Tournament, averaging 9.7 points while making 62.5 percent of his 3-point attempts.

This past season, the Aggies treated Porter, who was a junior in terms of eligibility, as though he were a senior in both word and action. On senior night against San Jose State, Porter was given a place alongside Sam Merrill, Diogo Brito and Roche Grootfaam.

At the final home game for USU Men’s Basketball, seniors Roche Grootfaam, Diogo Brito, Abel Porter, and Sam Merrill were honored in the spectrum on February 25, 2020, before USU’s game against SJSU.

Without Porter, head coach Craig Smith has just one point guard on his 2020-21 roster, incoming freshman Steven Ashworth, though he does have a healthy stable of combo guards at his disposal. Marco Anthony and Sean Bairstow both have experience with the team, the latter even having on-court experience last year at point guard. Another incoming freshman, Rollie Worster, could split his minutes between the guard spots if needed. Smith does have at least one more recruiting slot to fill and could use it to find a more natural point guard and bolster his depth in that area.

@thejwalk67

— jasonswalker94@gmail.com