USU Men’s Hoops: Anthony and Worster enter transfer portal
After just one season spent donning the Aggie blue, both Marco Anthony and Rollie Worster are moving on from the Utah State men’s basketball team.
Anthony, a redshirt junior guard, announced Monday, “I feel that it is in my best interest to reopen my recruitment as a grad transfer to find the best situation for me and my future.”
— Marco (@MarcoJAnthony) April 12, 2021
It was also reported last Thursday that Worster would be transferring, however that has not been confirmed by Worster himself.
BREAKING AGGIE HOOPS NEWS! I'm being told that freshman guard Rollie Worster will enter the transfer portal.
— BrianPhillips@aggies22 (@BrianPhillipsa1) April 8, 2021
With the 2020-21 season not counting on the eligibility clock for student-athletes, and the NCAA expected to do away with the rule that forces transfer to sit out one season, it gives players an unprecedented opportunity to pursue other options without the traditional consequences.
Anthony, who earned a spot on the All-Mountain West defensive team, and Worster join senior forward Alphonso Anderson and senior center Kuba Karwowski as the group of former Aggies looking for a new home.
Freshman guard Max Shulga put his name in the transfer portal last week, but reportedly withdrew from it Friday and will stay at USU.
While Anderson had announced his decision to transfer beforehand, the departures of Worster and Anthony come in the wake of former head coach Craig Smith’s decision to leave Logan for a massive pay raise to become the head coach at the University of Utah.
It remains to be seen whether or not Worster and Anthony are going to join Smith — who recruited them to Utah State out of high school and Virginia respectively — down in Salt Lake City.
Regardless of where either ends up, the departure of the back court duo is a big blow for new USU coach Ryan Odom and the program. Both Worster and Anthony were starters that played a pivotal role in helping the Aggies reach the NCAA tournament.
Anthony averaged 10.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists last season and was an effective facilitator of the offense all season long.
Per Ken Pom, he had an assist rate of 18.6 percent, No. 17 in the Mountain West, and achieved an offensive rebound rate of 5.2 percent, No. 23 in the conference. In the NCAA tournament against Texas Tech, he finished with 11 points and four rebounds.
Anthony also played a valuable role on a defense that had an efficiency rating of 89.5 percent — No. 8 in the nation — by locking down opposing teams’ points guards.
Rollie Worster averaged 9.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in his first year in college. He was a reliable scorer that could create a shot for himself off the dribble and was lethal from midrange. He shot 31 of 57 from inside the arc (.544) throughout conference play, good for No. 20 in the Mountain West. Beyond scoring, he was capable of filling up the stat sheet.
In his best game of the season, a win over UNLV on January 27, he nearly achieved a triple-double, recording 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Hampered by a leg injury near the end of the season, his absence was felt in back-to-back losses at Boise State, but he returned with three games left in the regular season.
Fully healthy, he tallied a combined 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in quarterfinal and semifinal victories over UNLV and Colorado State in the Mountain West tournament, helping to lift the Aggies to the championship game.
Losing at least Worster, Anthony and Anderson to the portal — and junior center Neemias Queta to the NBA draft — and with zero new Freshmen signed to join the program in the fall, there are at least four spots available on the roster. So expect new head coach Ryan Odom and his new staff to hit the transfer portal hard.
He told Statesman Sports last week, “We gotta challenge ourselves from a recruiting perspective and get the best players. That’s what Utah State deserves – the best players possible that fit in the overall culture here.”
@jacobnielson12
—sports@usustatesman.com