Oscar Cluff enters portal, leaving WSU Cougars men with just 4 scholarship players

PULLMAN — Washington State’s men’s basketball roster is looking like a ghost town.

WSU center Oscar Cluff entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, as first reported by Verbal Commits and confirmed by a source to The Spokesman-Review, becoming the 10th Cougar to do so this offseason.

Cluff, who transferred from Cochise College in Arizona to WSU before last season, averaged 7.0 points and 4.4 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game. He logged his best game on Jan. 4, posting 20 points in a win over Oregon State, but he combined for just 28 minutes in WSU’s two NCAA tournament games earlier this month.

Cluff started 23 of 35 games last season, swapping out with freshman center Rueben Chinyelu, who has also since hit the portal.

That leaves just four scholarship players on the WSU roster: Junior wing Jaylen Wells and freshman guard Isaiah Watts, plus freshman guard Parker Gerrits and freshman forward Spencer Mahoney, both of whom redshirted last season.

As Washington State looks for a new head coach to replace former head man Kyle Smith, who left last week for the same job at Stanford, nearly the entire team has entered the portal: Star guard Myles Rice, senior wing Andrej Jakimovski, sophomore wing Kymany Houinsou, senior guard Jabe Mullins, senior guard Joseph Yesufu, sophomore forward AJ Rohosy, Chinyelu, sophomore guard Dylan Darling, walk-on center AJ LeBeau and now Cluff.

All 10 players retain the option to return to WSU.

The Cougars elected not to promote associate head coach Jim Shaw to head coach, according to multiple sources close to the situation, and they were turned down on Monday by Montana State head coach Matt Logie, who was offered the job but opted to stay at MSU, per multiple reports.

WSU is also looking for a new athletic director to replace former AD Pat Chun, who bolted last week for the same job at rival Washington. Senior deputy AD Anne McCoy is working as interim AD as the program looks for a new athletic director.