With the college basketball season coming to a halt because of COVID-19, or coronavirus, teams are already looking ahead to next season, which means dabbling in the transfer market.
The Arizona Wildcats' first reported transfer it contacted was Wichita State shooting guard Erik Stevenson, per Stockrisers.com's Jake Weingarten. Stevenson was also contacted by Gonzaga, Xavier, Creighton, Washington, Oregon State, USC, Utah, Florida, South Carolina, Memphis and Texas Tech.
Stevenson, a 6-foot-3-inch sophomore guard from Lacey, Washington, just finished up his second season at WSU 11.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals in 25.9 minutes per game this season.
Why transfer after a successful season at Wichita State, a school known for its men's basketball program?
In an interview with the Wichita Eagle, head coach Gregg Marshall "didn't have a great relationship" with Stevenson among other players.
“Obviously we didn’t mesh. That’s probably the biggest reason why I’m leaving. I’ve got to find a better relationship and a better situation," Stevenson told the Wichita Eagle.
After a promising 15-1 start, the Shockers went 8-7 and finished the regular season 23-8. Following Wichita's loss to No. 25 Houston, Marshall addressed the rocky stretch and felt detached from his players.
“Coach (Marshall) kind of covered up a lot of stuff and kind of put it on the players having problems,” Stevenson told the Wichita Eagle. “I’m not going to say it was only the players who had problems. Obviously we had an up-and-down year, but the coaching staff had a big part in that too.”
Since Stevenson is transferring after only his second year, he would have to sit out for the 2020-21 season, unless he receives a waiver from the NCAA, similarly to Arizona guard Jemarl Baker Jr., who transferred from Kentucky a year ago.
