Arizona Basketball: Freshman Shane Nowell enters transfer portal

Following a freshman season in which he saw limited action, Arizona Basketball wing Shane Nowell has officially entered the transfer portal. 

Despite committing to two different coaching staffs, it just wasn’t meant to be for Arizona Basketball freshman Shane Nowell, as the former Eastside Catholic High School (Seattle, WA) standout is entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Making news via social media on Wednesday afternoon, it was announced that Nowell will be leaving the Wildcats, and his departure leaves fans pondering as to what could have been.

A 6-foot-6 guard that was originally committed to Sean Miller and the Wildcats in the class of 2021, Nowell was a Top 100 recruit that appeared in just 19 of 37 games for Arizona as a freshman.

Shane finished the season averaging just 0.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.2 assists per game. He posted a career-high five points against UT-Rio Grande Valley.

With Shane Nowell leaving, Arizona Basketball will search for more answers for its roster in 2022-23.

This off-season has been a busy one for the Wildcats as Arizona has already seen their fair share of roster departures with Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko, and Dalen Terry all declaring for the NBA Draft.

Beyond that, Kim Aiken, the former Eastern Washington transfer that played in just seven games for Arizona this past year, also announced his intent to transfer from the Wildcats just days ago.

Now the departure of Shane Nowell leaves Arizona scrambling for some more answers.

As it stands, Arizona still has quite a few gaps in its roster for 2022-23, especially as the Wildcats have just Dylan Anderson and Filip Borovicanin committed for next year so far.

Also, it is worth noting that Terry can potentially come back as he left that option on the table by not signing with an agent. He will have until June 1 to decide if he is going to return to school or stay in the draft.

Either way, it should be an interesting couple of months seeing how this roster shapes up for Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats!