WKU confirms Miles, Hughey enter NCAA transfer portal
Two more members of Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team have opted to enter the NCAA transfer portal, WKU confirmed Friday.
Darrius Miles, a 6-foot-10 center who completed his junior season at WKU this past season, and 6-4 redshirt freshman guard Elijah Hughey will explore their options in the portal. They join three others who played for the Tops this past season – guard Dayvion McKnight, who has committed to Xavier, plus center Jamarion Sharp and Jordan Rawls. Both Sharp and Rawls remain in the portal.
Miles spent two seasons at WKU after transferring from Odessa College. As a sophomore in 2021-22, he appeared in one game and totaled four points and two rebounds in 10 minutes at Kentucky.
This past season, Miles played in 10 games for the Hilltoppers. He averaged 1.3 points and 0.5 rebounds in 2.7 minutes of action, tallying a career-high of seven points against Kentucky State. Miles, a native of Oak Cliff, Texas, has three seasons of college eligibility remaining.
Fellow Texan Hughey also spent two seasons at WKU. Signed out of Lancaster High School, the Dallas native sat out as a redshirt during the 2021-22 season. This past season, Hughey appeared in four games, averaging 0.6 minutes for the season. He did not score a point.
Miles and Hughey are the latest departures from the program since the hiring of Steve Lutz as head coach after Rick Stansbury announced his resignation at the conclusion of this past season.
McKnight announced his decision to play at Xavier on Monday. The Shelbyville native and former Kentucky Mr. Basketball started all 33 games and averaged a team-high 16.5 points this past season. He added a team-best 125 assists, pulled down five rebounds per game and led the squad with 59 steals. McKnight, a second-team All-CUSA selection in 2022-23, spent three seasons playing for the Hilltoppers.
Sharp, a Hopkinsville native who just completed his senior season at WKU, was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season after leading the nation in blocks (131) and blocks per game (4.1). The 7-5 center was the tallest player in NCAA competition this past season and played in 32 of 33 games for WKU, averaging 7.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
Rawls, a 6-2 guard who completed his senior season at WKU, was a key reserve as backup point guard. He played in 30 games, averaging 7.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per contest. The Chattanooga, Tenn., began his college career at WKU and spent two seasons playing for the Tops before transferring to Georgia State, then ultimately transferring back to Western Kentucky for this past season after leaving GSU midway through the 2021-22 season.
The Tops also lost forward Jairus Hamilton, guard Luke Frampton and guard Emmanuel Akot – those three have exhausted their college eligibility.
WKU’s current roster minus the transfer portal entries consists of redshirt junior guard/forward Dontaie Allen, junior guard Khristian Lander, junior forward Tyrone Marshall Jr., redshirt sophomore/forward Fallou Diagne, redshirt guard Noah Stansbury, sophomore guard Tyler Olden and sophomore forward Jaylen Dorsey.
Owen County High School senior Teagan Moore, a 6-5 guard who previously signed with WKU when Stansbury was still head coach, has announced he still plans to play for the Hilltoppers next season. Riley Allenspach, a 6-10 center from Charlotte, N.C., was granted a release after previously signing with WKU and has since signed with Samford.{&end}
Leave a Reply