Players from Georgetown and Oklahoma State lead a group of six new national recruits who will join veteran Tigers on Coach Leonard Perry’s revamped men’s basketball team.

With the departure of seven players, including four starters, Perry is rebuilding largely through the NCAA transfer portal, which helps facilitate the movement of players to new teams.

“The transfer portal has been important for us because it allowed us to rebuild quickly,” Perry said. “We were able to bring in (players with) experience and use [the portal] as a tool to get better.”

Two new Tigers, Donovan Williams and Keylan Boone, are transfers from Oklahoma State of the Big 12 Conference.

Williams, a guard from Rockford, Ill., joins the Tigers after two seasons with the Cowboys. He averaged 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds during his sophomore season. Williams appeared in nine games last season.

“Donovan comes to us as a former Mr. Basketball from Nebraska,” Perry said. “He is strong, can score and can guard multiple positions. His fearless competitive spirit will infuse immediate confidence in our program.”

Boone comes to Pacific after three seasons with Oklahoma State, where he appeared in 80 games and averaged 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds. Boone, a guard, had a career-high 17 points to help the Cowboys upset No. 14 Texas. 

“Keylan brings experience from battling against every Big 12 opponent,” Perry stated. “He has been to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Baylor, and has had success against those programs. He is versatile and will be a great addition.”

Judson Martindale, who previously played at the College of the Holy Cross, played 47 games in two seasons with the Crusaders. He started 16 games as a shooting guard during the 2021–22 season and averaged 8.2 points and 3.3 rebounds. 

Tyler Beard played last year at Georgetown University, where he averaged 3.0 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists as a backup point guard. In 30 games, Beard scored in double figures twice, including 23 points in a win over Howard.

Point guard Jordan Ivy-Curry appeared in 47 games at the University of Texas-San Antonio from 2020–22. He averaged 10.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Ivy-Curry scored in double figures 15 times, including a season-high 27 in a win over Denver.

Maurice Odum is the lone freshman recruit. As starting point guard, he helped West Oaks Academy in Orlando, Fla. to a 21–4 record during the 2021–22 season. Odum averaged 24 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Before attending West Oaks Academy, Odum played at Union City High School in New Jersey, averaging 19.4 points in three seasons. 

Despite the reliance on transfer recruits, Perry believes his core group of returning players are crucial to on-court success. Among those returnees are Nick Blake (8.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game), Greg Outlaw (5.8 points per game), Luke Avdalovic (10 points per game), Sam Freeman (3.1 rebounds per game), Jalen Brown (2.4 points per game) and Greydon Edwards (played in six games).

“We have a lot of new players coming in, but our experience will come from the guys who are returning,” Perry said.