Rahsool Diggins elects to enter the transfer portal

UConn men’s basketball point guard Rahsool Diggins has entered the transfer portal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and 247Sports’ Travis Banham. Diggins, the No. 58 recruit in the 2021 ESPN Top 100, will have three years of eligibility remaining and is immediately eligible to play next season due to the NCAA’s new transfer rules.

Prior to coming to UConn and committing in the summer of 2020, the 6-foot-2 Diggins received offers from Villanova, Kansas, Xavier, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech and Miami.

Diggins played sparingly all season, appearing in just nine games and playing a total of 46 minutes. He scored seven total points on the season, three of which came in a career-high 12 minutes against Grambling State. While Diggins was a highly-coveted recruit out of high school and the first commit in Hurley’s 2021 class, he looked overwhelmed against largely inferior competition in limited minutes and was not able to distinguish himself in practice enough to garner more opportunities.

The Philadelphia native played one minute in each of his last two games with UConn, and did log more than a minute since the Huskies’ win over Georgetown on Jan. 25. With Diggins, Tyrese Martin and RJ Cole now all gone, UConn’s backcourt lacks depth, meaning Hurley will almost certainly look to the transfer portal to bulk up on experience along with ball-handling and scoring help.

John Mosco, Diggins’ high school coach, told Hearst Media’s Dave Borges that Diggins is looking to play closer to home, and that the decision to transfer was one that Diggins made on his own.

“A combination of (wanting to play) closer to home, a little bit more playing time,” Mosco said. “He wasn’t chased out. It was ‘Sool’s decision. Danny (Hurley) wanted him to stay.”