Kansas men’s basketball forward Zach Clemence has entered the transfer portal
LAWRENCE — Zach Clemence will look to continue his college basketball career elsewhere, as a KU official confirmed Wednesday that Clemence is in the transfer portal.
Clemence spent the past two seasons as a forward with the Kansas Jayhawks. At times limited due to injury, he was never able to develop that significant of a role as either a freshman or a sophomore. And his decision means that, as of Wednesday afternoon, Kansas has three players who were on its 2022-23 roster who are now exploring the chance to transfer.
A KU official has confirmed that Zach Clemence is in the transfer portal.
Clemence becomes the third #kubball player to depart since the season's ended.
The other two: Cam Martin and Bobby Pettiford Jr.— Jordan Guskey (@JordanGuskey) March 22, 2023
Clemence joined super-senior forward Cam Martin and sophomore guard Bobby Pettiford Jr., whose own decisions became public Monday and Wednesday, respectively. All three faced uphill battles to have breakout seasons in 2023-24. None of their departures come as a surprise.
As a freshman on the team that won a national championship, Clemence played in 24 games and averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. As a sophomore on the team that saw its season end recently in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament against Arkansas, he played in 20 games and averaged 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He never truly developed into the three-point threat in games he came to Kansas with the potential to be, and with that holding him back, he didn’t seem to fit in the team’s future.
Clemence could still enjoy a breakout season with another program. He was a 247Sports Composite four-star prospect out of high school for a reason. But there’s the potential head coach Bill Self could bring a player in from the transfer portal, and in addition to competing with that individual for minutes at the 5-spot there are a few returners to think about as well.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball forward Zach Clemence enters the transfer portal
