“For those upperclassmen that are moving on, it was time. Those exit meetings, those conversations, were very appreciative. The families that have been here — you look at the Noel family, five years; Huibregtse family, five years; Norris family, four years … We helped those kids grow up, and it was time,” he said.
“I think everybody understood that. We’re excited to see them finish their careers (elsewhere). We understand this is just a different landscape.”
The 6-8 Noel was the preseason Horizon League player of the year. He’s a two-time second-team all-league pick and averaged 19.0 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 55.2% last season.
Huibregtse, a three-year starting shooting guard, was a preseason second-team all-league pick. He hit a slump late in the year but still averaged 13.5 points with a team-high 90 threes.
Norris, the lone true point guard in the program, averaged 7.5 points and was third in the league with 4.3 assists per game.
The 6-9 Carter showed plenty of promise but was in and out of the rotation. He appeared in 24 games and averaged 2.7 points.
Southerland, a redshirt sophomore, played in just four games.
“We understand and have to embrace some of the fluidity of things. We’ve been such a program that hasn’t been very transfer heavy, and we still want to retain players, which we will, and keep chemistry,” said Sargent, whose team was a disappointing 15-18 in his first season.
“But there has to be a certain element that for Wright State and really any athletic program in this era, you kind of have to embrace this and understand this is going to happen. Turnover is going to happen.”
Two first-team all-league picks, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jalen Jackson and Milwaukee’s Jamichael Stillwell, also have entered the transfer portal.
Jackson led the league in scoring with a 19.3 average, while Stillwell was the top rebounder at 10.7 per game.
After the 2023-24 season, league player of the year Trey Townsend of Oakland transferred along with the conference’s top four scorers.
“(Transfers) always used to be an indicator, 5 or 10 years ago, of maybe an unhealthy program. No, this is just in a lot of ways free agency every year for some of these kids that have hit a certain point in their careers,” Sargent said.
“We didn’t have a good enough year. There’s some opportunity for us to make some changes with our roster and to learn what we need to do to get back to the top of this league.”
The Raiders suddenly have four open scholarships and will look for some impact transfers, preferably those who can bring much-needed athleticism.
They also have a solid nucleus returning in third-leading scorer Jack Doumbia, another workhorse forward in Michael Imariagbe and guard Solomon Callaghan, who had a breakout season, and Logan Woods, a Fairfield grad who started 25 games.
“I love the kids that are coming back here. I have a better understanding now more than ever of how we need to attack and who we need to bring in and what this looks like,” Sargent said.
“The No. 1 thing I need to have and demand is discipline and respect. That will lead it all. And, yes, within some of the basketball, we’ll look athletically because our league is athletic. But the lead narrative is discipline and respect. That’s what I’m looking for from top to bottom. And when we find that again, we will win.”
About the Author