Eastern restocks basketball roster

CHENEY — With their ranks decimated by the “out” door of the NCAA Transfer Portal, new Eastern Washington University men’s basketball coach David Riley welcomes a handful of transfers back to the team.

Rylan Bergersen comes to Eastern from Central Arkansas where he played 54 games and was twice honored as a third team All-Southland Conference selection. The six-foot-six-inch guard also played 50 games at BYU and is a former high school teammate of current Eastern point guard Ellis Magnuson at Borah High School in Boise.

“I’m excited about the new class we have coming to EWU,” Riley said. “We’ve got a mix of some experienced players joining us along with some talented freshmen.”

The second transfer is 6-7 forward Angelo Allegri, who played 97 games at UNC Greensboro and is originally from Kansas City, Mo. At UNC-Greensboro the Spartans won one league title and earned one NCAA Tournament appearance.

Eastern also took a rare dip into the junior college ranks reeling in third team National Junior College Athletic Association All-America selection Imhotep George from Allegany College in Maryland.

Another recent signee is Casey Jones, a 6-6 forward who helped lead the Wasatch Academy in Utah to the GEICO Nationals in Fort Myers, Fla. Jones previously played for Eastlake High School in Sammamish, Wash., and was a first team All-KingCo selection as a sophomore when he averaged a double-double with 20.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.

Lost in the transfer portal following the departure of former head coach Shantay Legans to a job at the University of Portland were brothers Tanner and Jacob Groves – both to the University of Oklahoma, Kim Aiken Jr. to the University of Arizona, Jacob Davison, Tyler Robertson, Jack Perry and Mike Meadows — the latter three following Legans to the Pilots.

Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].