In the busiest Division I men’s basketball offseason ever, nearly 2,700 players entered the transfer portal.
The University of San Diego’s men’s program was among the busiest in the nation.`
The Toreros lost nine players via the portal, including center Steven Jamerson to UCLA and guard Santiago Trouet to Arizona State. They added several new faces, includin“““““““““““““““`g center Assane Diop (Colorado), forward Toneari Lane (Georgia State), guard Ty-Lauer Johnson (Wake Forest), power forward Bradley Ezewiro (UAB), wing Tim Moore (NJIT), guard Juanse Gorcito (Ball State) and wing Adrian McIntire (Westmont),
The Toreros have also expressed interest in former Navy guard John Carter Jr., who is currently stationed at Camp Pendleton with the Marines and is seeking clearance to play for USD this season.
From the high school ranks, the Toreros are adding forward D’Arrae Goodwin out of the Linsly School in Wheeling, W. Va.
“It’s a great opportunity and a great place,” Goodwin said of USD. “I really trust what Coach Lav is building. I’ve found my home, and that’s all that matters.”
He is ed by center Alejandro Aviles out of Dream City Christian Academy in Glendale, Ariz.; wing Brandon Benjamin of Anaheim’s Canyon High School; and combo guard Caleb Versher out of St. Bernard High School in Playa Del Rey.
Coach Steve Lavin said USD remains in the mix for a handful of others. Lavin went 6-27 last season, but received a vote of confidence from athletic director Kimya Massey during the West Coast Conference Tournament.
USD enters the 2025-26 season with more to offer potential players.
In the spring, the school opened a $35 million Basketball Performance Center. That, along with increased name, image and likeness money, should put the Toreros in better position to be competitive.
“It’s the new reality of the college game,” said Lavin, who is entering his fourth season guiding the USD program. “Every year you have to be prepared to retool the roster based on player movement all over the sport. Every program is figuring out how to manage it. We presently have terrific alignment with roster space, NIL, revenue share funding and the opening of our game-changing basketball performance center.”
Tritons set staff
First-year UC San Diego coach Clint Allard has set his coaching staff for the 2025-26 season. The Tritons announced this week that they have added Skye Ettin, Rich Shayewitz, Daniel Eberhardt and Denzel Brito to a staff that already includes Allard and third-year assistant Steven Aldrige, a holdover from former coach Eric Olen’s staff.
Ettin comes from UC Santa Barbara, where he spent two seasons as an assistant; before that, he spent six seasons at Princeton.
Shayewitz comes from Division II Sonoma State, where he served as head coach before the athletic department was shuttered due to budget cuts. The Seawolves went 12-16 in his final season.
Eberhardt also has head coaching experience, spending the 2020-22 seasons at Division II Holy Names in Oakland. He has also worked on the men’s staffs at Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Cal State East Bay and Cal Maritime and on the women’s staff at Cal Poly.
Brito spent last season as a graduate assistant at George Washington.
Allard, a UCSD grad, was promoted to head coach when Olen left for New Mexico.
