Boise State guard switches course, enters transfer portal

The men’s college basketball transfer portal will close at 9:59 p.m. Mountain time on Tuesday, and Boise State has already sustained one eleventh-hour portal casualty.

Noah Bendinger, a shooting guard who announced that he was returning to the Broncos earlier this month, will instead enter the transfer portal. Bendinger made the announcement on Monday.

Boise State G Noah Bendinger has entered the transfer portal. https://t.co/11M16D8MnS https://t.co/zsOfGetNRl
— Verbal Commits (@VerbalCommits) April 21, 2026

“First, I want to give God the glory for putting me in the position I am in,” Bendinger wrote on X. “I want to thank Coach (Leon) Rice, my teammates, and my coaches for the opportunity and helping me grow. With that being said, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal with four years of eligibility left.”

The 6-foot-4 Bendinger was an unrated recruit coming out of Utah power Corner Canyon High School. He helped lead Corner Canyon to a Class 6A runner-up finish as a junior and finished his prep career with 1,519 points, 220 rebounds, 97 assists and 109 steals.

Bendinger redshirted last season as the Broncos finished with a disappointing 20-12 overall record. Boise State stumbled in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

With the loss of Bendinger, the Broncos are down to five returning players from last year’s team: Spencer Ahrens (forward), Julian Bowie (shooting guard), Bhan Buom (forward), Pearson Carmichael (shooting guard) and Ethan Lathan (forward). Sophomore-to-be point guard Aginaldo Neto has yet to announce his plans for next season.

Carmichael appeared in 31 games as a sophomore with six starts and averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds on 31 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-7 Carmichael is a strong candidate to start at shooting guard next season.

The 6-foot-10 Ahrens had a solid freshman season, tallying 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in limited minutes. Ahrens should also slide into a starting role in 2026-27.

Buom, an athletic 6-foot-8 forward, made 22 appearances off the bench as a true freshman last season. The 6-foot-10 Lathan has played in five career games entering his sophomore year.

The 6-foot-3 Bowie stepped away from the team after eight games last season due to his father’s passing.

The Broncos, who lost all five regular starters from last year’s team, have added three players from the transfer portal: Center Jikany Deang (North Dakota State College Of Science), forward Jerquarius Stanback (Alabama State) and point guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas (North Dakota State).

Shooting guard Brady Hennig from Washington’s Mount Si High School signed with Boise State in November.

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