Boise State lands transfer portal center; Assistant coach leaves Broncos for Big Ten job

Boise State up to four transfer portal commits

Dovydas Butka. | James Snook-Imagn Images

The Boise State men’s basketball team broke its transfer portal losing streak on Wednesday with the addition of Campbell transfer Dovydas Butka. 

Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress.com broke the news of Butka’s commitment to Boise State on Wednesday. 

The 6-foot-9 Butka starred for Campbell as a sophomore, averaging 13.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals. He was the Camels’ leader in rebounding and assists. 

Butka has two years of eligibility remaining. 

A native of Lithuania, Butka began his college career at Pepperdine and averaged 9.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He put up 11.7 points per game in West Coast Conference play.

Butka, who went just 5 of 30 (17 percent) on three-pointers last season, is an interior scorer who can also function as a point-center. He will have a chance for immediate playing time on a Boise State roster that must replace all five starters from last year’s team that finished 20-12 overall and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. 

The Broncos lost their top two centers from last year: Second-team all-Mountain West performer Drew Fielder transferred to Alabama while backup Dominic Parolin exhausted his eligibility. 

Boise State has added two other frontcourt players in the transfer portal: Jikany Deang (North Dakota State College Of Science) and Jerquarius Stanback (Alabama State).

The 6-foot-9 Stanback put up 8.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and two blocks as a freshman and was voted SWAC Defensive Player of the Year. Stanback could start at power forward or center next season. 

The 6-foot-11 Deang is a developmental prospect who averaged 17.6 points and 8.5 rebounds as a sophomore at the junior college level. Deang is the best three-point shooter of the bunch and shot 36 percent from beyond the arc last year. 

Boise State also signed North Dakota State point guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas from the transfer portal. 

Wheeler-Thomas, who could take over for Dylan Andrews as Boise State’s starting point guard next season, averaged 14.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals for the Bison as a junior. 

It was a newsy Wednesday for the Broncos, who also lost assistant coach Lexus Williams to Minnesota. Williams had spent five years with Boise State working under head coach Leon Rice, including the last two seasons as an assistant coach. 

Williams played for the Broncos during the 2017-18 season and started all 32 games, averaging 9.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He spent his first three college seasons at Valparaiso.