Ranking Boise State men’s basketball’s biggest remaining roster needs for 2026-27

The men’s college basketball transfer portal window closed on Tuesday, but Boise State is still actively recruiting several players in the portal.

Five Broncos—including four starters—elected to enter the transfer portal: Shooting guard Noah Bendinger, forward Javan Buchanan, shooting guard RJ Keene II, wing Andrew Meadow and center Drew Fielder.

Fielder, Boise State’s leading scorer (14.7 points per game) and rebounder (5.7) last season, transferred to Alabama. Fielder was a second-team all-Mountain West pick as a junior for the Broncos.

Buchanan was right behind Fielder in scoring (12.6) and rebounding (five). Buchanan, an all-MWC honorable mention selection last year, signed with West Virginia.

Meadow will wrap up his college career in the Big Ten for Oregon. He averaged 12.1 points and 3.6 rebounds a season ago and also received all-MWC honorable mention.

Bendinger and Keene II have yet to pick their new homes.

The Broncos also lost starting point guard Dylan Andrews (12.5 points, 3.2 assists) and backup center Dominic Parolin (5.5 points, 4.7 rebounds) to graduation, leaving several holes to plug on the roster.

Boise State has already landed three transfer portal commits: Center Jikany Deang (North Dakota State College Of Science), forward Jerquarius Stanback (Alabama State) and point guard Damari Wheeler-Thomas (North Dakota State). The Broncos are also returning two key rotation pieces in forward Spencer Ahrens (4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds) and guard Pearson Carmichael (7.9 points, 3.1 rebounds).

With multiple open roster spots, here are Boise State’s three biggest remaining needs as the team prepares for a move from the MWC to the Pac-12 this summer.

1. Scoring wing

The Broncos have lacked a go-to perimeter scorer in recent seasons and must replace their top two volume three-point shooters in Fielder and Meadow.

Auburn transfer Abdul Bashir (27.2 points per game on 37 percent shooting from three during the 2024-25 season at Casper College) and Cal Poly’s Cayden Ward (4.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists) would both be plug-and-play starters for the Broncos on the wing.

2. Perimeter defender

Boise State didn’t have a true perimeter stopper last season and ranked No. 76 nationally in KenPom defense, the program’s lowest defensive ranking since the 2019-20 season.

Stanback, the 2025-26 SWAC Defensive Player of the Year, should boost the team’s interior defense, but the Broncos need to add at least one perimeter stopper from the portal.

3. Rugged interior rebounder

The Broncos must replace more than 70 percent of their rebounding from last season, and head coach Leon Rice immediately addressed the issue by signing Deang and Stanback.

But two additions might not be enough, and Boise State is still actively pursuing other bigs.

Add us as a preferred source on Google