Utah basketball schedules visit with prolific mid-major transfer portal guard

One of the Big South Conference's top scorers is set to check out the Utah men's basketball program this weekend.

Brycen Blaine, a highly-productive 6-foot-5 guard who played at Charleston Southern this past season, will reportedly be in Salt Lake City on a recruiting visit with the Runnin' Utes this Saturday and Sunday, according to a report from League Ready.

The Richmond, Virginia, native and former junior college standout is potentially looking to make the jump to the Power 5 ranks after averaging 17.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 25 games with the Buccaneers, including seven starts. The 2026-27 campaign will be his redshirt senior year after missing the entire 2023-24 season due to injury.

Per League Ready, Blaine has also lined up visits with East Carolina for Thursday and Friday, and with NC State for sometime the following year. A report from this past weekend indicated he's also heard from a few other power conference and mid-major programs, including Pitt, DePaul, Clemson, Wichita State and George Mason, among others.

Utah's apparent interest makes sense considering both starters from the 2025-26 squad — Terrence Brown and Don McHenry — are set to depart the program (Brown is in the portal and McHenry is out of eligibility). Those two accounted for nearly half of the Utes' total point production this past season.

That said, Jensen and general manager Wes Wilcox will have to replace their outgoing backcourt in the aggregate through the portal. Given how productive he was at Charleston Southern, there's reason to think Blaine could certainly help fill the Utes' voids. He scored 20 or more points in 10 games, and in three of those instances, he recorded 10 or more rebounds.

Blaine's biggest game of the season was a 42-point, 11-rebound, 8-assist night against The Citadel in November. He went 14-of-24 from the field, including 8-of-13 from 3-point range, and a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw to lead his Buccaneers to a 96-86 victory over the Bulldogs.

Blaine, who knocked down 34.6% of his 3-pointers last season and went 41-of-96 (42.7%) from long range at Gulf Coast State in 2024-25, could also provide Utah floor spacing in the backcourt, which it'll need given the Utes' first transfer commit of the offseason, 6-foot-7 guard Jackson Holcombe, isn't much of a knockdown shooter. Holcombe converted 16.7% of his 3-point looks at Utah Valley this past season, though he still averaged 16 points and shot above 50% from the field overall.

Utah's search for guard depth has also included hosting BYU transfer KJ Perry on a campus visit. The Arizona native was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 JUCO transfer in the 2025 cycle, though the 6-foot-3 guard never saw the floor with the Cougars.

The Utes also hosted Wyoming transfer Damarion Dennis on a visit this week, according to League Ready. The 6-foot-1 guard put up 11.2 points and 3.2 rebounds for the Cowboys this past season.

VISIT NEWS: Charleston Southern transfer Brycen Blaine has set the following visits, source told @LeagueRDY:

East Carolina: Thursday/Friday
Utah: Saturday/Sunday
NC State: next week

He averaged 17.2PPG, 7.2RPG, 3.1APG and 1.3SPG in 2025-26. https://t.co/BG2rwKfr42 pic.twitter.com/XzZqY9vPvc
— Sam Kayser (@KayserHoops) April 14, 2026

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