Utah point guard reportedly makes last-minute transfer portal entry

The final wave of transfer portal entries has taken yet another Utah player with it.

In the final hours of the portal window being open, Obomate Abbey has decided to enter his name into college basketball's free agency pool.

Abbey's name appeared in Verbal Commits' transfer database ahead of Tuesday's midnight deadline for all players to enter the portal, indicating the Finnish guard was set to test his value on the open market after wrapping his freshman season with the Runnin' Utes.

Abbey played 31 of a possible 32 games this past season, serving mostly as a backup guard to Terrence Brown and Don McHenry in the backcourt while averaging 2.5 points, 2.2 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per contest. He made his biggest impact on the defensive end of the floor, as he struggled shooting the ball with splits of 28.3% from the field, 19.5% from 3 and 81% from the free-throw line to show for.

Abbey became the 11th player from the 2025-26 Utah squad to enter the portal. His decision also ensured that the Utes were on track to lose their top nine scorers from last season's 10-22 squad to either the portal or graduation, barring any unforeseen withdraws or extra years of eligibility being granted to fifth-years McHenry or James Okonkwo.

Should Abbey find a new school for his sophomore season, Lucas Langarita would be the only returning guard from Alex Jensen's first-year squad. The 6-foot-5 Spaniard who joined the Utes in December appeared in just five games as he battled injury as well, tallying 2.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per contest in just over 12 minutes per game off the bench.

As such, Utah has spent considerable time and resources replenishing its backcourt for the 2026-27 season via the portal. Through the two weeks of the portal being open, Jensen and company nabbed Jackson Holcombe (16 ppg, 7 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.2 spg at Utah Valley); former four-star recruit Taison Chatman (4.3 ppg at Ohio State); and Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, TJ Burch (12.4, 3.6 apg, 2.6 spg at Wright State).

Additionally, the Utes landed one of the top European guard prospects in Israeli floor general, Noam Yaacov, who picked Utah on Monday over competing interest from Villanova, Washington and Indiana. He joins a 2026 recruiting class that features four-star point guard prospect Styles Clemmons from the Overtime Elite league, plus local standouts Simeon Suguturaga from Orem High School and David Katoa out of Layton High School.

The college basketball transfer portal closes on Tuesday at midnight EST. Players do not have to be committed to a school by midnight, but must have their name in the portal if they wish to change schools (barring a last-minute coaching change).

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