Report: Grand Canyon guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. intends to NCAA transfer portal

According to ESPN’s Jeff Borzell, Grand Canyon guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal. Blacksher was recently granted an extra season of eligibility by the NCAA after dealing with an injury for the past year.

“Grand Canyon guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. is entering the transfer portal, per source,” Borzello said via X. “First-team All-WAC in 2022, preseason WAC POY for the 2022-23 season — was hampered by a torn ACL in Jan 2023 the last two seasons. NCAA granted him an additional year of eligibility this week.”

Blacksher just wrapped up his fifth season of college basketball, playing all of them with Grand Canyon. This past season saw the guard appear in 26 games but only start in one. As Borzello mentioned in his tweet, an ACL surgery prevented Blacksher from seeing much time during the 2022-2023 season with just 12 appearances.

Throughout his career, Blacksher has averaged 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. His best season was undoubtedly 2021-2022, scoring over 15 points a night en route to being named a first-team All-WAC member.

Head coach Bryce Drew has done a great job with the Grand Canyon program, leading them to two NCAA Tournaments in three seasons. Blacksher played a role in both of them, especially during the 2021 WAC Tournament when the Antelopes earned an automatic qualifying bid.

Just two games were required to cut down the nets but Blacksher averaged 17 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. He was then named the WAC Tournament MVP. In the ensuing NCAA Tournament game against Iowa, Blacksher was back in double-figures with 15 points while adding three rebounds and seven assists.

Right when you thought there would not be anybody else entering the portal, a big name that will garner a ton of interest gets in the mix. Assuming he is back to full health, Blacksher should have plenty of programs chasing after him in the coming weeks.

You cannot beat having an experienced guard on your roster, especially one with multiple NCAA Tournament games under his belt at a mid-major. Hopefully, it can translate elsewhere in his final year of college basketball.

Blacksher was not ranked coming out of high school but played at Shadow Mountain in Phoenix. Washington State was the only power conference program to offer him at the time. Grand Canyon ultimately won out against others such as Boise State and Fresno State.