Xavier forward John Hugley plans to enter NCAA transfer portal

According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Xavier forward John Hugley plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal. This is nothing new for Hugley, going through the process multiple times throughout his career. But after a coaching change in Cincinnati, finding a new home is the goal for Hugley.

Last offseason saw Hugley leaving Oklahoma after playing under head coach Porter Moser. His career began back during the 2020-2021 season in the ACC with the Pitt Panthers. Playing in the ACC, Big East, and Big 12 gives Hugley plenty of experience against power conference foes.

This past year was one where Hugley struggled to consistently find the court. Just twice did he find himself playing at least 20 minutes over the course of 34 appearances. Hugley wound up averaging 2.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game.

Injuries have shortened a couple of Hugley’s seasons, meaning there is still legibility for him to play with moving forward. In total, he has played in 105 games with 39 starts through five seasons. Hugley is averaging 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest when out there.

Listed at 6-9, 240 pounds, somebody out there will be looking to add Hugley to the roster. A nice addition to the portal early on, the search for a fourth and final destination has begun for him.

Hugley played high school basketball at Cleveland (OH) Brush, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 89 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Xavier loses head coach Sean Miller to Texas

Miller heads to Texas after three seasons in his second stint at Xavier, going 65-40 over the past three seasons, including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2022-23 and a Round of 64 loss to sixth-seeded Illinois that followed an 86-80 win over Terry’s Longhorns in an 11th-seeded play-in game Thursday in Dayton.

Miller had a combined 185-87 record over eight total seasons across two separate stints leading the Musketeers, which bookended a 12-year run (2009-21) at Arizona in which the Wildcats went 302-109, including three Elite Eight runs in 2011, 2014 and 2015. Arizona also had two Sweet Sixteen runs in 2013 and 2017, though the Wildcats’ were forced to vacate 50 total wins across the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons stemming from Miller’s alleged involvement in the NCAA’s 2019 corruption scandal.

On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this report