Alabama transfer guard Rylan Griffen commits to Kansas

Former Alabama guard Rylan Griffen has committed to Kansas, via the NCAA Transfer Portal. Griffen spent two seasons with the Crimson Tide.

This past season, Griffen made 36 appearances, including 33 starts. He averaged 11.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 45.4% from the field and 39.2% from beyond the arc.

It was a significant step forward for Griffen, who averaged just 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest during his debut campaign.

Griffen was pivotal in Alabama’s postseason run to the Final Four. He exploded for 19 points while shooting 5-8 from 3-point distance to help the Crimson Tide defeat No. 1 seed North Carolina 89-87 and advance to the Elite Eight.

Rylan Griffen played high school basketball at Richardson (TX) High School, where he was a four-star recruit. He arrived in Tuscaloosa as the No. 45 overall player from the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Griffen is the third player Kansas has added in the transfer portal this offseason, joining Riley Kugel and Zeke Mayo. Kansas finished the 2023-24 season with a 23-7 record, ultimately falling to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.

Former Kansas guard Arterio Morris re-enters transfer portal

While Kansas has now made three additions in the transfer portal, it’s also lost a player. On April 10, former Kansas and Texas player Arterio Morris re-entered the transfer portal after moving from the Longhorns to Jayhawks last season.

Morris’ decision to leave Texas came after a coaching change that offseason with Rodney Terry officially taking over following Chris Beard’s departure at the beginning of the year. However, Morris had troubles of his own and was unable to play this season due to a rape accusation against him. 

On Tuesday, though, his case was officially dropped, per ESPN:

“Prosecutors dropped a felony rape case against former Kansas basketball player Arterio Morris on Tuesday, citing insufficient evidence while filing a motion in Douglas County District Court to seek its dismissal without prejudice.”

Here were the initial details on the ordeal as a whole, also from the ESPN report: 

“Morris was charged last August and dismissed from the Jayhawks’ program after an incident report came to light detailing an alleged rape that occurred at McCarthy Hall, which houses the men’s basketball team along with other residents. 

“The criminal complaint alleged that a sexual assault involving an 18-year-old occurred Aug. 26. Morris was not named in the incident report, but he was subsequently suspended from the team and then dismissed.”

On3’s Alex Weber also contributed to this article.