COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: Eligible or not, ISU’s Gray to enter portal

Indiana State graduate forward Aaron Gray has entered the transfer portal, despite the possibility that he may or may not be eligible to play next season.

The Portal Report on X and 247Sports made that announcement Wednesday, adding that fellow Sycamore Tyran Cook also plans to enter the portal.

Across two seasons at ISU, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Gray averaged seven points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He finished the season with a career-high 27 points in a loss to Southern Illinois in Game 1 of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament March 6 in St. Louis.

However, it's unclear if Gray has eligibility left. Indiana State said Gray went into the portal "with the ever-changing legal environment to allow him to speak with other coaches as that would afford him the best opportunity to find his next institution should the current laws, rules or court-rulings change dramatically and provide him another season of eligibility."

Cook, a 6-2 sophomore guard, already had entered the portal. He didn't see much playing time this past season. He played in just nine games, one of which he started, and averaged 1.7 points per outing.

• Indiana State's Samage Teel landed the NABC All-District Second Team for the Great Lakes Region award Tuesday afternoon. He finished the season as the team's leading scorer with an average of 16.9 points per game and the team leader in steals with a total of 39.

• The Drake men's basketball team will lead the Missouri Valley Conference into the postseason as they clinched a spot in March Madness with their win over Bradley in the conference championship game. This will be the third consecutive season that Drake will take part in the NCAA tournament.

Bradley and Northern Iowa will compete in the National Invitation Tournament that Indiana State played in last year, while Illinois State will compete in the College Basketball Invitational at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Bradley was set to play at home in the first round as the third-seeded Braves hosted North Alabama on Wednesday night. However, Bradley senior Zek Montgomery announced earlier in the week that he decided to not take part in the NIT.

UNI was slated to face No. 1 seed Southern Methodist on Wednesday night.

• The UNI women's basketball team also will take part in the WNIT for the first time in program history. The Panthers take on No. 3 seed Florida at 7 p.m. Thursday.

• Illinois State announced March 5 that it had promoted interim director of intercollegiate athletics Jeri Beggs to the director of intercollegiate athletics.

• Murray State announced Monday that it had hired Ryan Miller as the 18th head coach in men's basketball program history. Miller signed a four-year contract worth $450,000 per year in addition to $175,000 for media participation.

He'll make $625,000 per year plus other bonuses through the contract. He joins Murray State from the NCAA tournament-bound Creighton Bluejays. He has coached in eight NCAA tournaments, won five regular-season championships and has one league tournament title on the sidelines over the course of his career.

• There were many other MVC men's basketball players to hit the portal in addition to the two from Indiana State.

Other MVC men's basketball players who had hit the portal as of Wednesday night included Missouri State's Dez White, Southern Illinois' Sheridan Sharp and Kennard Davis, UIC's Javon Jackson and Joshua Reeves, Northern Iowa's Wes Rubin and Charlie Miller, Evansville's Cam Haffner, Tayshawn Comer, Gabriel Pozzato and Tanner Cuff and Valparaiso's All Wright, Cooper Schwieger and Isaiah Stafford.

• On Tuesday evening, it was announced Valparaiso had parted ways with women's basketball coach Mary Evans after the team finished 13-19 overall and 9-11 in the MVC. They fell to Bradley in the opening round of the MVC women's basketball tournament 64-58.

• Next season, the Evansville men's basketball team will take part in the 2025 Paradise Jam at the US Virgin Islands in St. Thomas from Nov. 21-24. Games will be held at the Eldridge Blake Sports and Fitness Center at the University of Virgin Islands.

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