A player who has significant ties to the state of Utah and the BYU basketball program has reportedly entered the transfer portal for the second time in two years.
On Monday, Verbal Commits reported that Cincinnati Bearcats sophomore guard Mike Saunders Jr., who played his high school ball at Utah’s Wasatch Academy, has entered the portal again after doing so last spring before he decided to return to Cincinnati.
Last year when the 6-foot, 185-pound Saunders entered the portal, he and BYU were reported to have had heavy mutual interest before he decided to return to the Bearcats.
Saunders, who is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, was teammates at Wasatch Academy with current Cougars Caleb Lohner and Fousseyni Traore, as well as signee Richie Saunders, who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but is expected to join the team next season.
This season, Saunders Jr. came off the bench in all 33 of the Bearcats’ games and averaged 7.3 points, 2.7 assists and two rebounds in 20.4 minutes per contest.