Former ASU F Khalid Thomas announces transfer to Portland State

Former Arizona State forward Khalid Thomas announced he will be returning to his home state of Oregon.

On Saturday, he posted to Twitter than he will be transferring to Portland State.

“After talking with my family and close supporters, I have decided that this decision is what’s best for me even though a lot of you won’t understand it,” Thomas wrote in the note.

Thomas attended West Linn High School just south of Portland. He became the No. 2 JuCo player in the country while attending the College of Southern Idaho before transferring to ASU.

In his sole season with the Sun Devils, the 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per game.

The Final Chapter❗️ pic.twitter.com/D2JmCv5S6P

— Lid (@khalid_thomas7) April 4, 2020

He scored in double-figures twice last year, on Nov. 26 in a win over Princeton and Feb. 1 in a victory against Washington.

While the floor-spacing forward started three games and made 23 appearances for head coach Bobby Hurley, he struggled to earn playing time in an undersized frontcourt.

Small forwards Kimani Lawrence and Taeshon Cherry earned most of the playing time at the two forward spots, while veteran Mickey Mitchell and freshman Jalen Graham also played backup minutes ahead of Thomas.

ASU has lost several players over the last few weeks.

Guard Elias Valtonen announced he was transferring on March 17. On March 25, Kyle Feit tweeted that he too had entered the transfer portal. Five days later, Andre Allen announced he was transferring, according to The Athletic’s Doug Haller.

While those three players didn’t see as much game action as Thomas, two of the team’s best players in point guard Remy Martin and center Romello White announced they were entering the NBA Draft.

With those losses, in addition to the graduations of Rob Edwards and Mickey Mitchell, ASU will have its work cut out to fill out the roster.

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