Utah Basketball Duo Jordan Kellier, Lahat Thioune Enter Transfer Portal

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Utes men’s basketball team lost Jordan Kellier and Lahat Thioune to the NCAA Transfer Portal on Monday afternoon.

Utah guard Jordan Kellier and center Lahat Thioune are leaving the program less than one week after the season concluded.

Kellier and Thioune join Brenden Wenzel as Runnin’ Utes to enter the portal this season. Kellier announced his decision to leave the program on Twitter on Monday evening.

“Sometimes in life the first stop isn’t the right stop,” Kellier tweeted. “Firstly, I want to thank Utah for recruiting me, I appreciate everything you guys have done for me and I want to thank the coaching staff and my beloved teammates for the life long lessons I learned, it was a blast. However, with that being said, I will be reopening my recruitment by entering the transfer portal to find a new home. Thank you Utah, it was a good run.”

Thank you Utah 🙏🏿❤️ pic.twitter.com/dZb6OKXaaY

— Jordan Kellier 🇯🇲 (@thedoubted_876) March 16, 2021

Kellier joined the Utes in 2020 as a junior college transfer from Williston State. During his freshman season, he averaged 17.4 points and 8.6 rebounds, leading the Tetons to the NJCAA Region XIII Tournament Semifinals. The Portmore, Jamaica native scored 9 points, pulled down 6 rebounds and blocked one shot, while shooting 4-for-13 from the field, 0-of-3 from the three-point line and 1-for-3 from the free throw line in 31 minutes of the 7 games he played in.

Thioune tweeted a video on Tuesday afternoon announcing his departure from the program.

Thank you Utah for everything. All love 32 is out ✌🏾 pic.twitter.com/yrGhnxoKTj

— Lahat Thioune (@ThiouneLahat) March 16, 2021

The Dakar, Senegal native leaves Utah after two seasons. As a freshman, he played in 25 games with two starts in the 2019-20 season, averaged 1.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9 minutes per game. This past season, Thioune played in 20 games, posting an average of 1.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.6 minutes per contest.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.