Noah Bendinger entered the transfer portal after one season of college basketball at Boise State. He announced his decision to leave the program just 12 days after the school announced his return.
What happened?
This kind of thing is not super uncommon in college basketball, or college sports in general. It likely hints at how the Broncos plan to approach the transfer portal as a suitor.
Who is Noah Bendinger?
Bendinger hails from Draper, Utah. The 6-foot-4, 170-pound combo guard scored in double figures in all but one game as a sophomore and helped to lead Corner Canyon High School to a runner-up finish at the 6A state championship as a junior. He averaged 23.2 points per game (the second-most points per game in the state) with 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game as a senior to earn 6A First Team All-State honors.
However, Noah Bendinger really made his mark with the Salt Lake Rebels AAU team. His breakout performance in the Nike EYCL last summer also helped to put him on the map.
Bendinger received a few Division I scholarship offers from programs like Montana, Northern Kentucky and Southern Illinois. He ultimately committed to play at Boise State.
“Noah is a gifted scoring combo guard who will make a significant impact on the Broncos for years to come,” said head coach Leon Rice. “He has a great feel for the game and is an elite shooter.”
That statement did not prove to be true. The first half, at least.
The college basketball transfer portal giveth and taketh.
Noah Bendinger did not play significant minutes as a freshman and took a redshirt. He will have four years of eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 season and he was going to play next year at Boise State.
The college basketball transfer portal opened on Tuesday, April 7.
It was announced two days later that Bendinger was going to run it back with the Broncos. The program announced that he was still “110%” committed and going to return.
Something changed over the last 12 days because Bendinger announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on April 20. He is not 110% committed anymore.
This could mean one of a few different things.
Bendinger was either processed out of the program, decided to leave for a bigger paycheck at a different school or received new information about his playing time next season. It could also be a combination of the three, but I don’t know that another outside suitor was offering big money to a former unranked recruit.
I would guess that Bendinger’s decision to bounce hints at an incoming transfer. My guess is that Boise State plans to add a new guard (or two) through the transfer portal, which will push the rising redshirt sophomore way down the depth chart. We’ll see where he ends up. I bet he transfers down.