Achor Achor to the Portal: The Impact & What’s Next
Samford’s Achor Achor had a near buzzer-beater layup in the 81-79 home win over Wofford on January 31st. Now 91 days later with the portal window minutes from closing, Achor with a buzzer beater of a different kind announcing his intentions to enter the transfer portal.
Undoubtedly, this is a big blow for Samford as they will now be replacing all five starters from a season ago. Achor was one of the most improved players in the country averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds per game.
The whole country saw what Achor could do in the NCAA Tournament with a monstrous second half as Samford was closing the 22 point deficit against Kansas. Achor finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in that NCAA Tournament loss.
This is unfortunately becoming the norm for mid-major basketball programs. It is becoming increasingly harder to keep your best talent. Samford is no exception, after Ques Glover entered last season (although this worked out for Samford). The recruitment of Achor Achor has been well documented by Bucky McMillan who took a two-seater plane to go recruit Achor.
This is now the life of a mid-major basketball coaching staff, you recruit and develop a player. Then just like that, they are gone.
Now they have to worry about the high-major teams poaching their talent with NIL money. It is definitely fair to insinuate that this was the case with Achor. You can be sure that the Samford staff and other powers that be did all they could. As an international student, Achor cannot get the same NIL money as many others can but there are ways around that F-1 Visa status.
Sometimes, it is out of your control, especially in this wild transfer portal era.
Could Achor come back to Samford? Of course, however, wasting energy wishing for that to happen is not worth it. It is like wishing for your now ex-girlfriend to change her mind and take you back. The chances of that are low but you never know. The transfer portal is like your ex breaking up with you but instead you find out on social media first.*
*I did not workshop that analogy so just take my word for it.*
I am sure this staff would welcome him back with open arms, but they have to move on.
So what’s next? Samford now has six open scholarship spots but do have former Tulane G/F Collin Holloway signed. Does this Achor news mean that Riley Allenspach is locked in as a starter? What does this mean for a potential Rylan Jones NCAA waiver for a sixth year of eligibility?
Samford has reached out to a few more transfer portal targets as far as we know publicly. Now, they have to replace even more production from last year’s magical team. Thank Achor for helping to put Samford on the map, they do not get to the NCAA Tournament without him. “Shoutout Bucky Ball.”
This offseason just got that much more fascinating. Stay here for all the coverage on the State of the Bulldogs Podcast and our social media channels.
