After one season at Sacramento State, redshirt sophomore guard Mikey Williams has entered the transfer portal for the third time in his career.
Williams began his career at the University of Memphis, where he redshirted and transferred to the University of Central Florida. At UCF, Williams played sparingly before landing in the portal again, finding his way to Sac State last offseason.
He averaged 17.1 points and 4.5 assists on 36% shooting from the field, turned the ball over 2.9 times a game and shot 26% from deep. The Hornets were a first-round exit in the Big Sky Conference, ending the season with a 10-21 record.
Where will the well-traveled guard land next? Here’s five potential destinations:
San Diego State
Part of what initially drew Williams to Sacramento State was the prospect of playing with his close friend and childhood teammate, senior forward Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry. Cherry, a transfer from UNLV, dominated to open the season but suffered a season-ending ACL tear.
Instead of opting to return to Sac State for his redshirt senior year, Cherry hit the portal, and quickly found a home at San Diego State. The Aztecs lost multiple players to the portal, including Stockton native Miles Byrd, and will be in need of scoring punch.
Williams could certainly do that. SDSU has brought in Rice University transfer Nick Anderson, who averaged 15.5 points a game in the American Conference, but to the writing of this piece, he and Cherry are their lone portal adds.
Delaware State
By the end of 2020, Williams had received over 20 offers, including several members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference. One of those schools, Delaware State, may want to kick the tires after a season they’d prefer to forget.
The Hornets of Delaware only managed five wins all season, and will lose leading scorer Ponce James to the transfer portal. They’re a program that could use the flashy scoring prowess of Williams, a skill that could breathe life into a program with only one over .500 season since 2016.
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Delaware State has found success with Sac State reclamation projects recently, when former Sac State quarterback Kaiden Bennett led the Hornets of Delaware to an 8-4 record after back-to-back seasons of one win football.
Arizona State
Coming out of high school, Williams held offers from almost every major program. Among these was Arizona State. If he wants to make the jump to a Power Four school, it would have to be during a rebuilding phase like the Sun Devils.
Arizona State finished 12th in the Big 12 last season, and had an overall record of 17-16 and failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season.
The Sun Devils have had four guards enter the transfer portal at this point, and don’t have one committed from the portal thus far. Their leading scorer, senior guard Maurice Odom, just used his final year of eligibility.
They also have a new head coach coming in next year, with long time Saint Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett taking the reins. What better way to start your era than with a big-name signing?
East Los Angeles College
Is Mikey Williams landing outside of Division I really that unlikely? Sac State was ranked 277th in the nation last season despite adding an entirely new team through the transfer portal and head coach Mike Bibby, and while Williams filled the stat sheet, his play wasn’t often conducive to winning.
While his pure scoring ability is unparalleled, it came at the expense of fluid offense and team defense. Williams was the only player in Division I to have a usage rate above 27% and an effective field goal percentage under 40%. He was arguably the most inefficient player in college hoops, and barring a major role reduction, it appears unlikely another team can stomach his style of play.
Where better to revive a college career than the school that appeared on Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” East Los Angeles College? The Huskies are a dominant power in the South Coast Conference (SCC), winning six of the last seven SCC championships, and have seen several players make it onto Division I rosters.
Sacramento State
There’s always a possibility for Williams to stay with the Hornets, as entering the transfer portal isn’t complete confirmation that he’s out the door. Should Bibby and his office come back to Williams with a good enough offer, he may decide to play another year at the Hornet Pavilion.
For the Hornets, the pitch is simple; they’ve already embraced him as one of their “guys,” and it’s unlikely that another program will give him the opportunity he had this past season.
It would still be a new look, as Sac State will start playing in the Big West Conference next season. In comparison to the Big Sky, the Big West is an upgrade in both competition level and exposure.
Senior guard Prophet Johnson, the team’s leading scorer, also entered the transfer portal.
Should he leave the program, there’s nothing stopping Williams from taking that role.
