K-State’s Macaleab Rich becomes first Wildcat to enter transfer portal
MANHATTAN, Kan. (KCTV) - The first transfer portal entry for the Kansas State Wildcats men’s basketball team came Thursday. Sophomore forward Macaleab “Buddy” Rich entered the portal.
Rich told On3 he was entering the portal after averaging 5.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game this season.
Over the last two seasons, he appeared in 29 games for K-State. He was a four-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class and was the lowest-rated signee from that class for the Wildcats.
Rich only played in five Big 12 games for the Wildcats, appearing in just one game in February and one game in March for the 16-17 K-State team which had its worst record in three seasons under head coach Jerome Tang.
In that class with Rich was guards Dai Dai Ames and RJ Jones. All three recruits from that recruiting class have now departed from the Wildcats. Ames played for Virginia this season and has already announced he’ll head to California for his third school in three seasons. RJ Jones spent the 2024-25 season with TCU.
Rich, an East St. Louis, Illinois, native, chose K-State over Illinois-Chicago, Ole Miss and Missouri.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
