Another transfer for WSU basketball, as Kwinton Hinson leaves

If you figured the Washington State Cougars were done modifying their roster in advance of the 2018-19 season — as I did — you figured wrong: Junior guard Kwinton Hinson has announced his intention to transfer after just one season, joining the parade of players departing Ernie Kent’s program.

WSU announced “personal reasons” as the impetus for his departure, while Hinson himself characterized it this way:

Hinson is the fifth player to transfer since the end of last season, joining Malachi Flynn, Milan Acquaah, Jamar Ergas and KJ Langston, and the 12th Ernie Kent recruit to transfer in four seasons.

Hinson was in and out of the lineup all season, at times starting and at time fighting for just a few minutes off the bench as Ernie Kent continually tinkered with the lineup. He averaged 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13.6 minutes across 28 games, making nine starts. His best game of the year came early, as he came off the bench to score 11 crucial points in 17 minutes against Saint Mary’s in the Wooden Legacy tournament.

We’ll probably never know what “personal reasons” led Hinson to leave, but we do know that he was facing an uphill battle for minutes — he’d be competing for time at the wing with Carter Skaggs and a bunch of newcomers (Marvin Cannon, C.J. Elleby, Isaiah Wade, and maybe even Aljaž Kunc).

A move that was announced at the same time was the addition of 6-foot-10 junior college transfer James Streeter, who will be walking on. Which means that the Cougs do now have a scholarship available, and it’s well-known that they’re still recruiting — they were known to be right on top of 4-star guard Jordan Lathon after he was denied enrollment at Northwestern, and that was before Hinson’s departure. (WSU doesn’t appear to be on Lathon’s radar.)

Here’s the scholarship situation as it now stands — it’ll probably change with another addition before the season starts: