C. J. Noland Re-Enters Transfer Portal

The former Oklahoma guard has rescinded his commitment to Saint Louis

Oklahoma transfer C. J. Noland (22) recently announced that he would no longer be joining Saint Louis- rescinding on a commitment he had made earlier this offseason. | Josh Calloway, SI Sooners

The marriage between C. J. Noland and Saint Louis was short-lived.

That’s because on Tuesday, the 6’2”, 229-pound guard from Waxahachie, Texas, re-entered the transfer portal after roughly six weeks of being affiliated with the program. Noland had committed to Travis Ford’s squad on April 4th following an up-and-down two-year stint in the Big 12 with the Oklahoma Sooners. He officially entered the portal on March 14th, roughly one week after the Sooners fell to rival Oklahoma State in the opening round of their postseason conference tournament. He announced his departure via social media.

Had Noland stayed with the Billikens, he would’ve been the third player off the 2022-23 Sooners roster to transfer to an Atlantic 10 team. The other two: journeyman guard Joe Bamisile- who’s making his second tour of the conference with the VCU Rams, having spent a year at George Washington in 2021-22 before joining Oklahoma for this past season- and Benny Schroder, a German-born winger who joined Chris Caputo’s Revolutionaries earlier this offseason.

A former 4-star recruit out of high school, Noland ranked as the 93rd overall recruit in the 2021 recruiting class. He appeared in 59 games for the Sooners over the past two seasons, with eight starts, and averaged 3.6 points per game on 45.3% (82/181) shooting from the field. He is a thumping guard, using his unique frame to work more towards the rim, as evidenced by his career 59.8% (52/87) field goal percentage from two-point range.

While the loss of Noland is rather substantial, the Billikens should still be competitive within the conference this upcoming season. The backcourt, in particular, should be just fine. A pair of 3-star recruits, including rising sophomore shooting guard Larry Hughes Jr. and incoming freshman Cian Medley, should each see their fair share of minutes. Additionally, the team will return sharpshooter Gibson Jimmerson, Sincere Parker- an ex-JUCO prospect who excelled as a backup to star floor general Yuri Collins last season- and Terrence Hargrove Jr., a versatile guard/forward hybrid.

Even without a player like Noland in the mix, head coach Travis Ford has excelled in acquiring talent via the transfer portal. Such is of particular importance this offseason after losing several players- Fred Thatch Jr., Francis Okoro, Javon Pickett, Jake Forrester, and Javonte Perkins- due to a lack of any more eligibility, star guard Yuri Collins to the NBA Draft, and a few young forwards to the transfer portal in Daniel Rivera (Bryant) and Mouhamadou Cisse (undecided).

Noland’s departure leaves the Billikens with two players currently in this year’s transfer class- ex-Tulsa forward Tim Dagler and former LSU and Georgetown big man Bradley Ezewiro. Additionally, two international prospects- China’s Bruce Zhang and Stef Van Bussel from the Netherlands- will be venturing to the United States, joining Ford’s 2023-24 squad as incoming freshmen. The Billikens still have three open scholarships, with plenty of players still looking for new homes.

Noland should drum up considerable interest amongst Power 5 teams, as he has two years of eligibility remaining and has familiarity with being a rotational piece on a high-major team. Plenty of programs will- rightfully- bank on his upside, although it doesn’t seem as though Noland would be entering the portal at this point unless he had a clear idea of what sort of role he was looking for. At this point, the indication is that he may look to return to his home state of Texas.

One particular landing spot for Noland could be at the University of North Texas, where former Saint Louis assistant Phil Forte- who was pivotal in bringing the Oklahoma transfer to the university initially- accepted a bench role on the staff of first-year head coach Ross Hodge for the Mean Green about a week after Noland announced he’d be joining the Billikens.

Regardless, Saint Louis will be just fine. Travis Ford is a fantastic coach with plenty of talent to keep the team afloat in a rather unpredictable- and somewhat dysfunctional- Atlantic 10 Conference. There’s no denying that the loss hurts, but it certainly won’t determine whether the Billikens will sink or swim this upcoming season.

All that said, we wish C. J. Noland the best at his next stop- wherever that may end up being!