By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Star Baylor freshman Robert O. Wright III entered the transfer portal Monday, per multiple reports. The Big 12 All-Freshman Team honoree averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists per game in his lone season with the Bears.
Wright was a revelation in Waco, wasting no time in taking the starting point guard role from veteran Duke transfer Jeremy Roach. The Philadelphia native looked poised from the jump, seasoned by high-level prep experience at Montverde (FL) Academy and on the AAU circuit. He leveraged his increased role to become the Big 12’s second-leading freshman scorer, only trailing teammate VJ Edgecombe.
The point guard seemed destined to become the Bears’ unquestioned leader in 2025-26. Instead, weeks after the earliest departures left their schools, Wright entered the transfer portal. The decision came as a “surprise” to Baylor’s coaching staff, per ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, who reported the Bears turned down “multiple elite players with the assumption that Wright had planned to stay.”
Wright was well-positioned to become Baylor’s cornerstone. Only one other rostered player, injured big man Josh Ojianwuna, is expected to be back in the fall. Instead, the program will be left scrambling to fill even more slots on a depleted roster.
Ojianwuna and mid-season walk-on transfer Cameron Carr, a former Tennessee guard who spent the season on the practice squad, should fill two spots. Five-star freshman Tounde Yessoufou will fill another. Everything else is up for grabs in the transfer portal.
The most obvious player to fill in the void left by Wright is Wyoming transfer guard Obi Agbim. The Cowboys’ only double-digit scorer, Agbim averaged 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game on 46.9/43.7/78.5 shooting splits. He earned Mountain West Newcomer of the Year and Third Team All-Conference honors.
Another pair of top transfer portal additions, Oregon State forward Michael Rataj (16.9 points, 7.2 rebounds) and Omaha guard JJ White (13.7 points, 4.0 assists), are slated to play big roles. Who fills out the rest of the roster, though, is yet to be determined.
“Offensively, playing off of Rob, playing off of Obi, those things are going to flourish,” White said Friday, before Wright’s announcement. “I’ve studied Rob. I really like his game. I think we’ll play off each other really well.”
