Magoon Gwath is back in the transfer portal.
The 7-foot forward submitted his name a year ago, then withdrew a week later and dramatically returned to San Diego State’s basketball team on April Fool’s Day.
This time, though, it feels different. It feels more permanent.
His imminent departure was the biggest news on the eve of the portal’s official opening, although, as coach Brian Dutcher likes to say, it’s really been open for weeks and every player is in it.
SDSU basketball roster tracker: A real-time look at comings and goings for 2026-27
Also announcing his intention to transfer was starting center Miles Heide, an unsurprising move after the 6-9 junior’s agency tweeted two weeks ago that he was exploring “opportunities” for his final season of eligibility. A bigger surprise is Pharaoh Compton, Heide’s backup who is expected to enter the portal as well.
That makes at least five players headed to the transfer market: Gwath, Heide, Compton, Miles Byrd and BJ Davis.
That number could grow to six depending on the status of sophomore guard Taj DeGourville, the lone remaining undecided player as of Monday night.
It leaves just six players on the roster and only one over 6-6, and that’s little-used 7-1 redshirt freshman Thokbor Majak. The Aztecs would need to find two centers and a power forward in the portal or, possibly, from European pro leagues.
For Gwath, the calculus was always going to be what the Aztecs could offer him versus what sort of financial risk another program might take for an injury-plagued player with big upside – the discounted known versus the lucrative unknown.
“All players want to know what their value is on the open market,” Dutcher said recently, commenting on the situation in general and no specific player. “Then they weigh whether they value their experience maybe more than a better financial situation somewhere else.
“That’s what it is, a business decision. That’s all it is. If their value is significantly higher somewhere else, then they have a decision to make.”
Part of Gwath’s decision may be his failing body and the realization that he might need to cash in now with a pro career not guaranteed. And the market for the scarce quantity of skilled 7-footers, especially after seeing a Final Four filled with them, is soaring.
Gwath arrived at SDSU three summers ago and was quickly found to have issues in both ankles, one of which required major reconstructive surgery that wiped out his first season. He developed into the Mountain West freshman and defensive player of the year before injuring his right knee late in the season that led to April surgery.
He was SDSU’s highest-paid player in 2025-26, so much that the program’s fundraisers are believed to have dipped into the 2026-27 kitty to keep him, but he spent much of it hobbled, first while still recovering from the surgery, then from a hip problem that cost him six games in the middle of the conference schedule.
He started just 16 games, averaging 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds. That’s down from when he was at his best, a seven-game stretch in early 2025 when he averaged 13.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks while shooting 44.4% from 3.
“He has to stay healthy,” Dutcher said last month. “He has to continue to put his work in, and he’ll have a chance to reach his potential. And that’s all you ever want, to reach your potential, but you have to be healthy to do that.
“We have to get him in the gym and get the work ethic where he can start growing his game again, and you can’t do that unless you’re healthy. We’ll see where that leads in his future, either at San Diego State or somewhere else.”
We got our answer Monday afternoon.
Heide’s agency clarified his status a few hours earlier, from merely exploring options to entering the portal. He started 31 games and showed flashes but ultimately averaged just 5.6 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 51% from the line.
Compton, his backup, was considered a possibility to stay, but several sources indicated he intends to enter the portal as well. He struggled to stay out of foul trouble (7.0 per 40 minutes) and saw his already limited playing time further reduced late in the season. With Heide out with a broken finger for the Mountain West championship game, Compton still got only 9½ minutes.
With three outgoing seniors, five expected portal departures and only one incoming freshman (6-6 wing Zach White), that leaves at least seven open spots for next season, although Dutcher has often carried 12 scholarship players instead of the traditional 13.
The Aztecs are known to be pursing at least one European player, with Dutcher saying: “I have to recruit a rebounder. I have to get someone that can go get the ball.” Seven of SDSU’s 11 losses this season came against teams that started a post from Europe, which in many cases offers better value than the increasingly bloated market for American bigs.
Guards are more plentiful — and relatively cheaper — in the transfer portal, and the Aztecs have a solid 1-2 backcourt duo of freshman Elzie Harrington and redshirt junior Latrell Davis, both of whom are expected to stay. Another likely returnee is 6-6 freshman forward Tae Simmons, who worked his way from the third-string power forward to a starter in the Mountain West Tournament.
The next step is filling the holes in the roster with a relatively modest payroll that was $2.7 million last season, three or four times less than most power conference programs. On the wish list: two centers, a power forward, a wing and a point guard.
“I like where we’re at,” Dutcher said last week as he headed for the Final Four in Indianapolis. “We’ll see if it all comes together.”