March Madness highlights the upside of college basketball, while the transfer portal combat shows the challenging side, as six Fort Lewis College men’s basketball players are looking for new opportunities.
Redshirt sophomore Stewart Erhart, Jaxon Smith, freshmen Trey Curry, Ty Yoder, Tate Ziemkiewicz and junior Yorgio Golesis all have entered the transfer portal after spending the 2025-2026 season with the Skyhawks. The transfer portal closes on April 21. Players don’t have to choose their schools by then, but they have to be in the portal.
FLC’s six players in the portal accounted for 61% of the Skyhawks scoring, 36% of the team’s rebounding and 57% of the team’s assists. The Skyhawks finished the season 18-11 overall, 15-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and made it to the RMAC tournament semifinals, just missing out on the NCAA Tournament. After starting RMAC play 12-0, FLC’s injuries caught up to it as it finished conference play 3-5 to finish the regular season.
“Even though guys leave and it’s the new era we live in with the portal, the important piece is to be thankful for the players that were here and gave what they gave in the time they were here … It's not easy winning games, and you've got to have guys that buy in and buy in quickly,” FLC head coach Jordan Mast said. “I want to thank all of them for … how they helped keep Fort Lewis as one of the top teams in the RMAC.”
Erhart is the biggest loss after three years in the program. He led the team with 17.9 points per game on 45% shooting from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 85% from the free-throw line. Erhart also averaged 4.4 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists per game.
The Alaska native more than doubled his scoring from his redshirt freshman year, taking on the primary creator role for an FLC offense that was devastated by injury. He had a great year shooting the ball and getting inside.
However, Erhart really stood out on the defensive side of the ball in FLC’s pressing system, with an incredible sixth sense of when to strip the ball and get into passing lanes. He led Division II with 3.7 steals per game.
Combine the offense and defense and Erhart won the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-RMAC. At his best, Erhart was putting up stat lines like he did in the RMAC tournament semifinals against top-seeded Black Hills State, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine steals.
Expect Erhart to land at a low-level Division I school with his frame and strength a big concern at the Division I-level.
Smith transferred down to Division II after not getting much playing time at Division I Utah State in 2024-2025. He came to FLC with the reputation as a shooter, and he delivered, finishing second on the team with 14.6 PPG on 37% shooting from the field, 37% from 3-point range, and he was one of the best free-throw shooters in Division II at 94%. Smith’s 76 3-pointers this season are double any other Skyhawk made.
The Utah native’s landing spot will be interesting to track since he didn’t shoot very well inside the arc or play make at a high level.
Golesis only played 11 games before tearing his ACL against St. Mary’s on Dec. 17. He was FLC’s lead playmaker with a great ability to get to the rim, averaging 8.9 PPG and 4.2 APG. Golesis needs a lot of work on his outside shot.
Curry was a unique case this season, joining the Skyhawks mid-season from the JUCO level after the Skyhawks lost Golesis. He was the backup point guard for Erhart, doing a good job of getting to the rim. Like Golesis, Curry struggled to shoot from the outside. He averaged 5.2 PPG in 15.2 minutes per game in 18 games.
Ziemkiewicz was a reliable role player for the Skyhawks with good size at 6-foot-5-inches on the wing. Ziemkiewicz is a hard worker who showed he can make an open 3-pointer. He averaged 3.0 PPG in 16 MPG.
Yoder was a depth piece who redshirted with only eight games of action.
While these all are notable losses, the cupboard isn’t bare for Mast. He’s expecting Donald Bangham Jr., Jude Tapia, Garrett Barger, Nathan Penney, Daniel Steverson, Noah Hellem and Muhammed Kora back. Many of those names aren’t super familiar with Skyhawks fans because they were out with injury or redshirting this year.
A big area of focus in the transfer portal for Mast will have to be the frontcourt after graduating Cassius Carmichael, Keither Florence, Chuol Deng and Massal Diouf.
Going into Year 1, Mast said the portal was total guesswork for him since he got the job late and had to fill a roster. Going into Year 2, Mast was more intentional with his portal class, but he didn’t see it come to fruition due to injuries.
“I’m going to find guys that can really fit our defensive versatility,” Mast said about his third offseason. “We’re looking for guys … who can play the two to the four, even the five if we go small, but can rotate really well with how often we trap and get after it. On the offensive end … we want to get more of a versatile lineup that everyone’s interchangeable.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
