Clemson Basketball Forward Jake Wahlin Enters Transfer Portal After One Season
Jake Wahlin is in the portal. Third school in four years for the 6-10 forward out of Provo, Utah, who started 29 of 35 games at Clemson this season and has one year of eligibility left.
The numbers tell you why.
At Utah last year, Wahlin shot 46.7% from the field, 35.1% from three, averaged 6.3 and 4.9. Solid sophomore starter on a Big 12 roster. Then he gets to Clemson and it’s 40.3 from the field, 34.0 from deep, fewer minutes, fewer touches, and you could see it wearing on him as the year went on. The confidence thing. Shooters know. When it’s not there, nothing looks right, the release gets quick, the feet aren’t set. By February and March the three-ball wasn’t even close some nights.
Goose eggs in eight games. Eight. Including four of his last seven. The NCAA Tournament loss to Iowa was the final one, 0-for-4 shooting in 16 minutes, season over, and that was probably the moment the portal decision got made for him. Three points or fewer in his last six. Hard to come back from a finish like that.
Look, there were good nights. Fourteen points with four threes against Morehead State in the second week of the season, back when everything felt possible. Put up 13 and eight boards at Georgia Tech in January, and that game felt like the version of Wahlin that Brownell recruited. Cal got 11 from him. Alabama got 11. But once ACC play thickened up those games just… stopped happening.
He grabbed 136 rebounds on the year, 29 offensive, earned CSC Academic All-District alongside Blake Davidson. Best all-around game was probably the ACC Tournament win at North Carolina on March 12. Two blocks, two steals, all over the floor in 23 minutes. Didn’t score much but it didn’t matter.
Wahlin’s an interesting portal name. Timpview High School, consensus three-star, No. 2 prospect in Utah coming out of high school. Did a two-year LDS mission in Lithuania before college. Speaks Lithuanian. Turns 23 before next season tips off, so whoever picks him up gets an older, experienced forward who can space the floor when the shot’s falling. The question is whether a new program and a fresh start can get it falling again.
Opens a spot on Brownell’s roster. Clemson went 25-10 with a Tournament bid. More movement is coming.
