Arizona's former 4-star center enters transfer portal
03/31/2025 07:59 PM
Fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance in the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the Arizona Wildcats have lost another player to the transfer portal.
Former four-star recruit and Wildcats forward Henri Veesaar is in the portal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
Veesaar averaged 9.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for Arizona in the university’s inaugural season in the Big 12. The numbers might not blow anyone away, but the sophomore from Estonia took a major jump from his freshman to sophomore seasons. His minutes per game nearly tripled from just over seven to nearly 21 in 2024-25. His scoring and rebounding increased by more than three times.
Veesaar had 13 points, six rebounds and a block in the Wildcats’ Sweet 16 loss to Final Four-bound Duke on Thursday. After the game, he talked up his teammates and the Arizona experience, making the decision to enter the portal at least somewhat surprising.
“All those moments over the season, just bonding with the team and just spending time together,” he recalled when asked about his favorite memories from the season. “But I feel like for me especially as a part of the team, like, after the game at UCLA after we lost, we just really came together as a team and we locked in for the rest of the year.”
Arizona’s Henri Veesaar joins 2 other Wildcats in college basketball transfer portal
In the days since Arizona’s season ended, Veesaar isn’t the only player to enter the portal. Most notably, guard KJ Lewis has put his name in after averaging 10.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season.
Like Veesaar, Lewis is also a former four-star prospect who took a step forward in year two, even working his way into the starting lineup for a half-dozen games.
Center Emmanuel Stephen also put his name into the portal. Stephen was a freshman in 2024-25 and played sparingly, scoring 1.3 points and grabbing 1.3 rebounds per game in a shade under three minutes.
But it’s not all bad news for the Wildcats. In addition to whatever head coach Tommy Lloyd pulls in from the portal, Arizona also has a promising recruiting class coming in, led by Koa Peat, ranked ninth in the country by ESPN. Arizona also has commitments from top-100 forward Dwayne Aristode and four-star Bryce James, who happens to be LeBron’s son.
They are also in the mix for McDonald’s All-American Brayden Burries, who has yet to commit, but is ranked 11th in his class.
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