Washington State Lands Oregon Guard Jamari Phillips in Major Spring Recruiting Haul

The Washington State men's basketball program just kept the transfer train rolling. The Cougars have signed Oregon transfer guard Jamari Phillips, bringing their spring haul to nine new additions. This is the kind of roster overhaul you see when a program needs to rebuild fast, and WSU is going all in.

Who Is Jamari Phillips?

Phillips is a 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard who spent two seasons with the Ducks. He appeared in 40 games total at Oregon, including 26 last season. In his final year there, he averaged 2.7 points in 11 minutes per game. His best outing came against UCLA when he scored nine points in 31 minutes of action.

This wasn't some random kid either. Phillips was a four-star prospect out of Dream City Christian in the Phoenix area for the class of 2024. He had offers from Kansas, Arizona, ASU, UCLA, USC, Louisville and others before landing at Oregon. Before that, he started his high school career at Modesto Christian in California, where he earned The Sacramento Bee's Player of the Year honors. He also played in 14 games as a true freshman at Oregon off the bench.

Building a New-Look Roster From Scratch

Phillips joins a massive group of transfers flooding into Pullman. UNLV forward Ladji Dembele, Northwestern forward Tyler Kropp, former Wake Forest guard Sebastian Akins, Providence transfer guard Jaylen Harrell, TCU transfer guard RJ Jones, Central Missouri transfer guard Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer forward Fraser Roxburgh and East Texas A&M transfer wing Ronnie Harrison are all part of the rebuild.

With Phillips on board, the Cougars now have 11 players locked in for 2026-27: the eight newcomers listed above, Eastern Washington transfer Casey Jones (who spent the last two years on a church mission), incoming freshman Brayden Kyman, and returners Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely.

That core is necessary. Washington State watched 12 players walk out the door. Ten headed to the transfer portal, including key contributors Ace Glass (Vanderbilt), Eemeli Yalaho (NC State), ND Okafor (Ole Miss), and Ri Vavers (Memphis). The program also lost point guard Adria Rodriguez, who signed a professional contract back in Spain, and Simon Hildebrandt, who exhausted his eligibility. Robinson and Blakely are the only two returners from last season's squad.

This is total reconstruction mode. Phillips and his fellow transfers need to gel fast if WSU wants to compete.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.