Arizona State Basketball Adds Talented Guard Transfer

Bobby Hurley and the Arizona State Sun Devils added a nice piece through the transfer portal on Wednesday, with the addition of Idaho State guard Jake O’Neil.

The problem rests when discussing O’Neil’s eligibility, as the Idaho native needs a waiver approved by the NCAA to play this season.

Last season with the Bengals, O’Neil was named a member of the All-Conference Defensive Team and an All-Conference Honorable Mention, averaging 13.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and two assists per game. He connected on 46.1% of his shots from the field, 31.6% from three, and 66.7% from the free-throw line.

To say that O’Neil’s path to Arizona State is interesting is a bit of an understatement, as he’s been in college since 2019. The Idaho native started his career as a golfer at Boise State. O’Neil redshirted in 2019-2020, followed by a decision to transfer to College of Idaho where he golfed in 2020-21, before transitioning to the basketball team that season.

O’Neil played four seasons at College of Idaho, seeing action in more than 120 games. He then joined Idaho State, where he played and started all 30 games.

The transfer portal officially opened on Monday, March 24, 2025. According to NCAA data, 1,296 FBS basketball players entered the transfer portal in the 2023-24 school year, with 864 (66.7%) undergraduates and 432 (33.3%) graduate transfers. Of the entrants, 70% reported that they enrolled in another school, 6% withdrew their names from the portal, and 23% are still active, transferred to a non-NCAA school, or left their sport.

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