The transfer portal has changed college athletics forever. While fans and pundits alike debate the pros and cons of the portal's explosion in popularity, one thing is for certain, the days of old are gone from college athletics and teams need to learn how to navigate this new landscape. The DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team has benefitted from this in that they've picked up several key players in the transfer portal this offseason. They got surprising news this week though. DePaul will be losing sophomore guard Zion Cruz who will enter the transfer portal ahead of the 2023-24 college basketball season as per 24/7 High School Hoops.

Zion Cruz spent only one season at DePaul before making the decision to enter the transfer portal. He was a former four-star recruit who played for Kanye West's Donda Academy during his senior year in high school before the program ultimately was closed down.

Last season, Cruz came off the bench in 27 games for the Blue Demons at a little under 11 minutes per game. He averaged 2.4 points per game, 1.1 rebounds and 0.2 assists with splits of 33.3 percent shooting from the field, 28 percent shooting from the three-point line and 63.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Cruz had committed to DePaul over offers from other high major schools such as Auburn, Oregon, Alabama, Arizona State, Creighton, Florida State, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Ohio State, Rutgers, South Carolina, St. John's, Syracuse and Xavier.

Cruz is a talented, young guard who should be able to find his way on a college roster for this upcoming season.