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Days after scoring 51 points in North Dakota men's basketball's Summit League Tournament game against South Dakota State, Fighting Hawks guard Treysen Eaglestaff has entered the transfer portal. Jerry Tipton was first to report the news.
Eaglestaff also plans to go through the NBA Draft process this offseason before deciding if he wants to return to college, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
A junior, Eaglestaff has one year of eligibility remaining. He averaged 18.9 points per game this season and had a penchant for big performances. In addition to his postseason outburst last week, Eaglestaff had a 40-point game against Alabama in December and scored 31 against Utah Valley the month before. His 40 points and eight made threes against the Crimson Tide are both highs for an Alabama opponent this season.
His 51-point game was the most points scored by a Division I player this season and was the fourth-most ever in a conference tournament game.
Despite Eaglestaff's heroics, North Dakota's season is now over. The day after he led them to an 85-69 win over the Jackrabbits, the Fighting Hawks lost to Division I newcomer St. Thomas by the exact same score. Eaglestaff scored only six points in that game and committed seven turnovers.
Inside Treysen Eaglestaff's historic conference tournament game for North Dakota men's basketball
Eaglestaff's North Dakota career may have come to an end, but the Bismark native went out with one of the greatest individual performances in Summit League history.
His 51 points came on eight made threes, 7-10 shooting from inside the arc and 13-17 shooting from the line. He also had four rebounds, four assists, a block and two steals. It helped lift the Fighting Hawks to a win over a team that beat them by 36 in January.
“The thing you don't understand about Trey is his heart's as big as this gym,” North Dakota head coach Paul Sather said after the game. “As good a player as he is, he's a better young man.”
Sather also perhaps hinted at the transfer news before the tournament, saying he was looking forward to coaching Eaglestaff for a couple more games, according to the Grand Forks Herald.
As for Eaglestaff, he called the South Dakota State game “probably my favorite game of all-time.”
“That 51 … I just want to give credit to the coaching staff,” he told the Herald. “They've been with me since day one, 16 years old with my first offer. But in the game, I just played basketball. I didn't worry about all the other stuff going on. A good win. Good team win. We stayed down and did what we needed to do.”
