High-scoring transfer portal guard commits to Clemson basketball team
Clemson has added perhaps its final transfer piece.
And it’s a big one.
Former Middle Tennessee State guard Jestin Porter has committed to coach Brad Brownell and the Tigers, he announced via X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. He is the team’s sixth transfer portal addition of the offseason.
Other schools Porter had been considered included Ole Miss and Missouri from the SEC, Maryland, Arizona State and Seton Hall, per TigerIllustrated.com.
Porter averaged 15 points per game last year for the Blue Raiders and gives Clemson a high-scoring option in the backcourt alongside Dillon Hunter and transfer Efram “Butta” Johnson. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
The Houston native was a second team All-CUSA pick in 2024-25 after leading MTSU (22-12) in points per game, minutes per game, 3-pointers made and free throw percentage. Porter became only the 16th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points in three seasons or fewer.
He shot a career-high 36.4% on threes and made 84 from deep, the third most in MTSU single-season history. Porter had 25 games of 10-plus points and 10 games of 20-plus points and shot 82% on free throws.
247 Sports ranks Porter as the No. 26 guard recruit in the portal and No. 156 overall recruit. On3 Sports has him as the No. 23 combo guard in the portal.
Porter is likely the final puzzle piece for Brownell and company as Clemson finalizes a nearly 100% roster turnover from last season’s team that set a school record with 27 wins and was an NCAA Tournament 5 seed.
As things currently stand, 10 of the 13 players on next year’s roster will be newcomers. And since two of Clemson’s three returners redshirted last year, the Tigers return just one player (Hunter) who’s played a single minute for the team.
Porter addresses a scoring need for Clemson, which has already beefed up its frontcourt with a number of solid additions but needed another shot creator.
Clemson basketball 2025 roster outlook
Among scholarship players
- Out of eligibility (2): G Chase Hunter, F Viktor Lakhin
- In the transfer portal (8): G Del Jones (Radford), F Asa Thomas (Furman), F Chauncey Wiggins (Florida State), G Jake Heidbreder, C Christian Reeves (Charleston), G Jaeden Zackery*, F Ian Schieffelin*, F Myles Foster*
- Transferring in (6): F Nick Davidson (Nevada), F Carter Welling (Utah Valley), F RJ Godfrey (Georgia), G Efrem Johnson (UAB), F Jake Wahlin (Utah), G Jestin Porter (Middle Tennessee State)
- Returning to team (3): G Dillon Hunter, G Ace Buckner, F Dallas Thomas
- Incoming freshmen (4): G Zac Foster, F Chase Thompson, C Trent Steinour, F Blake Davidson
* Zackery, Schieffelin and Foster have all exhausted their current college eligibility and were expected to move on from Clemson. They’ve proactively entered the portal, though, in order to keep their options open for a potential fifth year
This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM.
