Western Kentucky senior guard Don McHenry (2) shoots a three-pointer over FIU senior forward Dante Wilcox (12) in the Tops’ 76-67 win over the Panthers at E. A. Diddle Arena on Thursday, March 6, 2025. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS

Two key contributors to the Western Kentucky men’s basketball senior guards have officially transferred with Don McHenry headed to Utah and Braxton Bayless committing with Arkansas-Little Rock.

Both entered the transfer portal when it opened about a month ago and join Julius Thedford as players who have transferred since the end of the season. They both came to WKU after previously playing for head coach Hank Plona at Indian Hills Community College.

McHenry and Bayless both gained an extra year of eligibility due to the NCAA’s decision to approve an extra year for previous JUCO athletes who had exhausted their eligibility after the 2024-25 season – a move made in response to Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, another former JUCO player, winning a court injunction to play one more as his case that junior-college years should not count toward NCAA Division I eligibility proceeds.

McHenry, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Milwaukee, led the team in scoring two straight seasons. As a junior in the 2023-24 season, McHenry started all 34 games for the Hilltoppers and averaged team-best 15.1 points per game – fourth-best in Conference USA. McHenry was a All-CUSA first-team selection after that season that ended with a league tournament championship, followed by a loss to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Seen as a vital part of a largely intact roster from that CUSA tournament championship squad heading into last season, he again led the way by averaging 17 points per game – fifth-best in CUSA – and posted double figures scoring in 15 straight outings to close the regular season and in 27-of-32 games on the season. McHenry accounted for 20-plus points in 13 total contests for the year.

However under first year coach Hank Plona a string of injuries derailed the Tops – the season-ending losses of forward Babacar Faye and Thedford being the most damaging – as WKU finished 17-15 and 8-10 in CUSA before the early postseason exit.

Bayless, a 6-foot-2 graduate guard transferred to WKU from Niagara, played just one season for the Hilltoppers. He played in 32 games with 17 starts. He averaged 7.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 22.5 minutes per contest. Bayless led the team in assists with 68 total for the season and finished with a team-high 3-point percentage at 43.4%.

A total of seven players from last year’s roster entered the transfer portal. forward Babacar Faye, guard Enoch Kalambay, forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. and forward/center Fallou Diagne are the remaining players in the portal.

Coupled with the graduation losses of guards Khristian Lander, Jalen Jackson and Tyler Olden, the Tops must replace nearly 90% of the scoring off a squad that averaged 74.8 points per game this season.

Still on the roster from this past season’s squad who saw game action are guards Jack Edelen (2.9 points per game) and Jaylen Dorsey (0.7 points), plus forwards Blaise Keita (2.5 points) and LeeRoy Odiahi (1.9 points).

Guards Teagan Moore and Terrion Murdix also remain after both missed the entire season due to injury, along with true freshman guard Kade Unseld. Guard Cade Stinnett, a Bowling Green native who transferred from Centre College, also spent this past season with the program as a redshirt.

Six players have been added from the transfer portal – Evansville guard Cam Haffner, McNeese State forward Bryant Selebangue, North Texas forward Grant Newell, Western Illinois guard Ryan Myers, LSU forward/center Noah Boyde and Stonehill forward Louie Semona – and the Tops added incoming freshmen shooting guard Armelo Boone (Woodford County) and forward Lawson Rice (Butler County) during the early signing period.