Kansas State guard Dai Dai Ames will enter the transfer portal

Kansas State guard Dai Dai Ames will enter the transfer portal, according to multiple reports. Ames will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Ames started 16 games as a true freshman, including the final 12 games of the season. He averaged 5.2 points (35.3% FG/32.9% 3PT/69.8% FT), 2.0 assists, and 1.1 rebounds per game, serving as a second guard next to Tylor Perry.

In the first round of the NIT, Ames scored a career-high 16 points and added five assists in 33 minutes. Although the Wildcats lost, the game provided reason to believe that Ames would continue to develop and earn a spot in the starting lineup.

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However, the Wildcats began to pursue other guards through the portal, including point guards Michigan's Dug McDaniel and UI-Chicago's CJ Jones. The coaching staff also added Villanova's Brendan Hausen, though he's not a point guard.

The staff has also pursued other guards, including Arkansas' Khalif Battle, though he would have been tall enough to play alongside Ames.

A four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, Ames joined the Wildcats over offers from Illinois, LSU, Michigan State, Nebraska, and others. He was ranked as the No. 66 player and the No. 19 point guard.

Ames was one of three players in K-State's 2023 class, signing alongside Macaleab Rich and RJ Jones. Ames and Jones have since entered the transfer portal, leaving Rich as the only player remaining from the class.