New Mexico's Donovan Dent, Mountain West Scoring Champ, Hits Transfer Portal

The Lobos were eliminated from the NCAA tournament Sunday.
Donovan Dent shoots against Michigan State in the NCAA tournament.
Donovan Dent shoots against Michigan State in the NCAA tournament. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
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Two days after being eliminated from the NCAA men's tournament, New Mexico appears to have lost its leading scorer.

Lobos guard Donovan Dent has entered the transfer portal, he told Joe Tipton of On3 Tuesday afternoon. Per Tipton, Dent will consider returning to New Mexico.

Dent averaged 20.4 points per game in 2025 to lead the Mountain West; he was named the conference's Player of the Year and made his second straight All-Mountain West team. He scored 21 points in the Lobos' NCAA tournament win over Marquette and 14 points in their loss to Michigan State.

He played his high school basketball in California, and was named Mr. Basketball in the state in 2022.

New Mexico—led by coach Richard Pitino—posted its highest winning percentage since 2014 this season.

As is the case for many mid-majors (and no small number of high-majors) that punch above their weight, keeping their squad together will be a challenge for the Lobos this offseason.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .