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On second thought, Ray J Dennis said Toledo was the best fit for him.
The former Oswego East basketball star, two-time Record Newspapers Player of the Year in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons, said Toledo recruited him out of high school when he ultimately chose Boise State.
Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk told the Toledo Blade they were real close to landing Dennis the first time, finishing second.
Dennis is now headed back east, after announcing by Twitter on Tuesday that he was transferring to the MAC school. Dennis had entered the NCAA’s transfer portal on March 30, five days after Boise State was eliminated by Memphis in the NIT quarterfinals. The NCAA earlier this year approved a long-awaited measure allowing players to transfer one time in their career and become immediately eligible.
“I put my name in the transfer portal, Toledo recruited me out of high school and they picked up where they left off,” Dennis said. “I really liked the situation that they had and the love that they had for me. The opportunity matches what I need. It seemed like a great fit.”
Kowalczyk learned that Dennis had entered the portal March 30, and told the Toledo Blade he waited until noon the next day to reach out. Toledo, which won the MAC regular season title this past season but was upset by Ohio in the MAC tournament semifinals, lost point guard and MAC Player of the Year Marreon Jackson to transfer in March. Jackson averaged 18.1 points and 5.9 assists last season for the 21-9 Rockets, who had their fifth 20-win season in eight years.
“Their starting point guard left, he did a grand transfer, and that spot was open. I have to go in and compete for it,” Dennis said. “The opportunity is there. They have a lot of younger guards, great bigs, experience, a lot of guys coming back to the team.”
Dennis, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, started 25 of the Broncos’ 28 games last season and averaged 8.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and a team-best 2.9 assists per game. He also grabbed a team-high 34 steals. He started 15 of 32 games as a freshman and averaged 4.1 points in 17.5 minutes.
“We’re extremely excited to have Ray J join our family,” Kowalczyk said in a statement. “We recruited Ray J extremely hard three years ago and when he went into the transfer portal, he quickly became our No. 1 priority. He can impact our program immediately in a lot of ways. He plays with toughness on the defensive end, he has proven he can run a winning basketball team and he can score at a high level.”
Boise State appeared to be well-positioned for most of the season for its first NCAA bid since 2015, but struggled down the stretch, lost to Nevada in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament and ended up with its third NIT appearance in five years.
“I loved Boise, I loved all the coaches, loved my teammates – it just wasn’t the right fit anymore,” Dennis said. “That’s it right there. I still have love for them. I will always be a Bronco.”
Toledo is less than a five-hour drive from Oswego, much closer than Boise, but Dennis said location did not necessarily figure into his decision-making process.
“It didn’t really matter, it was all about the best fit,” Dennis said.
Toledo last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1980, and Dennis, after getting so close this past season with Boise State, is eager to try to help the Rockets get back to the Big Dance. The Rockets have done well recruiting Chicago’s western suburbs. Former Geneva star Nate Navigato played at Toledo through 2019, and ex-Joliet West guard Jamere Hill is coming off his freshman season with the Rockets.
“I’m big on winning. I want to help lead them to a MAC championship and make some noise in the NCAA Tournament,” Dennis said. “It definitely fueled my fire that we didn’t make it at Boise. I not only want to get to the tournament, I want to make some noise.”