This portal season has left Pirate Nation nothing but scarred—but the latest news only further rubbed salt in those wounds.
After first announcing his intent to enter the transfer portal on April 3, 247Sports’ Dushawn London reported that Najai Hines has committed to UConn on Wednesday evening.
Hines, who reportedly took an official visit to UConn’s campus in Storrs, Connecticut, just yesterday, confirmed the move on his Instagram not long after with a post captioned “Next chapter: Storrs.”
A growing concern for those in Pirate Nation is that The Hall has been reduced to a “feeder program” in the NIL era. Hines becomes the second standout player to transfer a conference foe, joining Kadary Richmond, who transferred to St. John’s in 2024.
Hines’ move couldn’t come at a worse time for the program and fanbase. This week, SHU saw five players enter the transfer portal, three on Monday alone.
Left with just one returning player on the roster in sophomore guard Trey Parker, at this point, Pirate Nation shouldn’t hold their breath that anyone from last season’s team will remain.
Not all hope is gone, however; The Hall currently has two incoming players in freshman commit Darrien Moore as well as Simeon Wilcher, a junior combo guard and Plainfield, NJ native who announced his commitment to SHU from Texas on Monday.
Further, SHU reportedly hosted Will Sydnor for an official visit on Wednesday. A 6-foot-8 sophomore forward from Manhattan, Sydnor averaged 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 2024-2025. Similar to Hines, Sydnor later confirmed his visit with pictures posted to his Instagram on Wednesday, with him yet to commit anywhere yet..
Winning the MAAC Rookie of the Year honors that season, but sitting out this past season because of eligibility trouble, Sydnor last visited South Orange in 2023 before committing to Manhattan. Hopefully, this time around, Sydnor makes a different decision.
Missing just two of SHU’s 33 total games this season, Hines averaged 6.5 points on a team-best 60.2% from the field in 18 minutes per game, while doing most of his scoring in the low-post. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds per game, with his four double-doubles being the ninth-most in the BIG EAST this season.
Where Hines was most impressive, however, was on the defensive end as a shot-blocker: the 6-foot-10 center’s 2.2 blocks per game were the most in the conference and the 15th-most nationally, while his 69 total blocks were the third-most and 21st-most, respectively.
With UConn reworking its roster, Hines will likely serve as the replacement to Tarris Reed Jr., one of several seniors head coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies lost to graduation.
Although a dark day in South Orange, they say that “behind every dark cloud, there is a silver lining,” with head coach Shaheen Holloway being given yet another opportunity to prove his doubters wrong next season with potentially a brand new roster.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
