Symir Torrence Will Transfer

Well, we’re having a week, aren’t we?

On Sunday, Marquette men’s basketball fans got to experience the fourth Selection Sunday under the guidance of head coach Steve Wojciechowski where we did not hear Greg Gumbel say Marquette live on CBS.

On Monday, news broke that Albany will be hiring Marquette associate head coach Dwayne Killings as their next head coach.

On Tuesday, just a little while ago, Marquette sophomore guard Symir Torrence took to Twitter to announce that he will be transferring.

Torrence appeared in 52 games for Marquette in two seasons, missing just two games as a freshman and three as a sophomore. He started in the first three games of the 2020-21 season before being replaced in the lineup for the rest of the season by D.J. Carton. His minutes were never consistent for anything resembling regular stretches, going from multiple double digit games to multiple single digit games and then back again, but the Syracuse native ended up averaging 11.0 minutes a game as a freshman and 13.0 as a sophomore. He posted career bests as a sophomore of 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, and was just slightly down in the assists department from 1.6 to 1.5 this past year.

While you can handwave some issues from his freshman year for purely freshman reasons, the fact of the matter is that Torrence had major flaws when he did get on the floor for Marquette. While his passing ability was unquestionable, he turned the ball over too much. His 30.9% freshman year rate dropped to just 24.9% as a sophomore, and for a team that already has turnover problems, that’s not helpful.

To make matters worse for him and for the team, Torrence’s shooting touch disappeared in the offseason. He had shooting splits of 41% overall, 38% behind the arc, and 73% from the free throw line. This season? 31%, 14%, and 67%. No, seriously, 13.9% from behind the arc, a very not good 5-for-36. With Torrence’s regular playing time already in question, the additions of Kam Jones and Stevie Mitchell to the roster for 2021-22 were more likely to shove Torrence down the depth chart than anything else.

And so on he goes, and we wish him nothing but the best at wherever he ends up.

UPDATE [3/21/21]: Marquette has updated the roster page following the dismissal of Steve Wojciechowski as head coach, and Symir Torrence is not on the 2021-22 roster.

On goes Symir, and on goes Marquette basketball, and on goes this article. To the newly updated scholarship chart!

With Torrence gone, that leaves Marquette with either two or three scholarships open for the 2021-22 season. Tommy Gardiner’s status is up in the air after his season ending knee injury this past year, and given that he was a walk-on before being elevated, it’s hard to say what he’ll be doing next. If he leaves, it’s three open spots and 10 guys on scholarship, if he stays on scholarship, it’s two open spots with eight guys returning and three new players coming in.

Marquette is already hip deep in the incoming transfer waters, so I’m sure we’ll be updating this chart before much longer.