Madeline Leavitt
Sports Editor
Novak Topalovic announced via Twitter last week that he would be leaving the ISU men’s basketball team after the school year concluded.
Topalovic will be attending grad school and finishing his last year of eligibility elsewhere. As of when this was written, he has not yet decided where he will be attending.
Jeff Goodman, a college basketball writer for ESPN tweeted that a Pac-12 school would be a likely destination for the 7-foot center. Madison Guernsey of the Idaho State Journal also tweeted that Topalovic said he has received calls from a number of Pac-12 schools.
Also leaving the program is Jacob McCord, a junior post and Jay Collins, an assistant coach under Bill Evans who will be entering his seventh season at the helm next season.
“I want to thank everyone who has influenced my life at Idaho State University in the past four years,” Topalovic wrote on Twitter. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help and support, it has meant the world to me through this journey. Pocatello, thank you for your incredible memories and friendships. I will miss you all.”
Topalovic had four seasons with the Bengals. He redshirted the 2014-15 season, appeared in all 31 games in the 2015-16 season and played and started in all 32 games in the 2016-17 season.
In his final season with the Bengals, he averaged 27.1 minutes, 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
McCord played 18 games for ISU last season and averaged 7.7 minutes, 3.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. He resided from Big Bend Community College where he was named the 2017 NWAC Player of the Year prior to signing with ISU.
Collins was in his sixth season as assistant coach. Prior to that he coached two years at Northern Arizona.
Topalovic’s departure is the latest in a trend that sees good players from smaller schools leaving for bigger schools after graduation. Many have one year of eligibility left, but do not have to sit out a season per NCAA rules. On March 29, News Sentinel reported that Dartmouth forward Evan Boudreaux was transferring to Purdue under similar circumstances to Topalovic.
According to the NCAA, the number of graduate transfers has tripled from 2011-2016 and 1.9 percent of current players become graduate transfers.
With Toplovic’s departure, Blake Truman and Callum Kimberley will most likely take over the center position.
ISU also has a verbal agreement from Preston High School forward Brayden Parker, who is the two-time reigning 4A high school Player of the Year in Idaho. His team has won the last three 4A state championships.
