Las Vegas • Junior point guard Jahshire Hardnett, who missed a significant chunk of the 2018-19 season with a hand injury, announced on social media Monday that he is leaving the BYU basketball program as a graduate transfer.
“I have decided to cut ties with the basketball program this semester [and] graduate this spring and become a [graduate transfer],” Hardnett wrote on his Twitter account. “I am now on the transfer portal and available to have contact with coaches from other universities.”
Hardnett thanked his BYU teammates and coaches and said the past two years in the program “have been amazing” for his career and personal life.
“I’ve met some amazing people," he wrote, “and gained another group of brothers/friends.”
In two seasons at BYU after transferring from Chipola (Fla.) College, the native of Gulfport, Miss., averaged 7.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He began his college career at Fordham but never played and called it his redshirt year.
Hardnett, who hopes to become the first member of his family to earn a college degree, lost his starting spot to McKay Cannon when the West Coast Conference season began in early January, but still scored 17 points in a 90-87 win at Pacific on Jan. 3.
He played just five minutes in the next game, at Saint Mary’s, and was reported to have quit the team the subsequent week. BYU coach Dave Rose dismissed that report a few days later, and Hardnett was with the team the next game but did not play because of a reported bruised left hand.
He returned briefly, but reinjured his hand and has not played since an 83-48 win over Portland on Feb. 7 when he scored two points in 16 minutes.
