By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER producing an outstanding season for the Royals men’s basketball team at Queen’s University where he earned several individual awards, Bahamian guard Deyton Albury has decided to enter the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Division One Basketball Transfer Portal.

It was a decision that Albury thought long and hard about, but one that he feels will only enable him to achieve his ultimate goals, which is to play in the NCAA March Madness before he graduates from college next year, and to be able to increase his stock for the professional ranks.

The decision to enter the portal was made following the Royals’ 83-71 loss to Stetson in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday at the J. Ollie Edmunds Arena in DeLand, Florida.

Albury scored 14 points with six rebounds and a team-leading three assists for Queens, who ended up with a 20-12 record this season, including an 11-5 mark in the conference.

The junior guard, who exceeded double figures in 16-of-18 ASUN contests this year, said it was time to move on after he was named the Atlantic Sun Newcomer of the Year and Third Team All-Conference after averaging 17.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.7 assist per game.

“I want to find a better position for me to reach my end goal and to put myself in a better position to play in the (NCAA Mad Madness) Tournament and to take advantage of the opportunity to play professionally,” Albury told The Tribune.

“It was a difficult decision because I had already built up a relationship with my coaches and teammates, so it was sad to leave and to go into a new programme and building that relationship all over again. But basketball-wise, it wasn’t a bad decision.

“I felt I had a great season. During the season, I was getting a lot of calls from people advising me that I should enter the portal, but at the time, I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was just trying to focusing on my season.”

With the assistance from Jamaal Smith, the former head coach at Temple Christian Academy where Albury played in high school before he left for the United States to complete his high school eligibility, Albury said they were able to analyse the whole process together with his parents.

“At the end of the season, we put a list together and I had a lot of agents who have been hitting me up, just trying to help me with my next move,” Albury said. “So far, I’ve already had about 12 schools making a request.

“People around me have been telling me that my phone will be buzzing a lot because of the type of season that I had, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this crazy. The portal doesn’t officially open until Monday, but they have been getting a jump on things.”

Among the schools are Samford University, Sam Houston, Iona College, Bryant University, University of Loyola, Winthrop University, Northern Illinois, Fordham University, University of Akron, Marshall University and Indiana State.

“When I start filtering these teams based on what they have to offer, where they are in their conferences, I could easily cut down the list,” Albury said. “I don’t think it will be hard to decide.

“A lot of the D1 schools are still in their season, so they haven’t looked at the portal yet. If one of these schools crossed my path, I will consider them heavily.”

With his 22nd birthday coming on April 11th, Albury said he expects that he will be able to make his decision. But if it doesn’t happen then, he still has until May, when the portal closes, to decide.

“I don’t want to rush anything,” Albury said.

His father, Michael Albury, Sr, said all he and his wife, Geniece Albury, want is for his son to fulfil his dream.

“We’re going to support him in every way and whatever decision he makes,” said Albury, whose younger son, Michael Jr, is following Deyton’s footsteps playing in the US at Believe Prep Academy.

“He’s done extremely well with his decisions and I’m sure that he will make the right decision as to where he wants to play when the time comes. We will continue to support him no matter what.”

Looking back at his season at Queens, Albury said he exceeded all expectations.

“I don’t think people thought that I would be as effective as I was,” Albury said. “Basically, I doubled my performance from Juco, (junior college). I received a lot of individual awards. I worked hard for it.

“It felt good. I felt like I am a totally different person right now getting so much publicity and getting so much attention. This season was truly a tremendous one for me. I am so grateful to God for everything that happened to me.”

The sociology major

“I want to look at a school with a better programme, a programme that suits my play style and lets me be Deyton Albury” he said. “I just want to go where they have confidence in me to do my best.

“I want to find a coach that I can trust. I know that will be hard to determine in like a month, but these are the things I will be considering whenever I get ready to make my decision.”

Albury thanked all of the Bahamian people for the love and support they gave him so far and as he goes through the process, they will continue to support him in whatever decision he makes.

At the end of grade ten at Temple Christian Academy, Albury left for the United States where he went on to graduate from Sunrise Christian School in Bel Aire, Kansas where he was an honour student.

He then attended Believe Prep Academy where he was named MVP and Big Shots Prep Champion. He then enrolled at where he appeared in all 34 games, including 28 starts.

He averaged 10.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game and was named First Team Panhandle All-Conference and was ranked No. 56 in the 2023 JUCO Basketball Top 100 Player Rankings.

He also led the Indians to a pair of Panhandle Conference titles, two trips to the NJCAA Division 1 Tournament, and a national ranking as high as No.1 before he transferred to Queen’s last year.

Now he’s set for the NCAA transfer portal, which serves as an application database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions.

The transfer portal permits student athletes to place their name in an online database declaring their desire to transfer. Athletes enter the portal by informing their current school of their desire to transfer; the school then has two business days to enter the athlete’s name in the database.

Once an athlete’s name is entered in the database, coaches and staff from other schools are permitted to make contact with the athlete to inquire about their interest in visiting the campus and accepting a scholarship.