South Alabama basketball forward Tyler Shirley plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, Jaguars coach Richie Riley said Tuesday.

The 6-foot-7 Shirley played sparingly the last two seasons at South Alabama, averaging 8.4 minutes and 1.9 points in 34 games. A native of Mableton, Ga., he has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

“Tyler Shirley, he’s just a great kid,” Riley said during an appearance on Mobile’s SportsTalk 99.5 FM on Wednesday. “He’s just looking for more playing time. That’s kind of the nature of the beast, but he’s going to be a heck of a player somewhere.

“… I’ll root for him wherever he goes just like I do all our guys that leave here.”

Shirley, who has not publicly declared he’s entering the portal, is the second South Alabama player to leave the team since the end of the season. Forward Diante Smith, who sat out all of 2022-23 following the death of his mother, announced March 15 he will seek to play his final college season elsewhere.

Riley said guard Adam Sizemore remains undecided as to whether he will use his final season of eligibility with the Jaguars or embark on a coaching career. Riley has promised Sizemore, a popular former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship last season, a spot as a graduate assistant coach whenever his playing career ends.

“He’s going to be here either way,” Riley said. “He’ll either be a graduate assistant or he’ll be playing on the team. He’s still deciding. He might have a long, drawn-out decision like LeBron (James) did that year.

“He’s got a future in coaching; he’s hungry to coach. I told him ‘I want you to do whatever makes you happy. You’ll have a home here either way.’”

South Alabama lost four seniors off the 2022-23 team, which went 19-16 and reached the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game. Center Kevin Samuel (the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year) and guards Isaiah Moore (a first-team All-Sun Belt pick), Owen White and Greg Parham were all fifth-year seniors who have exhausted their eligibility.

The Jaguars signed three high school players in November, adding guards John Broom (Jacksonville, Ala.) and Marcus “Smurf” Millender (Clear Brook, Texas) and forward Ethan Kizer (Metamora, Ill.). Guard Samuel Tabe, who played the last four seasons at Division 2 Seton Hill (Pa.) University, committed to the Jaguars as a transfer over the weekend.

Five players from this year’s South Alabama team — starting guards Tyrell Jones and Judah Brown and backup forwards Marshall Kearing, Elijah Ormiston and Julian Margrave — are expected to return next season. Depending upon Sizemore’s decision, that leaves the Jaguars with either two or three scholarships to give in the current cycle.

“I’m deep into that portal,” Riley said. “… Watching a ton of film on these guys, talking to a lot of them, trying to stay organized. I feel like our staff does a good job of being organized and having a plan. You have to now, because we’re setting records every day with the amount of guys in the portal. It’s a ridiculous number.

“So you’ve got to sift through that and figure out who fits with you from a culture standpoint, and what we’re trying to do, and try to get the best players that we can that fit that mold. It’s not easy to do.”