South Alabama basketball adds Canadian forward through transfer portal

South Alabama basketball on Thursday added its fourth transfer portal commitment, from forward Adam Olsen of the University of British Columbia in Canada.

The 6-foot-7 Olsen averaged 14.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game at UBC in 2024-25. The Surrey, B.C., native has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

“Adam is a major addition to our program,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said. “He’s a three-level scorer and a tremendous weapon offensively. His feel for the game and basketball IQ blew us away in the recruiting process. Pumped to have him with us, and I can’t wait to watch him be great here.”

Olsen is the fourth transfer portal addition for the Jaguars in the current cycle, along with fellow forward Peyton Law (Freed-Hardeman) and guards Brian Hawthorne (Rockhurst University) and Chaze’ Harris (Life University). The Jaguars also signed junior-college forward Stephen Williams (Coastal Alabama-South) on Wednesday, and signed high school point guards Desmond Williams (Baker) and Samuel Shoptaw (Windermere, Fla.) in November.

South Alabama is set to return forward Randy Brady and guards John Broom, J.J. Wheat, Jayden Cooper and Maxwell Land from last year’s team. It’s not yet clear if the Jaguars will add another transfer for 2025-26 or remain at 12 scholarship players.

South Alabama went 21-11 in 2024-25, earning a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship for the first time in 17 years.