Seeking graduate degree, Trapps to transfer from Coastal Carolina

Coastal Carolina men’s basketball coach Cliff Ellis confirmed Tuesday that guard Ron Trapps has decided to transfer out of the program.

Ellis cited Trapps’ desire to pursue a graduate degree not offered at the university, and as a graduate transfer he will be eligible to play at another school immediately next season.

Trapps likely also wants to find an opportunity for more playing time after averaging 12.2 minutes per game in 31 games off the bench this season.

The 6-foot-4 guard from Lancaster averaged a career-best 5.2 points per game as a junior and tied for third most on the team with 33 3-pointers (on 99 attempts).

“I blessed it, absolutely,” Ellis said. “He graduates in May so when you graduate you can go work on a graduate degree and there’s a graduate degree he wants to pursue [elsewhere] and I think that’s good.

“And my goodness, you’ve got Elijah [Wilson] and Jaylen [Shaw] and all those guys [at guard]. I’m happy for him. He’s met his obligation to us. As long as they graduate and meet that and we don’t have things in the graduate area they [want to pursue] they can maneuver. You can’t hold somebody back.”

Trapps sustained a serious knee injury his freshman year that threatened his college basketball career. He made it back for the 2013-14 season and appeared in 18 games over two seasons before carving out a bigger role off the bench as a junior.

But with Wilson, Shaw and Colton Ray-St Cyr all expected to return as regulars in the backcourt next season – not factoring in the uncertain future of point guard Shivaughn Wiggins, who is suspended indefinitely from the program – Trapps would have remained in a limited role as a senior here.

Ellis did not know where Trapps was looking to land. As for the extra scholarship, the Chants will factor that into their considerations with the spring signing period starting next Wednesday.

“We’re reacting now,” Ellis said. “We’ll have to figure all that stuff out. We’re in the process now.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Seeking graduate degree, Trapps to transfer from Coastal Carolina."