Terrence Johnson was surprised by Shelby Adams and Isiah Small’s decisions to come back to Texas State.
But what hasn’t surprised the Bobcats’ head coach is where the pair of fifth-year seniors has led the team heading into the final home games of the year.
After the end of the 2020-21 season, the maroon and gold had four players with one year of eligibility left: Adams, Small, Marlin Davis and Quentin Scott. The extra year was made available to the seniors by the NCAA after the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2019-20 season short.
Scott’s decision came first. On March 15, the forward announced he’d officially placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Scott later transferred to Tulane and is now playing for the Green Wave.
Adams’ choice came next. The guard knew he didn’t want to stop competing and hadn’t yet finished his degree. The idea of spending another year with his coaches and teammates was enough to keep him around. Three days after Scott’s announcement, the Daily Record broke the news that Adams was coming back to Texas State for another season.
“I’ve dealt with harder decisions before,” Adams said. “So just knowing that I had another opportunity to come back and play, it was a no-brainer. And knowing that I could still keep my son with me, it was a no-brainer just from that standpoint.”
Davis retired from his playing career on June 3. The point guard had already redshirted during the 2018-19 season rehabbing a knee injury and would have been a sixth-year senior had he returned. He suffered another injury on Feb. 5 that caused him to miss the final 10 games of the 2020-21 season. Davis instead chose to join Johnson’s staff as a graduate assistant.
That left Small, who initially announced on March 18 he’d be staying with the Bobcats. But a few months later, he had a change of heart. He’d always felt he was talented enough to play at a bigger, high major school. They ignored the Jersey City, N.J. native while he was at Snyder High School and they ignored him again when he was playing at Seward County Community College.
But with two years as a starter for a championship-winning Division I program under his belt, the forward knew he wouldn’t be ignored again. He was curious to see what his options were.
“I didn’t want to have a regret in the back of my head,” Small said.
Small submitted his notification of transfer form late at night on June 30. At the time, he was preparing to go on a basketball tour in North Macedonia sponsored by Athletes in Action. Small departed for his trip the next day, flying out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
He hadn’t told anyone on the team about his decision. Kelsey Solis, Texas State’s Associate Athletics Director for Compliance, saw Small’s transfer form in the morning on July 1 and contacted Johnson and his staff to let them know. They were completely unaware.
Small said looking back, he feels like he should’ve given them a head’s up.
“Everybody was disappointed, including myself — from (Texas State Director of Athletics Don Coryell) down to the managers. I mean, we all were invested and felt like, you know, he had made a decision that he was gonna come back,” assistant coach Robert Guster said. “So that definitely caught us off guard. It was a surprising decision. I felt like it was more about just kind of seeing where he could go or just trying to check his traction to see who would be interested.
“I never felt like he was gonna leave, frankly. But going into the portal was one step closer and I realized that. So you know, it was definitely a surprise. It definitely caught me off guard, personally.”
On July 2, Sean Paul of Field of 68 reported that Arizona State, BYU, Charleston, Fordham, Maryland, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech had all reached out to Small since entering the transfer portal. On July 3, Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported Small received an offer from Texas Tech. On July 8, Paul tweeted that Small would announce his decision on a live stream the next week. On July 10, Small narrowed his list down to four schools — DePaul, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
Returning to Texas State was never off the table. Small stayed in contact with Johnson and Guster all throughout his trip. They said they understood why he put his name in the portal. But they also expressed their concerns about him falling behind academically or being unhappy somewhere else. Small wouldn’t have to worry about either of those things in San Marcos.
That ended up being the difference for Small. He returned to the States on July 10 and announced three days later he was withdrawing his name from the transfer portal to remain with Texas State.
“I was letting God dictate everything I was doing, instead of letting my heart or my mind do a decision that I didn’t want to do,” Small said. “So really, I was letting God make the decision for me. And he told me to come back.”
Small apologized to the team when he got back to campus. He knew he might’ve hurt them by throwing his name into the portal out of the blue.
But whatever hard feelings there were dissolved quickly. The Bobcats moved past it and rebuilt the chemistry they had a year ago that led them to the Sun Belt regular season championship.
“His personality alone won’t let it be awkward,” Adams said. “You know, he’s gonna find a way to mess with you. So I wouldn’t say it was really ever awkward. It was cool when he came back.”
The Bobcats (17-6, 8-3 Sun Belt) are now riding a five-game winning streak and have risen to the top of the conference standings. Adams and Small play in their final home games with the maroon and gold this weekend, facing Arkansas State (15-8, 6-5) on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Little Rock (8-14, 3-7) on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Strahan Arena.
Both players said they made the right choice coming back for their final year. Small called it the “best decision of my life.”
Johnson’s glad both of them stuck around.
“You’re talking about two guys that have been the staples of this program over the last two years,” Johnson said. “I was super excited about (them coming back). And I thought that we had a chance to be a really good team if they came back and took the approach of not being satisfied. And you know, we’re right where we intended to be. So we hope that we can hold onto the rope and keep it going.”
