AMHERST — The UMass men’s basketball team is down another crucial piece from this year’s team.

Keon Thompson, the Minutemen’s starting point guard, entered the transfer portal on Thursday morning, per several reports. The sophomore floor general averaged nine points, four rebounds and three assists per game while standing as one of the top guards in the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio.

With Thompson heading for the exit, only two scholarship players now remain from UMass’ 2022-23 team – Matt Cross and Rahsool Diggins. He now joins Josh Cohen and Robert Davis Jr. as the three players from this season’s roster in the portal.

Throughout the season, Frank Martin praised Thompson for his terrific leadership abilities and toughness. The two seemed to have a very strong relationship, so this certainly comes as a bit of a shock.

But in today’s world of college hoops, there are no shockers. Thompson will be a junior next year with still two years of eligibility left.

He was rock-solid for UMass this season, starting all 30 games he played in. Thompson’s season high of 21 points came in a win over Siena, and he had a stretch of seven consecutive games with 10 or more points.

Still with Diggins, Jaylen Curry and Jayden Ndjigue on the roster, head coach Frank Martin and the Minutemen have a strong backcourt returning as of now.