AJ Storr is going to play for UNLV this season. It will be his fifth different program in five college seasons, and no amount of talent evaluation makes that number look good.
Storr announced his commitment to UNLV on August 18, taking advantage of the special August transfer window that opened after Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s preliminary injunction in Colorado granted athletes who started competing in 2022-23 an extra year of eligibility. That ruling has flooded the portal with over 70 new names in the Aug 3-10 window alone. Storr was one of the biggest.
His resume reads like a road trip. Freshman year at St. John’s. Sophomore year at Wisconsin, where he averaged 16.8 points and looked like a future NBA wing. Then Kansas, where things unraveled. Then Ole Miss last year, where he was a role player on a team that could not quite figure out how to use him. Now UNLV, on a one-year deal built entirely around eligibility mechanics.
Runnin’ Rebels head coach Josh Pastner made a bet on the ceiling. That ceiling is real. Storr is a smooth 6-foot-7 wing with a good midrange game, a competent three-point shot, and a scorer’s mentality that shows up when the ball is in his hands. On his best nights at Wisconsin, he looked like a first-round pick.
The problem is that his best nights have been few and far between since he left Madison. Every stop after Wisconsin has been a step down in role, a step down in usage, and a step down in perceived NBA stock. Coaches who try to build around him find out the same thing every year, and then the transfer portal opens and Storr moves on again.
Five schools in five seasons is a pattern, not an accident. It is also worth remembering that Storr made four different stops in high school, spending a season each at Kankakee, Bishop Gorman, AZ Compass Prep, and IMG Academy. This is a player who has never spent two full years in the same building. That kind of history follows a guy, and NBA front offices notice.
UNLV, to be fair, is a decent fit. The Mountain West is a conference where high-scoring guards can put up numbers, and Vegas will get Storr on national TV a few times against Boise State and San Diego State. If he averages 18 a game, shoots 37 percent from three, and shows any sign of caring about defense, he can rebuild draft interest in a hurry.
But the skepticism is earned. Coaches around the country have watched Storr’s tape for four years now, and the pattern is consistent. He can score. He does not always play hard on the other end. He tends to disappear in big moments. And every year the coaching staff that thought they cracked the code ends up watching him enter the portal in April.
The talent is real. Nobody disputes that. But talent without stability is a hard sell at the next level, and Storr is running out of chances to prove he can commit to a program long enough to build something. UNLV is the last stop. If he cannot make this one count, the NBA question is answered for him.
One year. One shot. This is the moment.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.