As expected, McNeese State starting point guard Quadir Copeland announced Thursday he was entering the transfer portal. 

Copeland becomes the third Cowboy to make that announcement since the end of the season and the coaching change.

Copeland, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Syracuse, didn’t win the starting job until Southland Conference play began, saw the Cowboys go 21-2 down the stretch. 

The second-team all-Southland Conference selection was also named to the league’s postseason all-tournament team. 

After a slow start, Copeland came on strong, especially in big games. He finished his one year at McNeese with a 9.2 scoring average and grabbing 3.3 rebounds a game. 

He finished with 156 turnovers while committing 97 turnovers. Copeland shot 48.8 percent from the field but made just 15.4% of his 3-point tries.

Copeland scored 50 points in his four postseason games, including 18 in the Southland title game against Lamar and 16 in McNeese’s upset win over Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Copeland is expected to follow former Cowboy head coach Will Wade to North Carolina State, though he has not yet officially committed. He follows guard Alyn Breed, who entered the portal and is headed to N.C. State. 

Breed played just two games last year for McNeese, scoring 17 points at Alabama and 18 in the season opener against South Dakota State before he was forced to the sidelines with a knee injury.

“My big regret is I didn’t get to play a home game here in front of our fans,” said Breed. 

He also didn’t play in a victory for the 28-7 club.

Breed made his announcements on social media Wednesday.

Forward Jerome Brewer was the first McNeese player to enter the transfer portal, doing so last week. He had said he was 50-50 on returning to the Cowboys when new head coach Bill Armstrong was hired.

Brewer took a medical redshirt last season. The 6-8 shooter transferred to McNeese from East Texas A&M (formerly Texas A&M-Commerce).

Every player but McNeese’s Javohn Garcia, who made the all-SLC teams, is either graduating or in the portal. Garcia, the Player of the Year, announced last week he was returning for his final season.