Apr. 20—PULLMAN — The Washington State men's basketball team got another front court threat Monday.The Cougars are adding Northwestern transfer forward Tyler Kropp, the program announced Monday morning, good for their seventh transfer of the offseason. An Ohio native, Kropp spent one year with the Wildcats.As a true freshman, Kropp started 10 of 31 games, averaging 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in about 12 minutes per game. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Kropp scored in double figures once, which came in an 11-point, nine-rebound effort to beat USC on the road.Kropp will join former Wake Forest guard Sebastian Akins, Providence transfer guard Jaylen Harrell, TCU transfer guard RJ Jones, Central Missouri transfer guard Lazerek Houston, Manhattan transfer forward Fraser Roxburgh and East Texas A&M transfer wing Ronnie Harrison.Kropp played primarily the center position for Northwestern, which didn't result in many opportunities for him to produce.

He got more chances starring at Olentangy Liberty High School in Powell, Ohio, where he became the state's No. 2 player and the No. 30 power forward in the class of 2025. At Olentangy Liberty, he piled up 1,095 points, which ranks second in the school's history, and he holds the career rebounding record with 555.As a three-star prospect, Kropp fielded offers from Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Toledo, Belmont, George Washington, Richmond, Cal Poly and others. But at Northwestern, he became a consistent rotation player, earning 10 straight starts .Kropp, whose mother was born in Argentina, also competed for the U19 Argentina International team in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland.

There, he averaged 21.7 points and 9.7 rebounds across seven games. He also shot 57% from the field, earning him a spot on the all-tournament second team.With Kropp joining the Cougars, their 2026-27 team now includes 10 players: Kropp, Harrell, Akins, Houston, Roxburgh, Jones, Eastern Washington transfer Casey Jones (who spent the last two years on a church mission), incoming freshman Brayden Kyman and returners Dominik Robinson and walk-on guard Dio Blakely.Kropp's addition will help WSU offset the departures of 12 players, including 10 to the transfer portal: key players Ace Glass, Tomas Thrastarson, Eemeli Yalaho, ND Okafor, Jerone Morton and Ri Vavers (signed with Memphis), reserve guards Parker Gerrits (signed with Wyoming), Brunel Madzoum, Kase Wynott, and forward Emmanuel Ugbo.

Ugbo was suspended for the final nine games of the season because of a protection order against him.The Cougars also lost point guard Adria Rodriguez, who headed back to his home country of Spain on a professional contract, as well as Simon Hildebrandt, who exhausted his college eligibility. In all, that's 12 departures for the Cougars, who are set to return only two players from last season's team: Robinson, who redshirted his true freshman season, and Blakely.