Kansas freshman forward Samis Calderon, who entered the NCAA transfer portal, has decided to play basketball at Butler University during the 2026-27 season.
Calderon, a 6-foot-8 native of Espirito Santo, Brazil, out of the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta, played in 16 games as a freshman at KU and averaged 4.1 minutes per contest. He played in eight Big 12 games.
His agent, Aylton Tesch, reported the commitment to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com
“The 6-foot-8, 21-year-old Brazilian played sparingly as a freshman but drew significant high-major interest thanks to his physical tools, 7-foot-2 wingspan and defensive versatility,” wrote Givony.
Calderon averaged 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game for Brazil in the 2023 FIBA U19 World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. He competed for Brazil in the 2022 Under 18 Americas Championship and 2022 Under 18 South America Championship.
Out of high school, Calderon chose KU over Tennessee, Michigan and Auburn. According to On3’s top-150 player rankings, Calderon entered college as the No. 63 overall prospect in the recruiting class of 2025. He also was rated the No. 14 power forward and No. 8 player in Georgia.
Butler of the Big East Conference went 16-16 a year ago and 7-13 in conference play. Head coach Thad Matta retired after the season. Former Butler point guard Ronald Nored, an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks, will coach the Bulldogs in 2026-27.
Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 — during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.
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