Terrance Ford Jr. has committed to UNLV, giving Josh Pastner an experienced point guard for a backcourt losing much of its scoring and ballhandling. Ford led the Sun Belt in assists during his last full season, then missed all of 2025-26 at Tulsa following wrist surgery.
The 6-foot-1, 177-pound Chicago guard has two years of eligibility remaining. He made 69 appearances and 47 starts over three seasons at Arkansas State, playing a substantial point-guard role before the injury interruption at Tulsa. UNLV is adding that experience alongside younger guards Cam Miles and Issac Williamson.
Ford averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 assists in his redshirt sophomore season at Arkansas State, making 40.4% of his threes. He finished with a league-leading 170 assists and a 2.33 assist-to-turnover ratio. His conference averages were stronger still: 6.28 assists and a 3.05 ratio. He had three games with at least 10 assists and earned Sun Belt All-Tournament Team recognition.
The passing came with a substantial workload. Ford started 31 of 35 games and averaged 30.2 minutes in 2024-25. Tulsa’s biography credits him with 266 assists across his Arkansas State career, with 170 coming in that final season.
Arkansas State also gave him late-season games with something at stake. The Red Wolves won the Sun Belt regular-season championship, lost to Troy in the conference tournament final and reached the NIT’s second round. Tulsa’s preseason notes describe that NIT trip as Arkansas State’s first postseason appearance since 1999.
He could score without abandoning the passing. At Old Dominion in January, Ford made nine of 10 shots, including all three of his 3-point attempts, while producing five assists without a turnover. Against Troy later that month, he had 15 points, eight assists and one turnover.
Ford will not replace Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn’s scoring by himself. But he can take on more of the organizing work UNLV also asked Gibbs-Lawhorn to do: bring the ball into the offense and find a teammate before the possession becomes a late-clock shot. Pastner will still need scorers around Ford, particularly on the wing and in the frontcourt.
Ford’s shooting also affects the first ball screen. If his defender goes underneath to stay between him and the rim, an open jumper is one way to punish that decision. If the defender follows over the screen and the opposing center steps toward Ford, the pass to the rolling big becomes available. The guard has to recognize that coverage before the opening disappears. His assist record and shooting give Pastner a reason to test those reads with this frontcourt.
As a freshman, he averaged 10.8 points and made 41 of 101 threes, or 40.6%. He had four games with at least 20 points, including a 22-point outing against Georgia State in which he went 5-for-5 from deep. He also had at least four assists in 11 games, with eight against Southern Miss.
His next season lasted only two games after a preseason injury. He returned for the productive redshirt sophomore year, then transferred to Tulsa and lost another season to the wrist injury. UNLV is getting two full years of demonstrated shooting and passing, separated by an injury-shortened season and followed by a year without game action.
Tulsa recruited Ford for the same combination of creation and shooting. When coach Eric Konkol announced his additions in June 2025, he praised Ford’s command of the ball and experience helping Arkansas State win a conference title. “T-Ford is an exciting playmaking guard,” Konkol said. The wrist injury prevented Tulsa from seeing that contribution the following season.
His move also brings him from the program that ended UNLV’s season. Tulsa eliminated the Rebels in the NIT’s second round, but Ford did not play in that game or elsewhere during the Golden Hurricane’s season.
Ford played at Chicago’s Leo High School, averaging 16.3 points and 5.4 assists in 2020-21 and helping the team reach a sectional championship game. He also attended Victory Rock Prep before college. He brings far more college starts than the developing Miles and Williamson, allowing Pastner to consider an older organizer without giving up on those younger guards.
Before Leo, Ford helped Orr High School win a state title and reach a top-25 national ranking, according to Arkansas State’s biography. It credits him with 23 points, seven assists and four steals in the championship game.
Defensively, Ford had eight multi-steal games as a freshman, including five steals against Texas State. His size could still leave him with difficult assignments against larger guards. The steals give UNLV evidence that he can force turnovers; Pastner also needs him to stay in front of the ball and get through screens without repeatedly sending help away from another scorer.
New Orleans transfer MJ Thomas adds rebounding up front as the roster takes shape. Ford can help get that group into its offense. The next step is doing it night after night again, with a healthy wrist and a full season’s workload.
