UH ace Magdaleno enters portal as fallback in case he’s not drafted

The University of Hawaii baseball team’s top pitcher has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Isaiah Magdaleno said he entered the portal to expand his options ahead of next month’s Major League Baseball draft. Magdaleno is hopeful of being selected in the 20-round draft. Magdaleno is draft eligible because he completed three years at a four-year university. With a year of NCAA eligibility remaining, Magdaleno will have leverage in negotiations — and a fallback option — after the draft.

“The main goal is to get into pro ball right now,” Magdaleno said in a telephone interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “That’s No. 1. After that, it’s going from there.”

Magdaleno also has not ruled out a return to UH if he were not drafted.

“You never know,” he said, adding his time at UH has “been the best three years of my life. I feel I wouldn’t be in the place I am without Hawaii. I don’t mean just baseball but everything about it.”

After being named to the 2025 All-Big West first team as a closer, the right-hander from Los Angeles moved to the front of starting rotation this season. In 2026, Magdaleno was fifth nationally with a 0.92 WHIP, sixth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.38) and 13th in ERA (2.36). During a span of 32 1/3 innings in May, he allowed one run, walked three and struck out 43. He was named to the third team of two All-America lists.