An outside-shooting wing will be joining the Hawaii basketball team.

Matthue Cotton, who is 6 feet 5 and 200 pounds, has decided to transfer from Yale. Cotton will earn a bachelor’s degree in May, then enroll at UH in June. He will ink a scholarship agreement on April 12, the first day of the NCAA’s spring signing period for basketball prospects.

“It mainly came down to the family culture over there,” said Cotton, who took a recruiting trip a week ago. “The guys seemed super close. Spending time with the guys was really cool.”

Cotton has played in 77 games in three previous seasons with the Bulldogs, starting 13 in 2021-22 when he made 44 3-point shots. He played 16 games as a freshman in 2018-19, and 30 as a sophomore, when he was 11th in the Ivy League with 45 made 3s. He hit 35.2% of his shots from behind the arc in 2019-20. The Ivy League canceled the 2020-21 season because of the pandemic.

Cotton suffered an injury to his left (shooting) shoulder last year, but still played the remainder of the season. He underwent surgery in the offseason. The Ivy League limits players to four seasons. Because he could not use this season as a medical hardship — his Ivy League eligibility expires after this season — he opted to enter the transfer portal in October. He will play his fifth — and final — NCAA season with the ’Bows.

Cotton remains on the Bulldogs’ active roster, and makes all the road trips. It was Yale’s participation in the Rainbow Classic in November that alerted the ’Bows to Cotton’s availability. In reviewing past videos to scout Yale, UH noticed Cotton did not play in the first two games of the tournament.

During the recruiting process, Cotton said he had discussions with UH head coach Eran Ganot and point recruiter John Montgomery. Cotton also knew the background of former UH forward Jerome Desrosiers, who transferred from Princeton when his Ivy League clock expired.

“Hawaii’s a great basketball program,” Cotton said.“Speaking with Coach Ganot and the other assistants, I felt like I was at home.”

Cotton said he expects to play the two or three for the ’Bows. Cotton, who has had internships with real estate companies based on New York and California, plans to pursue a master’s in finance.

In the meantime, the ’Bows are seeking to complete a sweep of a two-game road trip with today’s meeting against Cal State Bakersfield. Despite being without point guard and leading scorer Kaleb Higgins, who underwent season-ending surgery in January, the Roadrunners have won four of the past five. Higgins’ understudy in pre-conference play, Naseem Gaskin, recently returned after recovering from a nerve injury in his foot.

The Roadrunners prefer to play to a slow pace, often taking 20 seconds off the shot clock before setting up isolation plays. Antavion Collumn, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound wing/post, averages 16.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 15 Big West games.

In Friday’s 70-67 victory, the ’Bows used a 2-3 zone to hold off Long Beach State’s rapid-fire offense. UH forward Kamaka Hepa scored 19 points, including two key free throws with 1.6 seconds to play, and held Aboubacar Traore to two points on 1-for-8 shooting.