With the ever changing dynamic of college basketball rosters, it’s a near daily occurrence checking in on the transfer portal and see who’s headed where next.
More than 1,900 Division I men’s basketball players entered the portal so far this offseason, while more than 1,300 Division I women’s basketball players had entered. When May 1 hit, the transfer portal window closed and no players can choose to enter their name into the portal outside of certain circumstances (coaching changes for example).
For the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team, the turnover wasn’t as heavy as many others in the college basketball landscape. Expected losses were Marques Warrick, who is using his last year of eligibility to try and prove himself in a Power 5 conference, the Norse all-time leading scorer taking his talents to Missouri and the SEC.
As was Michael Bradley, the grad transfer playing out his final season last year in Highland Heights. Cade Meyer left the team in the thick of Horizon League play in February while walk-on Cole Sherman also went portaling, most likely to try and get an opportunity elsewhere at a lower level in college (similar to Jake Evans last year).
Here’s where NKU won this offseason…Sam Vinson, not portaling with hopes that he’ll be at full strength at start of the 2024-25 season coming off a knee injury in December. Prior to his injury, Vinson was second in scoring for the Norse with 13.3 points per game in 13 games played. He was also second in assists, rebounds and minutes played per game and led the team in steals. During the 2022-23 season, Vinson was an all-Horizon League third-team selection and was named to the league’s All-Defensive Team, becoming the first Norse to earn All-Defensive Team honors since Jalen Tate in 2019-20. In 2022-23, Vinson averaged 11.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.4 steals per game, which led the league and ranked 12th in NCAA Division I. Vinson’s steals average is tied for second all-time in a single season at NKU. Vinson was Newcomer of the Year and named to the All-League Freshman team during his first season (2021-22) at NKU.
This one may have come as a surprise, but Trey Robinson, not portaling and coming back for his final season of eligibility. The fifth-year senior brings a plethora of experience, compiling 873 points, 510 rebounds, 157 assists, 149 steals and 41 blocks in his NKU career. He has the chance to become just the 31st in program history and the eighth in NKU’s NCAA Division I era to crack the 1,000-point plateau. He also can become eighth in program history to notch 1,000-plus career points and 600-plus career boards.
Randall Pettus, not portaling after a freshman season in which he kept progressing as the season went on. When the injury to Vinson happened, Pettus’ role increased and later became a starter towards the end of the season. He averaged 8.6 points per game over the final 15 games of the season.
Keeyan Itejere, not portaling after really getting some footing and gaining experience this past season. Itejere averaged 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in his first season with the Norse after transferring from Marquette.
LJ Wells, not portaling and showing his potential with some big games. Wells started 27 games for the Norse this past season and really took off in Horizon League play, averaging 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Jeremiah Israel, not portaling after playing some essential minutes off the bench. Israel appeared in 22 games this past season and averaged 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
That means six of the Norse’s top nine in the rotation are expected to return.
Then there’s Cesar Tchilombo and Hubertas Pivorius expected back. Tchilombo brings some experience from this past season while Pivorius took a medical redshirt due to an injury. Bryce Darbyshire and Mitchel Minor should also be back. That gives the Norse 11 players to run it back. Fiston Ipassou’s status is in limbo with him reportedly to have left campus and is back in Australia. A school official could not confirm with LINK nky on Ipassou’s status. If that’s the case, it still leaves a scholarship open for the Norse to either hit the portal or bring in an incoming freshman.
That brings us to the newcomers, either through the transfer portal or commitments. Daniel Gherezgher, Josh Dilling and Paulius Rapolis will be three new faces in Highland Heights for the 2024-25 season.
Gherezgher comes from Division II Michigan Tech, where he was a two-year starter with the Huskies. The 6-foot-4 versatile guard is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he averaged 15.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and nearly a steal a game. The Brookfield, Wisconsin native shot 47% from the field, 33% percent from beyond the arc and 75% percent at the charity stripe.
Dilling played for the last two years at Division II Northern State University in South Dakota. In 29 games this past season, he averaged 18.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He was voted to the All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Second Team.
Rapolis played at IMG Academy in Florida for two seasons and is reportedly listed at 7-feet and 230 pounds. He averaged about 11 points and 10 rebounds per game his senior year. IMG Academy has developed 19 NBA draft choices. On3 Elite scouting lists Rapolis as a 3-star prospect. He’s the No. 20-rated prep player in Florida and the No. 26-rated center in the nation. Originally from Vilnius, Lithuania, Rapolis turns 19 in July. He played for the Lithuanian U17 National Team in the 2022 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Rapolis joins Pivorius as one of two Lithuanians expected be on the Norse’s roster next season. Pivorius is also from Vilnius.
NCAA rules allows 13 Division I scholarships, with Ipassou’s status up in the air, it leaves the Norse with a potential one scholarship available and a walk-on spot open.
So with six returnees from the rotation, added depth from Tchilombo and Pivorius and newcomers that will provide shooting and some inside presence, NKU should be considered as one of the top teams in the Horizon League once again. No doubt the loss of Warrick cannot be replaced, but there’s enough here for them to contend for a fifth Horizon League Conference tournament title in the last nine years.