Bryce Darbyshire (left) and Fiston Ipassou (right) are two additions NKU men's basketball team made official this week. Photo provided | NKU Athletics

There will be a lot of new faces at Truist Arena next season.

Along with three players running out of eligibility, Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team had six on the roster hit the transfer portal.

Here come the reinforcements.

The Norse made waves this week by adding three via the portal and made two incoming freshman signings official. It puts their roster at 12 scholarship players with two walk-ons and gives them flexibility with another scholarship and walk-on spot open.

The busy week started by snagging Marquette transfer Keeyan Itejere to Highland Heights, the 6-foot-9 forward spending two years at Marquette before hitting the portal. After redshirting in 2021-22, Itejere appeared in 13 games for the Golden Eagles this season in limited action. He was a rated three-star prospect out of the GRACE Christian School in Knightdale, NC and set the Marquette program standing vertical leap record at 36.5 inches. Itejere has three years of eligibility remaining and will be relied on to fill the void that Chris Brandon leaves.

“Keeyan is a great addition to our program,” NKU coach Darrin Horn said on the NKU Athletics website. “He is an elite athlete and a major presence at the rim with tremendous size and upside. He joins NKU with a winning pedigree and has been well coached by one of the best coaches in college basketball. Keeyan has a mature approach, strong work ethic and was raised to be a high character young man. We are thrilled to welcome Keeyan to NKU.”

The next signing was Green Bay’s Cade Meyer, a Horizon League foe who will now make NKU his home. Meyer will join Itejere in the frontcourt, a 6-foot-8 forward who brings 61 college games of experience to NKU. In his two seasons with the Phoenix, Meyer averaged 9.8 points and 4.7 rebounds, averaging 25.8 minutes per game. He shot 52% from the field and 69% from the free throw line. Meyer has two years of eligibility remaining.

“Cade is a great addition to the Norse and we are really excited to add him to our program,” Horn said. “He has already proven to be a productive player at the college level and it is extremely valuable to add someone with Cade’s experience to our roster. He is a very versatile player with his unique combination of size, physicality, and skill and we are excited about the impact he can have on both ends of the floor.”

Michael Bradley will join an already formidable backcourt as he looks to be Xavier Rhodes’ replacement. Bradley joins the Norse via Mercyhurst, spending four years with the Division II program. The 6-foot guard also brings a plethora of experience, 1,117 points, 386 assists, 305 rebounds and 131 steals over 101 games played. Bradley has a year of eligibility left.

“We are extremely excited to add Michael Bradley to our program,” Horn said. “He is an experienced cerebral point guard that has the combined unique skill to score and create for others. Michael is extremely hard working and is joining us from a top-notch, winning program. We are excited to get him here in Highland Heights.” 

The last two to be made official are incoming freshman Fiston Ipassou and Bryce Darbyshire. Ipassou is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard and a native of Australia and already brings a pro pedigree having played for the North Adelaide Rockets in Australia’s highest semi-pro league, the National Basketball League 1 (NBL1).

Darbyshire hails from Sycamore High School in Cincinnati where he averaged of 10.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists for the Aviators in his senior season. The 6-foot-4 hybrid guard/small forward shot 50% from the field and 33% from the 3-point line in his senior campaign.

Those two will join two other incoming freshman in Lloyd Memorial’s Jeremiah Israel and Randall Pettus II out of Bessemer City High School in North Carolina.

The seven named will join the established trio of Marques Warrick, Sam Vinson and Trey Robinson along with other returnees LJ Wells, Cesar Tchilombo and walk-ons Cole Sherman and Mitchell Minor.

Trevon Faulkner, Chris Brandon and Xavier Rhodes all ran out of eligibility while A’lahn Sumler, Imanuel Zorgvol, Noah Hupmann, Hubertas Pivorious, Isaiah Mason and Jake Evans all elected to hit the transfer portal.

NKU went 22-13 in the 2022-23 season, winning the Horizon League Conference Tournament for the second time in four years and earning an NCAA Tournament berth, dropping their first round contest to Houston.