Tag: Kebba Njie

Notre Dame basketball trending for transfer forward

The Irish could be adding another hoops transfer soon

It wasn’t a surprise when [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] basketball hired [autotag]Micah Schrewsberry[/autotag] that he would need to work the transfer portal to field a solid team in the fall.

So far the plan has worked well, with [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] and [autotag]Julian Roper[/autotag] as verbals from the portal. There could very well be another name added with those two, forward Tae Davis.

The Seton Hall transfer is schedule to be on campus today and tomorrow, and Schrewsberry could get a verbal from Davis before he leaves campus. According to this report by 247Sports Tom Loy, he believes that the 6-foot, 9-inch and 200 pound forward will eventually commit to the Irish.

During his freshman year, Davis averaged 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in just over 13 minutes played. He would have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

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Penn State forward Kebba Njie transfers to Notre Dame

Shrewsberry continues to poach talent from his old stomping grounds.

The week of [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag]’s guys switching from Penn State to Notre Dame continues.

First, three of his 2023 recruits set to play for the Nittany Lions switched to the Irish. Then, a 2024 recruit selected the Irish when the Nittany Lions were among the programs that had made him an offer. Now, the trend is affecting the transfer portal. Nittany Lions starting forward [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] announced he also is coming to South Bend.

Njie brings much-needed size to the guard-heavy Irish. He is 6 feet, 10 inches and started 26 of 37 games played as a freshman last season. He averaged 3.4 points and 3.5 rebounds a game while shooting 52% from the field for a Nittany Lions team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament after a surprise run to the Big Ten Tournament title game that they nearly won. He also received ACC experience in losses to Virginia Tech and Clemson.

Njie announced he was entering the transfer portal April 4, not long after Shrewsberry was introduced as Irish coach. Within five days, the Irish had expressed interest in him, joining Indiana, Texas, Texas Tech, BYU, Nevada and UCF. In the end, he joined guard [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag] as Shrewsberry’s second successful transfer target.

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Crystal ball prediction sees key Penn State basketball transfer leaving

New crystal ball prediction for Penn State basketball transfer Kebba Njie trending for this ACC school

When former Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry left the program to become the next head basketball coach at Notre Dame, it was expected that he could manage to lure some of his players with him to South Bend as he builds the roster for the Fighting Irish. His son, Braedan Shrewsberry,  asking out of his national letter of intent with Penn State to follow him was a no-brainer. But now it appears there is a sense a player from last year’s roster could be making a similar move to the Fighting Irish as well.

A new crystal ball prediction on 247Sports is forecasting a commitment to Notre Dame out of the NCAA transfer portal from forward [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag]. 247Sports staff writer Tyler Calvaruso, a contributor to Lions247, made his official prediction of Njie to Notre Dame on Monday evening.

Njie entered the transfer portal in early April after Penn State had hired Micah Shrewsberry‘s replacement, [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag]. Njie was noticeably absent from Rhoades’ introductory press conference at Penn State. At the time, Njie was the fifth player from Penn State’s basketball roster to add his name to the transfer portal following the departure of Shrewsberry to Notre Dame.

Njie was Penn State’s third highest-rated recruit in program history, and the four-star player was the highlight of Penn State’s Class of 2022 recruiting efforts, resulting in the program’s highest-ranked recruiting class in school history.

Njie was the only freshman from the 2022-23 team to appear in all 37 games played, and he started in 26 of them. His expected departure is a tough one to replace for Rhoades, who continues to build a roster with players out of the transfer portal. While it would have been nice to see Njie return for another year in State College, it is appearing less likely by the day that will happen.

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List of transfer portal targets for Notre Dame

At least one of these players could suit up for the Irish next season.

Notre Dame had a horrible 2022-23 season, but no matter what happened, 2023-24 was going to present a challenge. Having barely enough returning players just to to be able to play 5-on-5 is a problem no program ever wants to deal with. Yet that’s where the Irish are after half the previous roster was made up of graduate students and two of their three incoming freshmen de-committed after [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] announced his departure.

The good news is the transfer portal is more active than ever before. Say what you will about what NIL has done to college sports, but new coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] has to be grateful that it has allowed the equivalent of free agency. With only [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] on the horizon, he’ll have to bandage up the Irish’s problems with transfers until he has one or two recruiting classes under his belt.

Nathan Erbach of the “Golden Homers” podcast has done a good job of tracking the existing college players who might make South Bend their home next season. Here are the players who reportedly have been connected to the Irish so far, a few of which either are about to visit campus or already have:

Penn State basketball transfer portal tracker

Keeping tabs on the transfer portal activity for Penn State this offseason.

Penn State’s basketball season capped one of the most successful runs by the program in years only to see its head coach leave to take another job. And with an offseason of changes in the air in Happy Valley, the management of the roster is a massive task to address moving forward.

In addition to graduating players and NBA draft entrants, Penn State is also seeing some potential changes in the transfer port. The transfer portal served Penn State quite well the past couple of seasons with the additions of players like Jalen Pickett, Camren Wynter, and Andrew Funk. Can they thrive with transfers once again?

Here is an updated look at who is coming and going by way of the transfer portal for Penn State this offseason.

Penn State has officially lost a player through the transfer portal

Penn State basketball officially losing first player out of the transfer portal.

After seeing a number of players enter the transfer portal after a head coaching change following its run to the second round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, Penn State was hoping to keep a roster in some decent shape after making its coaching hire official. But new head coach [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] will continue to piece together his first roster in Happy Valley without at least one player from last season’s roster. Guard [autotag]Caleb Dorsey[/autotag] announced he has found a new place to call home out of the transfer portal, thus fully moving on from his time at Penn State.

Dorsey announced, via Instagram, he has committed to William & Mary. With the Tribe, Dorsey has played three seasons at Penn State, leaving him with one more year of eligibility unless he uses a redshirt season.

Dorsey appeared in just 16 games for the Nittany Lions last season. Dorsey was battling an undisclosed injury situation for the majority of the season. He last played in a game for Penn State on February 5 in a road game at Nebraska. Dorsey started nine games for Penn State last season.

Dorsey is the first Penn State player to formally leave the program by way of the transfer portal this offseason. While the Nittany Lions did just add Ace Baldwin from VCU, Penn State still has a handful of players sitting in the transfer portal weighing their options. Penn State players still in the transfer portal include [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag], [autotag]Jameel Brown[/autotag], and [autotag]Evan Mahaffey[/autotag].

Penn State also had a couple of players ask to be released from their national letters of intent following the coaching change.

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Kebba Njie the latest Penn State player to enter transfer portal

Penn State sees yet another basketball player enter the transfer portal

The turnover of the Penn State men’s basketball program continues with upcoming sophomore [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] entering his name into the transfer portal. He is now the fifth player from last year’s team to enter the portal and the third from the 2022 class.

Notably, the 2022 class was Penn State’s highest ever rated recruiting class, with Njie being the center piece. He was a four-star recruit out of Indiana who was Penn State’s third highest player to sign for the program.

Njie was the only freshman from the 2022-23 team who appeared in all 37 games, starting 26 of them. He averaged 3.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14.3 minutes of playing time.

There was potential that this announcement was coming. Considering two other players out of his class entered there name into the portal, it’s not a major shock seeing Njie test the waters as well. Onward State also tweeted that he was not present at Mike Rhoades’ introductory press conference, which could have been viewed as a sign as well.

As with the majority of players entering the transfer portal, there is still a possibility they return to the school they were previously enrolled. [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] once entered the transfer portal before ultimately coming back to play for Penn State again.

There are now only two scholarship players currently enrolled at Penn State. Both are upcoming sophomores [autotag]Kanye Clary[/autotag] and [autotag]Demetrius Lilley[/autotag]. With the three previous class of 2023 commits all asking for their NLI release, the program is barren.

Rhoades will have some serious program building to do to even a field a team next year, let alone a competitive one. We’ll see if he can reconvince some of the players who entered their name in the portal to come back to State College and if he can get some of his past players at VCU to come as well.

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Penn State favored to land 2024 top 100 player

Penn State basketball a favorite to land this top 100 player in 2024

Penn State basketball has increased their level of recruiting in recent years. In 2015, they landed [autotag]Josh Reaves[/autotag] who was the first four-star recruit in program history. The next year, [autotag]Tony Carr[/autotag] and [autotag]Lamar Stevens[/autotag] were the only other four-star recruits to come to Penn State.

[autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] has been able to land some high end talent since he’s taken over the reigns in State College. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] was a four-star in the class of 2022. [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag] is a four-star commit from the 2023 class.

Now, it looks like another four-star might be coming to play for Penn State.

[autotag]Sir Mohammed[/autotag] is a 6’6″ wing player in North Carolina. He’s the son of former Kentucky and 18-year NBA player [autotag]Nazr Mohammed[/autotag].

Originally a native of Lexington, Kentucky, Mohammed now plays his high school basketball at Myers Park in Charlotte, NC. 247Sports has him ranked as the 73rd best player in the country for the 2024 class.

On Monday, Mohammed announced his top six schools.

He hasn’t ranked any of the schools on his list and is not excluding any of the other schools who are currently recruiting him.

There are 21 programs who have offered him a scholarship. Some of the top schools outside of his top six include Michigan, Providence, Georgetown, Ohio State, Xavier, NC State, Cincinnati and Notre Dame.

While Mohammed said his top six aren’t ranked in a particular order as of now, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine thinks Penn State will land the four-star recruit.

Right now, the Nittany Lions are given a 47.1% chance to land him. Stanford is second with a 32.1% chance.

Mohammed told On3’s Joe Tipton what he’s liked about Penn State so far saying, “The relationship made with the Coach Shrewsberry and Coach Aki and the rest of the staff has been amazing and both my unofficial and official visit were great.”

As Penn State fans wait to see if Shrewsberry will stay with the program, it’s good to see recruits are still in including Penn State on their lists.

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Penn State dominates Texas A&M, advances in NCAA Tournament for first time since 2001

Andrew Funk’s big game fuels Penn State past Texas A&M in NCAA Basketball Tournament

Going into the NCAA Tournament, the goal is to be playing the best basketball of the season by the time the games start.

Penn State has been doing that in March.

After a great run before the Big Ten Tournament to get themselves into the March Madness conversation, they cemented themselves in the field by making the championship game. Even though they lost on the last possession, it was clear this Penn State team was peaking at the right time.

But, the NCAA Tournament was going to be a different challenge. Facing a Texas A&M team from a different conference whose style of play was different than what they’ve seen before was supposed to be a test of how good this team actually was.

The Nittany Lions answered all questions tonight winning 76-59.

This was a historic win for Penn State. It was the first NCAA Tournament win since 2001. It was the largest margin of victory for the program in NCAA Tournament history. [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag]’s 27 points were the most by a Penn State player in NCAA Tournament history.

It was also a weird game in many ways for Nittany Lions fans. This felt like the first time in about a month that the game didn’t come down to the wire.

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That’s because Penn State rarely trailed in this game. After trailing 2-4 in the first couple minutes of the game, Funk hit a three to put them back on top. Funk hitting threes was the theme of the game.

About five minutes into the first half, Texas A&M was up four points. That was their largest lead of the game. Once again, Funk hit a three to cut the lead to one point. After seesawing back and forth for a bit, [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] hit a jumper that put Penn State up 13-12 at the 11-and-a-half-minute mark.

They never trailed in the game again.

It was an utterly dominant performance by Penn State. They shot 48.2% from the field and a scorching 59.1% from behind the three-point line. They also held A&M to 33.9% shooting and 29.4% from three. This was easily the best game this team had played all season.

Funk was the star of the game tonight. He hit eight threes on 10 attempts to finish with the NCAA Tournament record of 27 points. Pickett was his usual dominant self, finishing with 19 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] joined them in double figures with 10 points.

But it was truly a team effort. [autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] didn’t light up the box score, but he played a major part in frustrating Texas A&M’s best player Wade Taylor IV. Freshmen [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] and [autotag]Evan Mahaffey[/autotag] had important stretches stifling the opposing bigs.

Penn State fans should be celebrating this historic victory because it was a long time coming.

They’ll be facing the second-seeded Texas Longhorns in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday for the opportunity to play in the Sweet 16.

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NCAA Tourney First Round Matchup: Penn State vs. Texas A&M

How do Penn State and Texas A&M compare, player vs. player? Let’s go to the tale of the tape to find out!

March Madness is officially here!

For the first time since 2011, Penn State is a part of the Big Dance.

After their impressive run in the Big Ten Tournament, the Nittany Lions are the 10 seed in the Midwest Region. They drew the 7th-seeded Texas A&M Aggies in their first-round matchup.

Since Texas A&M is an SEC team, these two teams rarely have played each other. They’ve actually only competed three times on the hard court, with A&M winning all three prior matchups. The most recent game was played in Brooklyn, NY in 2017.

Similarly to Penn State, the Aggies were in their conference tournament championship game where they lost to Alabama 63-82.

Many bracket analysts and pundits feel that Texas A&M is coming into this tournament under seeded after finishing both the SEC regular season and postseason in second place. On the surface, that presents a challenge for Penn State, who is playing a team in the first round they probably shouldn’t be facing.

Let’s take a look at both teams and see they compare.