Notre Dame center Matt Zona enters NCAA Transfer Portal
Notre Dame center Matt Zona entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Thursday, On3 has learned. The 6-foot-9, 235-pound big man was a member of the 2020 class for the Fighting Irish. He was ranked as a three-star prospect and the No. 226 overall player in the country, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
Zona averaged 11 minutes per game this season for the Fighting Irish, averaging 2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per outing. During his junior season, he played in 20 games and averaged seven minutes per game off the bench. One of his best games came against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2023 ACC Tournament. Zona drained three shots from beyond-the-arc, setting a new career-high in threes (3), assists (2), and blocks (2).
The New York native grabbed a career-best six rebounds while hitting a three at No. 7 Virginia on Feb. 18. It was the first three-pointer he had made in his college basketball career.
His sophomore season at Notre Dame, he scored a season-high three points against the Western Michigan Broncos on Dec. 20th.
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Zona played his high school basketball with Bergen Catholic in Oradell, New Jersey. In 2019-2020, he was named the North Jersey Basketball Player of the Year after guiding his team to a 22-7 overall record, averaging 14.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks. Once he wrapped up his career there, he had scored 1,237 points, ranking second all-time in Bergen Catholic program history.
Notre Dame largely struggled for the most part this year, but did have plenty of bright spots. The highlights of the season were a 69-62 win over the Clemson Tigers and a 76-54 thrashing of the Virginia Cavaliers. Their worst stretch of the season was when they lost 9 of 10 games in ACC play.
In the 2024 ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C., the Fighting Irish defeated Georgia Tech 84-80 in the opening round. Then they lost to Wake Forest 72-59 in the second round, finishing their season. Notre Dame’s star freshman, Markus Burton, was one of the most electrifying players in the nation. He averaged 17.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. Not surprisingly, he won ACC Rookie of the Year honors. He became the only player in program history to ever win ACC Rookie of the Year honors.