Former Tennessee center, NAIA transfer Handje Tamba commits to St. John's

Former Tennessee center Handje Tamba has committed to St. John’s via the NCAA Transfer Portal, per FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz. Tamba played at Milligan, an NAIA program, this past season. He began his career at Tennessee before transferring to Weber State and then Milligan.

In his 32 appearances at Milligan, Tamba averaged 10.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4% from the field and 27.3% from beyond the arc. Tamba had his best performance of the season in Milligan’s 76-74 win over Johnson (TN), when he scored 22 points.

In his two years at Weber State, Tamba made 56 appearances and three starts. He averaged 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game. Tamba didn’t see any action in the 2021-22 season at Tennessee, but he was named to the SEC Academic honor roll.

Handje Tamba played high school basketball at Knoxville Catholic (TN), where he was an unranked prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but came to the United States in 2017.

Tamba is the sixth player to commit to St. John’s via the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. The Red Storm has also lost five players to the portal. St. John’s is currently ranked No. 28 in On3’s 2025 Team Transfer Portal Rankings.

The Red Storm’s transfer class is headlined by North Carolina transfer Ian Jackson. He was the No. 4 shooting guard in On3’s 2025 Transfer Portal Player Rankings. He was a five-star prospect in high school.

St. John’s is coming off a stunning season, in which it posted a 31-5 overall record and an 18-2 mark in conference play. En route to a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, St. John’s won the Big East regular season title and the conference tournament championship.

Unfortunately for Red Storm fans, St. John’s failed to take advantage of its excellent postseason seeding and suffered a second-round loss against Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament. Now, St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino will attempt to guide his team to a bounce-back season.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.