Former Penn State forward Kebba Njie will follow Micah Shrewsberry to Notre Dame
The latest piece of Micah Shrewsberry’s Notre Dame basketball roster remake is a portal pull of player who knows him well. It’s a player he recruited to Penn State and started as a freshman.
Kebba Njie, a 6-foot-10, 237-pound forward, announced Saturday he will play at Notre Dame and follow Shrewsberry, who was hired as Irish head coach in late March. He chose the Irish over UCF. He’s the second transfer addition since Shrewsberry was hired, joining former Northwestern guard Julian Roper II. He averaged 3.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game as a freshman for the Nittany Lions this season. He played in 37 games, starting 26, and shot 52 percent from the field.
Penn State started Njie in both its NCAA tournament games. He totaled 8 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes to help the No. 10 seed Nittany Lions beat No. 7 seed Texas A&M 76-59 in the first round. He was scoreless in 12 minutes in a 71-66 loss to No. 2 seed Texas in the round of 32.
Njie was one of two top-150 prospects in Penn State’s five-man 2022 signing class. Shrewsberry recruited him to Penn State from La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere, which is about a 45-minute drive from Notre Dame. He chose the Nittany Lions in September 2021 over Butler and Kansas State. He was the No. 149 overall player and No. 25 power forward in the 2022 On3 Industry Ranking. He led all Penn State freshmen in minutes played and was the team’s third-leading rebounder.
Njie transferred to La Lumiere following his sophomore year of high school. He’s a native of Centerville, Ohio. He played AAU basketball for Indy Heat Gym Rats on the Nike EYBL circuit.
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Shrewsberry agreed to become Notre Dame’s next head coach March 22. Njie announced April 4 that he was entering the transfer portal with three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Notre Dame adds Njie to a frontcourt that was a year-long weakness in 2022-23 and returns just one player for 2023-24. The Irish never found a consistent post presence. Their primary starter at the five was forward Nate Laszewski, who was more of a stretch four than a true five and didn’t have much of a post-up game.
Laszewski is out of eligibility. Promising freshman Ven-Allen Lubin entered the transfer portal April 17 after averaging 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game. He started seven of the 28 games he played. Freshman Dom Campbell (7 points in 10 games) went in the portal in March and has since committed to Howard. Junior Matt Zona (1.7 points per game in 20 appearances) is the lone returning big man.
Njie is the first player to transfer from Penn State to Notre Dame this offseason. He’s likely to be the only one. Every member of Penn State’s original 2023 recruiting class, though, followed Shrewsberry to South Bend. His oldest son, three-star guard Braeden Shrewsberry, announced his Notre Dame commitment May 1. Wolfeboro (N.H.) four-star forward Carey Booth followed suit May 2 and Zionsville (Ind.) three-star guard Logan Imes pledged on May 3.
