To say that this week has been successful for the Notre Dame basketball program would be an understatement. The Irish have landed not one, not two, not three, but five new additions to the future roster. Four of the five recruits will be suiting up in November in South Bend. One of those players that will be suiting up this upcoming season is newcomer Kebba Njie.
On Monday, Braeden Shrewsberry committed to play for his dad this fall. The next day on Tuesday, top 100 recruit in the 2023 Carey Booth announced he would be taking his talents to Notre Dame. It didn’t stop there as on Wednesday 2023 guard Logan Imes announced he would sign with the Irish as well. Then on Thursday, 2024 sharpshooter guard Cole Certa committed to play in South Bend.
Kebba Njie was lucky number five when he announced on social media on Saturday that he would be transferring to Notre Dame. Njie played one year at Penn State under Micah Shrewsberry where he averaged 3.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Njie is now the second transfer to join the team after former Northwestern guard Julian Roper II joined the Irish last month.
I just want to first, thank God for this amazing opportunity I've been blessed with. Finally, thank you to the Penn State community and fans who have been great to me in my first year. With that being said, I will be committing to Notre Dame. 🍀 #Golrish #committed #tmc🏁 pic.twitter.com/xUv9vGDOX4
— Kebba Njie (@_kebbanjie) May 7, 2023
The 6-10 center in Njie started 26 games for the Nittany Lions last year while playing in 37 total games. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. This will not be his first time calling the state of Indiana home as he played his senior year down the road from the University of Notre Dame at La Lumiere in La Porte, Indiana.
This was a major addition for the Notre Dame staff to bring Njie to South Bend. Njie brings a true big who already is comfortable in the style of play that Shrewsberry will run for the Irish. Before Saturday the only true power forwards and centers on the roster were senior Matt Zona, and incoming freshman Carey Booth. As you can see by his stats last season, he was not a huge force on offense but was pretty good defending the rim when out there on the court.
Last season Njie only averaged around 14 minutes per game, but expect a major uptick in his minutes for Notre Dame right away. With limited options at the forward and center position the Irish will need his big frame on the court down low going against the numerous amount of bigs in the ACC.
With the addition of Njie, the roster now sits at nine scholarship players for the upcoming 2023-24 season. The Irish still have a few more openings to completely fill out the roster.
What is up next for the Notre Dame basketball program? Shrewsberry and the rest of the coaching staff are really grinding out there on the recruiting trail. If this last week is any proof of how hard they are working then they should have the rest of their roster filled out in no time.