Big Ten Basketball: Each team’s best acquisition out of 2023 transfer portal

Noah Fernandes – 5’11 Point Guard – Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Noah Fernandes looks to lighten the losses of Paul Mulcahy (Washington) and Cam Spencer (UConn) with his prowess at the point guard position by joining the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. He spent the past three seasons with the UMass Minutemen in the A-10 where he showed off quite the production in the backcourt.

Fernandes joins the Scarlet Knights looking to change their fortunes from a season ago and leave behind some of own misfortunes as well. He appeared in just 11 games during the 2022-23 season due to injury before hitting the portal and ultimately landing in the Big Ten.

He started in 51 of his 52 appearances for UMass after arriving following the 2019-20 season with the Wichita State Shockers, averaging 13.6 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.1 rpg and 1.4 spg on 38.6 percent shooting from 3-point land and 44.2 percent from the field.

This past season, he managed to produce 13.4 ppg, 4.1 apg, 2.5 rpg and 1.3 spg on 45.3 percent shooting from deep across 11 appearances. While the sample size is small, he’s shown that when he’s healthy, he can produce in a variety of ways at the floor general spot.

During the 2021-22 season, Fernandes appeared in 28 of UMass’ 32-game schedule, en route to knocking down a career-high 45 3-pointers and a career-high 147 assists, good for sixth in the conference. He set a career-high against George Washington on March 10, 2022 with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting from field and 2-of-6 shooting from deep in a 99-88 victory.

He knocked down at least one 3-pointer in every appearance and dished out zero assists just once across his limited experience in 2022-23. Hopefully with a full offseason to recover and a change of scenery, Fernandes can find his mojo once again in the Big Ten.