Former Notre Dame forward Matt Zona commits to Fordham
Matt Zona is heading closer to home.
The former Notre Dame men's basketball forward, who entered the transfer portal on March 21, announced Tuesday he intends to complete a graduate transfer to Fordham. Zona, from Blauvelt, N.Y., will get to play his final season of NCAA eligibility with the Atlantic 10 Conference program in Bronx, N.Y.
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"New York or Nowhere," Zona wrote on X/Twitter with his commitment announcement.
Zona finished his Notre Dame career with 75 games played across four seasons with 130 total points and 133 total rebounds. As a senior this past season, the 6-foot-9 Zona averaged 2.4 points and 2.4 rebounds while playing in all 33 games with six starts. Zona played nearly 380 minutes (11.2 per game), which registered ninth-most on the team in 2023-24.
Former Irish head coach Mike Brey recruited Zona as a three-star prospect out of Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic. Rivals ranked him as the No. 39 center in the 2020 class.
Zona is one of three players from Notre Dame's 2023-24 roster to enter the transfer portal so far this offseason. Former walk-on guard Alex Wade and freshman forward Carey Booth also entered the portal.
Notre Dame has yet to make any additions via the transfer portal. The Irish hosted former UMass forward Josh Cohen on a visit, but he committed to Arkansas and then USC to follow head coach Eric Musselman.
Dre Davis, a senior forward from Seton Hall, entered the transfer portal Tuesday. The Irish may be interested in the older brother of ND sophomore Tae Davis, who transferred to Notre Dame last offseason after head coach Micah Shrewsberry was hired.
Dre Davis, who transferred to Seton Hall after two seasons at Louisville, finished his senior season tied for second on Seton Hall's team in scoring with 15.0 points per game. The 6-foot-6, 210-pound guard shot 49.2% from the field and averaged 5.9 rebounds per game. The Davis brothers grew up in Indianapolis.
The Irish could use an experienced guard like Dre Davis, but he may be a popular portal candidate following Seton Hall's run to a NIT championship. Notre Dame's pursuit of Cohen indicates a post player is on the Irish wish list as well.
The Irish added three transfer portal players last offseason to help build Shrewsberry's first Notre Dame roster: Tae Davis, forward Kebba Njie from Penn State and guard Julian Roper II from Northwestern.
The current transfer portal window for men's college basketball opened March 18 and will be open until May 1. Players can make their destination decisions after that window but need to have entered the portal by the May 1 deadline.
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