On Monday the transfer portal taketh away. On Tuesday it giveth.
Northwestern sophomore transfer guard Julian Roper II became the player to commit to new Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry, other than the coach’s son, Braeden, an incoming freshman guard who got out of his National Letter of Intent to Penn State when his father switched jobs last month.
Roper is a 6-foot-4 guard from Detroit with two years of eligibility remaining. He announced his decision on Twitter, a day after freshman forward Ven-Allen Lubin announced his departure from the Irish roster.
Roper was a reserve this past season for the Wildcats after a recurring ankle injury hindered his development. In the 15 games he did play in, Roper was an outstanding defender and 3-point shooter (.421). Roper averaged 4.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
He shot .453 overall from the field and .455 from the free-throw line (10-of-22).
As a freshman, Roper played in 29 games, starting 15, with averages of 4.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists. He started in Northwestern’s only matchup with Penn State that season, a 67-60 road loss in which he contributed five points and three rebounds.
The Wildcats (22-12) faced Shrewsberry’s Nittany Lions twice this past season, but Roper was sidelined for both overtime losses — March 1 in Evanston, Ill., and nine days later in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
Roper was a three-star recruit and the No. 142 prospect overall coming out of Orchard Park St. Mary’s High School in the 2021 class. Former ND coach Mike Brey did not recruit him out of high school. Among the schools that did were Wisconsin, Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, DePaul and Alabama.
Five Notre Dame players have entered the transfer portal since it opened on March 13, including Lubin. Three have found new homes — freshman guard JJ Starling (Syracuse), freshman forward Dom Campbell (Howard) and grad senior guard Robby Carmody (Mercer).
Grad senior guard Cormac Ryan is also in the portal and submitted his name into the NBA Draft. He does have the option to return to ND for a sixth year if he withdraws from both.
The Irish finished 11-21 overall and 3-17 in the ACC under since-departed coach Mike Brey.
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