Marquette lands local product Nolan Minessale in transfer portal

Minessale had a breakout season, even attracting NBA scouts to his games to evaluate a player who averaged 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 rebounds while compiling one of the biggest usage rates in the country.

How does Nolan Minessale fit with Marquette?

MU's biggest needs in the transfer portal were a starting-caliber big man and some depth in the backcourt. Fru fills the frontcourt need, and Minessale seems like a perfect pickup for the backcourt.

Fru competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference on a Louisville team that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. But the Big East will be a huge step up in competition for Minessale.

There are indicators that Minessale's game will translate to the higher level. He's an elite athlete who shot 65.2% on 233 attempts at the rim last season. He was only a 30% shooter on 3-pointers, but was a bit better (31.5%) on his 108 catch-and-shoot attempts, the kind of looks he'll likely get playing alongside an attacking point guard like Nigel James Jr.

Interestingly, according to Synergy Sports, Minessale was much better shooting guarded jump shots (35.4% on 65 attempts) than unguarded ones (25.6% on 43 shots).

Minessale seems to have good passing vision (25.9% assist rate) and decent ball-handling ability, but he'll be facing much longer and more athletic defenders at MU.

With the additions of Fru and Minessale, the Golden Eagles have one scholarship slot remaining for the 2026-27 season.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette gets commitment from St. Thomas transfer Nolan Minessale