Who's the latest Notre Dame men's basketball player to hit transfer portal?
Tom Noie
SOUTH BEND — One of the foundational pieces of the Notre Dame men’s basketball program has decided that he doesn’t want to be one of the foundational pieces of the Notre Dame men’s basketball program.
Maybe.
Portal plans:What Notre Dame men's basketball players have entered the transfer portal?
Freshman power forward Carey Booth has hit the reset button on his collegiate career and done what many in his situation do — enter the transfer portal. Booth’s name officially hit the transfer portal Monday at 4:06 p.m. At that time, he was one of 1,247 players seeking a new start.
Booth will leave open the option to return to Notre Dame.
The 6-foot-10, 203-pound Booth, who averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 33 games with 19 starts this season, becomes the third Irish to officially announce plans to transfer since the portal opened March 18. Former Irish power forward Matt Zona and former point guard Alex Wade announced portal plans on March 21.
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Senior swingman Tony Sanders, who has not officially submitted his transfer paperwork, is not expected to return to the program for his additional COVID-19 season of eligibility in 2024-25.
A Top 50 prospect (ranked as high as 49) when he arrived after one year at Brewster (N.H.) Academy, Booth was one of four Irish to appear in all 33 games last season. He averaged 19.9 minutes a game, seventh on the squad. He shot .391 percent from the field, .297 percent from 3 and .634 percent from the foul line.
Booth averaged 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20.5 minutes over 20 Atlantic Coast Conference games. He came off the bench for the first 11 regular-season games before sliding into the starting lineup against Marist on December 22. He bounced back to the bench for a stint before returning as a starter on February 10. He started the last nine games.
The Irish went 9-10 with Booth as a starter. One of his best games arrived in the December 30 home win over Virginia, when he scored 17 points with nine rebounds. Booth closed the regular season by scoring double figures in three of the last six games. He had 11 points and six rebounds in the ACC Tournament second-round loss to Wake Forest.
Booth’s father, Calvin, is the general manager of the Denver Nuggets. Booth reported to Notre Dame on the same Sunday last June that the Nuggets won their first NBA championship.
“I was a little sick that I wasn’t there, but that’s the sacrifice that I have to make,” Booth told the Tribune in the fall. “My vision for the future is possibly getting there myself. The next time, that will be me, not the team that my dad works for.”
Booth originally committed to play at Penn State for coach Micah Shrewsberry.
“I always knew there was the possibility that he could go wherever (but) I was fully committed to him,” Booth told the Tribune in May when he committed to Notre Dame. “I’m committed to his vision, what he sees for the program and for me. I believe in what he’s done in the past at Penn State.
“I was going to follow him wherever he went.”
Booth now likely will go somewhere else.
Booth enrolled at Notre Dame when he was 17 years old. His departure opens an added scholarship for Notre Dame to offer potential transfer portal prospects. Prior to Booth’s departure, Notre Dame was in the portal market for an experienced post player.
Former Massachusetts power forward Josh Cohen, who considered signing with Shrewsberry and Penn State coming out of high school, visited Notre Dame last week. He committed Friday to Arkansas.
Notre Dame also could use another veteran scoring guard and additional perimeter help heading into 2024-25.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.