Nolan Minessale is coming home to play for the Marquette men's basketball team.
The 6-foot-5 guard, who was one of the top mid-major players at St. Thomas, will transfer to MU, a program source told the Journal Sentinel.
Minessale has two seasons of eligibility remaining. He joins Louisville big man Sananda Fru in the Golden Eagles' transfer-portal haul.
Minessale was a standout player at Milwaukee Marquette High School, helping the Hilltoppers win a WIAA Division I state championship in 2024.
He joined a strong collection of Wisconsin talent at St. Thomas, which recently completed a transition from NCAA Division III to Division I. The Tommies, who compete in the Summit League, were expected to compete for their first NCAA Tournament bid this season but they were beaten by North Dakota in the second round of the conference tournament.
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