Rutgers men’s basketball has added its second center in the 2026 transfer portal, as former Kansas State center Dorin Buca has committed to play his final season in Piscataway, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
Buca only has one season of college basketball experience at Kansas State. The 7-foot-2 big man will be 24 years old by the time the season starts, with his time in Manhattan taking the place of his junior year of eligibility. During his only season of experience, he averaged 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 27 games while playing an average of 12.9 minutes per game.
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Buca is originally from Perugia, Italy, and has played on several different teams in his home country. He played for Libertas 1947 Livorno in the Italian Series B during the 2023-24 season, averaging 3.3 points per game while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor. He also grabbed an average of 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 10.8 minutes per game.
In the 2024-25 campaign, Buca played for Akern Livorno Libertas in the Italian Serie A2. He averaged 5.6 points per game on 60.8 percent shooting from the field, while grabbing an average of 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 16.7 minutes per game.
One glaring issue with his play that will need to be cleaned up is the fact that he had a 31.5 percent turnover rate last season. For example, the average turnover rate for a team is about 17 percent. His offensive rating, according to KenPom, is also slightly below average.
Buca, who started four games last season for the Wildcats, will likely compete for the starting job with Virginia Tech transfer Christian Gurdak.
