For the first time since Shaka Smart actually stepped onto the sideline to coach Marquette men’s basketball for the first time in a live game, the Golden Eagles have taken on a Division 1 transfer. On Tuesday, Louisville transfer Sananda Fru announced his commitment to play for Smart and the Golden Eagles in the 2026-27 season.
Fru hails from Berlin, as in the one in Germany. He played for Lowen Braunschweig in the basketball version of the Bundesliga for four seasons before making his way over to Louisville for this past season. The 22 year old, who is listed at 6’11” and 250 pounds on the UL roster, averaged 9.0 points and 6.1 rebounds in 22 minutes per game for the Cardinals and head coach Pat Kelsey. By way of Louisville advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament this season and playing 19 or more minutes in both games, Fru joins Royce Parham as the only Marquette players with more than 5 minutes of NCAA tournament in-game experience.
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The big German started off the year in the starting five for Louisville, and he was there for the first 29 games of the season. On March 3, at home against Syracuse, Pat Kelsey made a switch from Fru to sparsely used Vangelis Zougris for the remainder of the season. Strangely, Fru still played more minutes than Zougris in five of the final six games of the season.
Is this a big deal? I think so. Fru ranked #27 in the country in offensive rebounding rate according to KenPom.com, and #73 in block rate as well. We’ll have to wait and see if he can shoulder a burden of playing more than 22 minutes, but in theory, Sheek Pearson should be able to pick up some of the slack in the middle there anyway. Fru also shot 77% on two-pointers this season, and I’m going to feel pretty good about my guess that a big reason behind that is Fru dunking a bunch of those elite level offensive rebounds for putbacks. He also shot 4-for-8 on three-pointers, so worst case scenario, his defender has to follow him all the way out there juuuuuuust in case. In short? A real big guy who rebounds really well, blocks shots really well, dunks the ball a bunch, and can thrive without needing the ball in his hands. Feels almost exactly what the doctor ordered for Marquette next season.
And now, the new scholarship/roster chart.
Yes, Fru was only with Louisville for one season, but because of his experience playing in Bundesliga in Germany, the NCAA only granted him two years of eligibility. He already used one with the Cardinals, so he only has this one remaining. I think there’s value in his particular level of experience on this roster and I personally don’t have any problem with bringing in a transfer who will be here for one season and then leave again.
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Right now, this means Marquette has two roster spots available for next season. However the addition of Fru does raise a question about MU’s depth at center. I would presume that Fru is the obvious starter right away, and I would imagine that Sheek Pearson is the most likely candidate to absorb minutes off the bench at the 5. Where does that leave Josh Clark and Caedin Hamilton, neither of whom was particularly impressive this past season? I think putting Fru on this roster makes it harder for them to find playing time in the immediate future, and it’s not like either man can redshirt this upcoming season since both have already sat out a year for developmental reasons. There are worse things to happen to you than having lots of options at the 5…. but that’s only if you think you have legitimate options there, and Shaka Smart wouldn’t have brought in Fru if he thought he had legitimate options other than Pearson, right?
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