News On The Horizon 7/4/2026

Road Trip Brainstorm Leads to White’s CSU Return--HoriZone Roundtable

Dan Weber’s Just Sayin’: Don’t forget Barrels as they finish up on road, getting back to NKU basketball--NKyTribune

Getting back to basketball

For those of you who thought the Northern Kentucky University basketball program could not get more international after last season, with starters from Perth, Australia, and Hamilton, New Zealand, on the Norse’s far-flung roster, you haven’t seen anything yet. You’ll need a program and a world atlas for this team in the early going.

The Norse, who will introduce the team at a summer practice July 21, will feature an additional two players, both 6-foot-8, from Australia in addition to starting point guard Ethan Elliott from Perth. They are senior transfer Noah Pagotto from Port Macquarie by way of East Texas A&M and junior transfer Will ShorttGabrielius Jokubauskas is a 6-5 freshman from Vilnius, Lithuania, where he played in the National Basketball League there. Patrick Otto Mae is a 6-9 freshman from Talinn, Estonia, by way of New Hampshire’s Tilton Prep.

Another returnee is redshirt sophomore Donovan Rakotonanahary, a 6-6 guard from Antavaro, Madagascar by way of Oak Hill Academy He’s joined by 6-9 redshirt freshman Juanmo Ruiz, from Begijar, Spain and the Under-19 national league there.

With no Northern Kentuckians on the roster, the lone Greater Cincinnati product is 6-4 junior returnee Bryce Darbyshire, from Cincinnati’s Sycamore High School. Another 6-4 returnee is redshirt freshman JJ Apathjang from Salt Lake City’s Judge Memorial High School.

B.J. Davis-Ray, a 6-6 sophomore guard transfer from SMU, is a St. Louis native who starred at JSerra High in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Eric Acker is a 6-3 guard transfer from East New York, NY, who starred at Long Island University and played at LaSalle before heading to NKU.

Another returnee is 6-7 Ryan Tolliver from Northwest Catholic High in Hartford, Conn. He’s joined by newcomer guard, 6-2 Willie Foster from Lima Senior High in Lima, Ohio.

Sam Vinson (Photo provided)

That’s seven international players from Australia, Spain, Madagascar, Estonia and Lithuania. And six U.S. players from Connecticut, Utah, California, New York and two from Ohio.

By comparison, the 2026-2027 NKU women’s basketball team has three international players – from Australia, Israel and Canada – and 11 US players with four Northern Kentuckians among six Greater Cincinnatians.

One more Norse hoops moment

As NKU alum Sam Vinson finishes up his first season for the Kalgoorlie Goldfield Giants in the Australian Semipro league, the 6-5 guard is putting up some decent numbers with team-leading totals of 5.67 assists per game and .47 blocks per game with second-best team averages of 20.13 points and 6.93 rebounds.