Former Hawkeye Nunge Finds a New Home

Back on March 30th, Jack Nunge announced that he would be leaving the University of Iowa men's basketball program and entering the transfer portal. Iowa fans like me, felt two things. One, sadness that Nunge was leaving. He had an injury filled career at Iowa and a final season that was also filled with tragedy. Two, you knew that it wouldn't take him long to find a new home. It didn't.

Hawkeye Nation reports that Jack Nunge has committed to Xavier University. He made the announcement via his Instagram page.

Hawkeye Nation points out that Nunge was valuable member of the Iowa basketball team in 2020 and 2021. He was the team's leading scorer and rebounder off the bench for Fran McCaffery's Hawkeyes, averaging 7 points and over 5 rebounds per game. He started 19 games in his Iowa career.

But injuries plagued Nunge's Iowa career. He suffered a season ending ACL tear in 2019. He came back strong for Iowa this fall, but just 12 months after that injury, his father, Dr. Mark Nunge, passed away suddenly on November 28, 2020. He was just 53 years old. Then, another knee injury suffered at Michigan on February 25th, ended Nunge's season. Iowa certainly could have used his size and scoring in the NCAA Tournament.

When Nunge announced his intentions to transfer, his reason was understandable. He wanted to be closer to home. Closer to his mom and siblings back in Indiana. Xavier University is in Cincinnati, around 200 miles from Nunge's hometown of Newburgh, Indiana.