Ex-Michigan State basketball player Gehrig Normand announces transfer decision
The last of Michigan State’s transfer portal exits has found a new school.
Guard Gehrig Normand will play for Santa Clara University next season, heading out to California after two seasons with the Spartans in East Lansing. Normand redshirted his freshman season and played an average 2.0 minutes off the bench in 13 games, usually ones well at hand. He announced his transfer decision late Saturday night, via X (formerly Twitter).
Earlier this week, Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo said Normand was transferring to be closer to home. He was “almost homesick the day he got here” to Michigan, according to Izzo. Ironically, Santa Clara is actually farther away from Normand’s hometown of North Richland Hills, Texas, by about seven hours driving.
Gehrig Normand
Drives (likely flights in this case) might be a little longer, but the 6-foot-5 and 190-pound Normand finds opportunity at Santa Clara (21-13), a West Coast Conference school that finished fourth last season. Normand brings a profile as a 3-point shooter, a former four-star recruit out of Birdville High School who ranked 124th nationally according to 247Sports. In a recruiting class alongside Jeremy Fears Jr., Xavier Booker and Coen Carr, Normand struggled the most to reach the court.
In Santa Clara, Normand finds an offense that should fit his style of play. The Broncos attempted and made more 3-pointers than anyone else in the West Coast Conference, though their two starting guards completed their fourth years of eligibility this season. If Normand can show the knack for shooting that built his reputation as a recruit, he could fit in well.
Alongside Normand, Booker and guard Tre Holloman also entered the transfer portal this offseason. Booker landed at UCLA, while Holloman ended up at North Carolina State.
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Normand will have three seasons left of eligibility.
