Dan Gherezgher is the latest Norse to enter the transfer portal, he announced Friday to The Northerner. Gherezgher is seeking other playing options after one season in Highland Heights. He is the sixth NKU player to make this decision since the portal opened on March 24.
Gherezgher transferred from Michigan Tech at the Division II level to play for the Norse as a point guard at the Division I level.
The transition wasn’t immediately smooth as he had to battle for minutes with other guards like Sam Vinson, Randall Pettus II and other Division II transfer Josh Dilling. Before February, Gherezgher only registered one double-digit effort in his game against the College of Charleston in November 2024.
As the season progressed, the DII transfers proved they were just as valuable as the veteran starters of Vinson and Pettus. Dilling made his name known with his sharp shooting touch, becoming a top-three shooter in the Horizon League in three-point percentage.
Gherezgher began playing his best ball as postseason play neared. Over the last 11 games, Gherezgher topped double digits eight times, with his best performance being 26 points versus Cleveland State in February.
While shooting from range heated up for Dilling, there was a similar progression for Gherezgher. Over those last 11 games, where NKU went 8-3, the Wisconsin native shot a scintillating 45% from deep.
Gherezgher said his progression came when he stopped making the way he played more complex than it had to be.
“The key has definitely just been focusing on simplifying the game for me. Me and Coach Horn talk a lot. He has been sticking with me on taking care of the ball and getting other shots, and just from doing that, everything else opens up offensively,” he said after his 26 point performance against Cleveland State in February.
NKU Head Coach Darrin Horn echoed those sentiments.
“I think less is more for Dan…he has done a great job of taking care of the ball and what we have found for him offensively is when he focuses on that and getting shots for teammates, he’s so gifted offensively, he can just kind of go make some stuff happen,” he said.
Horn said he hadn’t seen a drastic jump in progression like that since the “Dwyane Wade breakout” when he was helping coach the NBA hall-of-famer during his college days at Marquette.
Gherezgher finished the year averaging seven points, two assists and two rebounds per game while shooting nearly 35% from deep over the entire season. His next stop will be getting a shifty point guard that can create many mismatches and always be trusted to lead a team above all.
Coach Horn and his staff now have an uphill battle after the sixth player entered the transfer portal. With five seniors potentially all on their way out, the staff has a lot of ground to make up coming off their shortest postseason run during the Horn era after falling to Cleveland State in the Horizon League quarterfinals.