UM lands basketball transfers Jalen Blackmon (Stetson), Natalija Marshall (Notre Dame)
It was a productive weekend for the University of Miami women’s and men’s basketball programs, as both teams landed promising transfers.
Stetson guard Jalen Blackmon, the nation’s 10th leading scorer last season with 21.3 points per game, will be joining the Hurricanes. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported that Blackmon committed to UM and a school source told the Miami Herald an announcement is expected late Sunday afternoon.
Blackmon, a 6-3 junior with one year of eligibility remaining, chose UM over BYU, Cal, Villanova and Northwestern. He shot 43 percent from the field and 38 percent from three-point range last season.
He began his college career at Grand Canyon University in the WAC and transferred to Stetson for his sophomore season. He averaged 15.4 points as a sophomore.
Blackmon, son of former Kentucky player James Blackmon, has an impressive basketball pedigree. He was a four-star ESPN recruit coming out of high school, ranking 18th all-time for Indiana high school basketball career scoring with 2,269 points despite only playing eight games during his junior season.
He holds Marion High School’s all-time career scoring record, bettering his father’s 1,898 points. He averaged 33.5 points as a high school senior in 2020-21 and 27.3 points throughout his high school career. He scored 55 points in his high school finale state playoff game in March 2021.
His father was a runner-up to Steve Alford for the Indiana Mr. Basketball award. He played for Kentucky and was the No. 5 pick in the NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets. He went on to play in the CBA and World Basketball League.
One brother, James Jr., was a McDonald’s All-American, played at Indiana from 2014-17 and has played in the G-League, Italy and Turkey. The other brother, Vijay, played at St. Francis, Indiana and Lindenwood
A day earlier, Natalija Marshall, a 6-5 center/forward from Notre Dame, announced that she had joined the UM women’s team as a grad transfer. The New York native was a member of the 2023 ACC Regular Season Championship Fighting Irish team as well as the 2024 ACC Regular Season and Tournament Championships.
She set career highs last season in points per game (5.0), rebounds per game (3.7) and minutes per game (20.2). Marshall joins twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder, and Daniela Abies as transfer additions to the Hurricanes 2024-25 team.
“I’m so excited to share that I’ll be using my fifth year of eligibility at the University of Miami while also getting my Master’s degree in Sport Administration,” Marshall announced on social media.
