Rutgers Basketball lands international transfer guard Lewis Duarte
Rutgers Basketball has landed its first transfer portal addition in former Overtime Elite and international guard Lewis Duarte.
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BB Recruiting New Mexico transfer SG Lewis Duarte has signed with Rutgers
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
Could not find any, dude is like a Ghost or maybe was in witness protection. He is 6’5”, found that much. He enrolled at NM State 6/30/2023, compiled no stats???, then entered the portal on 4/7/2026. What exactly was going on for that roughly 3 year period? There’s more to this story.
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No stats to be found… praying this is a depth signing end of bench for next to $0
He was with Overtime elite in the g-league for a bit but signed with NMSU in 2023 with no playing stats at all? That’s really odd and concerning
He was with Overtime elite in the g-league for a bit but signed with NMSU in 2023 with no playing stats at all? That’s really odd and concerning
Also why are we signing another guard … unless they either know somebody is leaving OR this is simply end of bench depth for cheap
I found this. Cousin of Pacer’s player. Has to be a depth piece.
www.rotowire.com
Lewis Duarte - Free Agent Basketball | RotoWire
www.rotowire.com
Last year was the mystery Euro.
Now we have the mystery Caribbean player?
Now we have the mystery Caribbean player?
Dorian Jones replacement for the bench
It might me the first early sign that this year’s portal endeavor might be a suh-wing and a miss! Hope not, hopefully this guy and others are a diamond in the rough, but likely just rough.
Everyone is freaking out because he didn't have any stats at NM State... Let's try to do a little bit of research before we start freaking out. 
Seems he was playing in the Dominican and not actually at New Mexico?
From November
From November
That's not NM State stats.
Those stats are from the Dominican League whatever that is.
I don’t get it. The kid signed with the Aggies In June of 2023 but if you go to their official website and pull up the rosters, he’s not listed on any of the 3 past teams 2023-24 to present. And there seems to be no news about him whatsoever since the signing either.
Pikell is out of his league in this new era of NIL and roster management. He needs to go back to a Stony Brook to be successful where he can build a roster and work with guys that will stay around. Definitely not the right guy to move us forward. Does not take a rocket scientist to see it.
He played on OTE in 2022-23 and then played professionally in the Dominican. Here is the best spot to see his highlights…
WVU, Seton Hall and Wake Forest were also interested. 6’6” guard. Looks like Caleb McConnell.
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WVU, Seton Hall and Wake Forest were also interested. 6’6” guard. Looks like Caleb McConnell.
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Right, but it's not like he was not playing. He was playing in a pro league.
Was he hurt last year? Only played 9 games?He played on OTE in 2022-23 and then played professionally in the Dominican. Here is the best spot to see his highlights…
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The professional Dominican league is probably on par with the crappy league Zrno played in
its gotta be d3 type talent for the most part because there’s no hot bed of talent
Agreed. Based on the stats posted above from last season, I’m sure we paid this kid basically nothing if we’re signing him now. Someone has to fill out those end spots on the roster. No issue with this. The big question is if we understand the market well enough to get what we need and act fast enough. The longer that goes on without us having a center the more concerning it gets.
That’s fine. Isn’t this what you said we were supposed to do? Fill out the bottom of the roster with cheap bodies. There’s zero chance we paid a kid who was a NM state sign in 2022 anything substantial. This is a body - period. A foreign kid who was good enough to land a D1 offer several years back.
It’s very hard to get info on him. My guess is he came in for a workout for the staff and they really liked him. He is a high flyer for sure the kid’s head is above the rim when he dunks.
Zrno and Badalau played in “Pro Leagues” as well, I get it explains where he’s been playing and what he’s been doing the past 2-3 years. But, by no means does it provide assurance we picked up a guy who can contribute at the Big 10 level. Maybe he can, but the fact he was “in a pro league” is no guarantee.
I will
Hold out hope that is the case it will be hard to judge the signing until the roster fills out
You're definitely right, but there were people originally saying he didn't play at all. That was my only point.
Not sure if he just left NMSU or wasn't eligible, or what, but seems he ended up in the DR, where he seemed to have one decent and one poor year.
Doesn't look close to 6'6 though, more like 6'3 to my eyes, which admittedly aren't great anymoreHe played on OTE in 2022-23 and then played professionally in the Dominican. Here is the best spot to see his highlights…
WVU, Seton Hall and Wake Forest were also interested. 6’6” guard. Looks like Caleb McConnell.
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With shoes on he’s 6’6.5”. I guess we have to wait for measurements.To my point in other threads.
Even if we spent $200k on this guy - that's $200k less to spend on the frontcourt.
Replacing this guy with a walkon/just scholarship player at the end of the cycle would be my strategy.
Rather have a guy w some experience at the end of the bench than a high school kid. Who knows if he got paid something or they sold him on show up here and perform and you have a shot to make real $
Fair enough, thanks for posting the pro league info. I have no idea what this guy will be but this is certainly not what I expected the first signing to be, was hoping for a center. Was also at least hoping for a guy who has proven numbers at a high level of NCAA basketball.
Everyone is all of a sudden a college basketball GM. Did you stay at a Holiday Inn last night?
No but I have followed NBA and NFL for decades and understand the very basics of roster construction under limited funds and a salary cap structure.
Something that is brand new to college basketball GMs and fans.
It's basic asset allocation.
Every dollar spent now on the bench is less dollars spent on front line players.
Lets say the Nets have 30m in cap space and need a #1 star player likely to cost $20m and end of bench guys.
If they go and get 3 $5m players to start Free Agency - guess what? No longer have money for an elite player.
The great thing about college basketball is that the minimum is $0 (scholarship).
So nearly all the money can go towards the players on the court most of the time.