Former Northwestern men’s basketball players Steve Lepore and Brody Deren said Monday that they have committed to play at Wake Forest and Creighton, respectively.
Lepore and Deren are two of the four Wildcats who said three weeks ago they would transfer from NU. The Cats finished 5-25 overall and 0-17 in the Big Ten this season.
The other two players, David Newman and Adam Robinson, said they are still undecided, although Robinson said he is “really leaning toward South Dakota State,” a Division II school.
Both Lepore and Deren made trips to their future schools last week. Deren made his commitment Friday and Lepore made his Sunday.
And because they decided to transfer to another Division I school, Lepore and Deren will be ineligible to play in games next season, in accordance with NCAA rules. They can still practice with their teams.
As a sophomore swingman, the 6-foot-5 Lepore started all 30 games and was NU’s second-leading scorer, averaging 9.2 points per game. Deren, a 6-foot-7 freshman center, averaged 3.5 points per game and started 12 contests.
Wake Forest finished the year at 22-14 and won the NIT championship over Notre Dame. Creighton made the NCAA tournament for the second straight year — losing to Auburn in the first round — and ended its year with a 23-10 record.
Lepore said his decision came down to either Wake Forest or Arizona State. Over the summer, Lepore played on the United States Junior World Championships team, whose head coach was Rob Evans from Arizona State and assistant was Dave Odom from Wake Forest.
“I wanted to go to a school where the academics were just as good or pretty close to Northwestern’s,” Lepore said. “And Wake’s are. They’re pretty good in basketball, too. I think I fit into their style of play really well, and it’s a good fit in all areas for me.”
Lepore, who is from suburban Cleveland, said he could step in and play immediately for the Demon Deacons after sitting out a season.
“They’ll have three guards for two positions when I get eligible,” Lepore said. “I don’t know if I could start right away, but I’ll be able to play there.”
Deren said Creighton was his second-choice school as a prep star. He was heavily recruited by head coach Dana Altman in high school and Creighton, located in Omaha, Neb., is less than an hour away from Deren’s home in Harlan, Iowa.
“They’ve been in the tournament the last two years and they’ll be really good next year,” Deren said. “Even in two years, I don’t see them dropping off any. They have all the pieces.”
Deren was also considering Iowa and Iowa State. He said his ability to make a major impact when he starts playing with the Blue Jays was the No. 1 factor in his decision.
“I didn’t want to go anywhere where I would be sitting on the bench after already being ineligible,” Deren said. “I should be able to start (at Creighton) right away.”
In addition, Deren said Newman had visited Creighton last week and was still considering transferring there.
