WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Basketball and Head Coach King Rice have secured four Hawks ahead of the 2023-24 season, including three transfers and one true freshman. Rice's son, Xander, will come to MU from Bucknell, and is joined by Tulsa transfer Nikita Konstantytnovskyi, Evansville transfer Gabe Spinelli and freshman Cornelius "Boog" Robinson Jr.
 
Rice comes in after scoring 1,076 points in four seasons at Bucknell, where he graduated in May after earning All-Patriot Third Team honors on the floor as well as three times being named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll off the court. He started 75 of 110 career games for the Bison, shooting 41% and 84% from the foul line. Rice comes off his best statistical season to date, where he averaged 14.1 points and 3.7 assists while making 69 threes and playing over 33 minutes per game. He graduated with the fourth best free throw percentage in program history after playing at St. Anthony's, Mater Dei and The Patrick School scholastically. Rice will play his final season of eligibility for his father, who is entering his 13^th season on the Monmouth sidelines.
 
"Xander can play multiple spots, he's super bright on and off the floor, the thing he probably does best is shoot the ball," said Rice. "He's very unselfish he does what you're supposed to do which shows signs of great leadership. This is going to be one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of because the man he's becoming, it's so cool to see."
 
Konstantynovskyi comes in from the University of Tulsa, where he spent two seasons. As a sophomore in 2021-22, the forward played in 27 games and started nine, averaging 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 52.8% from the field. He was limited last season to just 11 minutes in two games due to injury. Prior to Tulsa, Konstantynovskyi spent two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, where he netted 11.1 points and grabbed eight rebounds per contest in 2020-21 in 21 games. He was second nationally in the NJCAA in field goal percentage at a whopping 60.2%, second in blocked shots with 44 and ninth in total rebounding with 214. He is a native of Kyiv, Ukraine where he attended Secondary School No. 163 and represented his country at the U18 3v3 at the 2019 World Cup in Mongolia. Konstantynovskyi will have two years of eligibility remaining.
 
"Nikita's a tough kid, and he would have been the starter at Tulsa had he not been injured," said Rice. "He played for the Ukrainian National Team when he was younger, he's graduated college and he can really play. He doesn't back down from anyone and he just keeps competing, and I think Monmouth fans will be really happy to see him on the floor."
 
Spinelli enters after spending one season at Evansville, where he played in 30 games, netting 4.6 points and shooting 46.5% from the field. He added 29 assists and 17 steals in just over 15 minutes per contest. He played previously at the Darrow School in New Lebanon, NY and became the first Division I recruit ever out of the school. Spinelli played before that at Watertown High School, where he averaged 20 points, five rebounds and five assists while helping lead his team to a MIAA Division III state title. Spinelli will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.
 
"Gabe is a very, very tough, hard-nosed player," said Rice. "He wants to get in your face and he's got a lot of game. He's going to get an opportunity here with a few years to grow, and he's a worker. Gabe's going to have a lot of success here with how hard he works."
 
Robinson is a true freshman from the Garden State, playing his high school basketball at Camden High. The 6'5" Robinson won a state title at Camden to go with three sectional crowns, averaging 10 points and just over seven rebounds a game as a senior. Robinson, a forward, had five games last season with double digit rebounds, in addition to a 19-point outburst against Camden Catholic and a five-steal performance early in the season.

"Cornelius is an unbelievable young man," said Rice. "We recruited him for three years, I loved that kid and I loved his family. His father called me and I told him I would love for his son to come with us, and he came. Cornelius brings toughness, he's a great student, he can guard 1-4 and maybe even 1-5. He played with guys who are future NBA players, and he might have been their most important guy on the team because he did so many things and helped them win so many games."
 
The four Hawks will join the program at various points of the summer ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.