North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University men's basketball team has announced the addition of three transfers for the 2024-25 season: Gerald Gittens Jr., Derek Merwick, and Julien Smith.

In his five seasons leading the NMU program, Head Coach Matt Majkrzak emphasized the thorough process undertaken to find players who align with the Wildcat family ethos and can continue their championship tradition. "Our program goals are to win GLIAC Championships and to compete as one of the premier programs of the Midwest Region," Majkrzak stated. He noted that this year's recruitment aimed at building on existing success by integrating experienced guards focused on winning a championship. "They all possess excellent character and fit into our system that has historically had so much success with guards."

Gerald Gittens Jr., a 6'0" guard from Brooklyn, N.Y., averaged 13.8 points per game (ppg), 4.5 rebounds per game (rpg), 3.1 assists per game (apg), and 1.2 steals per game (spg) in his season at the University of Mary (NCAA D2). Prior to that, he was a standout player at North Central Missouri College. Coach Majkrzak commented on Gittens Jr.: "Gerald is a player we've known since his prep days at St. John's Military Academy... We're excited to see what Gerald will do in the Green and Gold for his final year of collegiate basketball."

Derek Merwick, another 6'0" guard from Elkhorn, Neb., played at Midland University (NAIA) where he averaged 21.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 4.9 apg, and 2.1 spg in his only season there. He earned First Team All-GPAC honors for his performance in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and was also recognized academically as CSC Academic All-District for 2023-24. Majkrzak remarked: "Derek is coming off a historic season... He is equally comfortable scoring as he is setting up his teammates."

Julien Smith, a 6'2" guard from Fort Worth, Tex., spent four years at Missouri S&T (NCAA D2), where he scored over 1,600 career points with an average of 15.9 ppg and made significant contributions as a shooter with a career average of making three-pointers at a rate of 35%. He twice earned Second Team All-GLVC honors during his tenure there. On Smith's addition to NMU's roster, Majkrzak said: "Not only competing against him but watching a lot of film... We think he has one more leap as a three-level scorer to make in his collegiate career."