On April 5, the Quinnipiac community was hit with major news that MAAC Player of the Year Amarri Monroe will be returning to Hamden for his senior year.
The junior forward entered the transfer portal on March 21, one week after the Bobcats’ loss to Iona in the MAAC Semifinals on March 14.
Just two days before announcing his return, reports indicated Monroe had narrowed his final six teams to Rutgers, UConn, Miami, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh and Kansas, with the junior forward looking to jump to a Power Five program after a stellar campaign.
Monroe is the only All-MAAC First Team player to return to his original team after Iona’s senior guard DeJour Reaves, Marist’s sophomore guard Josh Pascarelli, Merrimack’s sophomore guard Adam “Budd” Clark and graduate student center Paul Otieno all entered the transfer portal.
After being slotted into the No. 1 scoring option for the Bobcats after Matt Balanc ‘24 left Hamden to pursue a professional career in Denmark, Monroe took the opportunity and ran with it.
He averaged 18.1 points and nine rebounds, aiding the Bobcats to a second straight MAAC Regular Season Championship. The Newburgh, New York, native will be a leading candidate for Preseason Player and Defensive Player of the Year next season, with the latter being one he has coveted since the beginning of the year.
“(I want to) get better with defense; I love defense,” Monroe said Oct. 23. “No one really likes defense growing up, but that defensive award, I wish it was mine last year. So another reason I came back (was) because I got to get that one. You know, I’m dying to get the (MAAC) Defensive Player of the Year award.”
Even with NIL offers from the top programs in college basketball, he chose to stay because of the community as the biggest reason he chose to stay.
“I came back because of my love for this program, this team, this community, it’s more than basketball to me,” Monroe wrote on social media. “They gave me a home when everyone forgot about me. I’m sticking with the people who helped me find myself again.”
That program that he cherishes lost Otieno, who transferred to Saint Louis and sophomore guard Khaden Bennett, who will leave via the transfer portal.
Additionally, Quinnipiac also lost potential transfer Lateef Patrick Jr. after he decided to decommit from Quinnipiac due to uncertainty surrounding the team, but Monroe’s return may sway his mind.
Monroe will partner to make a dynamic duo with freshman guard Jaden Zimmerman, who chose not to jump into the portal. Expectation looks to be high for the duo, with Zimmerman posting a photo of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade on his Instagram story referencing the two as they try to secure a third consecutive MAAC Regular Season Championship and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
