Robert Morris Secures First Transfer Portal Commitment of Offseason

Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole and his staff were left in an entirely better situation this offseason than last year as they managed to retain four high upside players that all played key minutes on a 20-win Colonials’ squad this past season, but that did not mean that there was not still a lot of work to be done in regard to roster configuration.

The work that the staff put in since the season ended is finally starting to pay off externally as Robert Morris landed its first transfer portal commitment of the offseason as UMBC guard Ace Valentine committed to the Colonials on Wednesday, according to The Portal Report and confirmed by Robert Morris Sports Now.

Valentine comes to Robert Morris after spending his first three seasons at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. As a full-time starter this past season, Valentine helped lead the Retrievers back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since they upset Virginia as a No. 16 seed.

The 6-foot-3 guard started all 32 games this past season, and 74 in total over his three years at UMBC. He is coming off of a career season in which he averaged 11.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while shooting over 50% from the field and 38% from three. Valentine earned a spot on the American East’s All-Conference Second Team this past season.

The addition of Valentine ups the Robert Morris scholarship count to six but with a long offseason still ahead of Toole and his staff, that number will grow to around 12-13 by the time that the summer comes to an end. Valentine joins Darius Livingston Jr., Eddie Cooke III, Ta’Zir Smith, Samuel Obenjo and incoming freshman Josh Jackson on the Colonials’ current roster.

Both Livingston and Smith came on strong towards the end of their first seasons of playing Division-I but the addition of a veteran like Valentine creates a strong three-headed guard rotation and will only help the two young guns continue to improve next year.