Bio Blast: Yale forward Isaac Celiscar

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has been targeting plenty of backcourt players in the portal so far, but there are several frontcourt pieces also in play.

One of them is Yale transfer Isaac Celiscar, a 6-foot-6 sophomore who picked up Second Team All-Ivy League honors this past season. KSR+ reports that there is real interest from Kentucky’s side in Celiscar, with Pope looking to visit him in the near future. Other high-major programs are also involved.

After two seasons at Yale, Celiscar will have two years of eligibility remaining at his next stop. On3 ranks him as the 98th-best overall player and the 11th-best small forward to enter his name into the portal so far this offseason. Let’s get to know him a little bit better through another edition of KSR’s Bio Blast.

From the bench to a full-time starter

Celiscar comes from a football family. One of his older brothers, Josh, was at South Florida last season, while another, Donald, spent time with the Indianapolis Colts before going into coaching. Celiscar was considered a three-star recruit out of Winter Haven (FL), choosing Yale over offers from the likes of Lehigh, Samford, New Mexico State, High Point, Florida Atlantic, Indiana State, and others.

Yale head coach James Jones described Celiscar as a “combo forward”. He’s listed as a forward, but can make plays with the ball in his hands on the wing. As a true freshman in 2024-25, he came off the bench in all 30 games for the Bulldogs, averaging 7.1 points, five rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 20.7 minutes per contest. His scoring came mostly inside the arc, but it was efficient with a 58.5 percent mark on two-pointers. Celiscar picked up an Ivy League Rookie of the Week in February before scoring 12 points in Yale’s NCAA Tournament opener against Texas A&M.

Celiscar’s game took a leap this past season. He racked up 24 double-digit scoring games (ranking second on the team in points per game) with six double-doubles, starting all 31 games for Yale. He finished with per-game averages of 13.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 31.1 minutes. His shooting numbers also improved. Celiscar went up to 62.4 percent on two-pointers while more than doubling his three-point volume. After shooting just 7-26 (26.9 percent) from deep as a freshman, he went 24-59 (40.7 percent) as a sophomore.

In the Ivy League Tournament, Celiscar opened the event with 27 points in a win over Cornell. He followed that up with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Penn in the championship game, but it came in an 88-84 overtime loss. Yale accepted a bid in the NIT, with Celiscar going for 23 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists in a one-point loss to UNC Wilmington.

What the advanced stats say about his game

The advanced analytics love what Celiscar brings to the floor offensively as a playmaking forward who can score at an efficient rate. His true shooting percentage (66.2), assist percentage (18.4), and assist/turnover ratio (2.33) all graded out in the 92nd percentile or higher among forwards, per CBB Analytics. He’s a good, not great, scorer in most areas with the ability to consistently get to the free-throw line. Despite an above-average usage rate, he has not been turnover-prone.

But to be blunt, his defensive numbers do not look good. All-in-one stats like RAPM and Win Shares rank him high on offense, but average or below average on defense. His DRAPM (a player’s defensive impact on their team’s points allowed per 100 possessions) of -1.1 graded out in the 21st percentile. The offensive numbers are hard to ignore, though.

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