As you can see in the scholarship chart, Notre Dame is currently using 12 scholarships for the 2016-2017 season, leaving one wide open for the 2017 recruiting class. There will be two additional scholarships becoming available once VJ Beachem and Steve Vasturia graduate after this season. You probably did the math already, but we are looking at a possible 3-man recruiting class for 2017. Looking ahead even further, there is a good possibility that there will be 4 scholarships for the 2018 class. Even though it’s early, that class may be starting to fill up fairly soon as well.
As for any consternation regarding the lack of commits so far, I can certainly understand that. But just for context, 37 of 247’s composite top 50 rated players for 2017 remain uncommitted. It does seem like the basketball recruiting cycle is being pushed later and later every season. This might be especially true of the top guys that Notre Dame’s staff is increasingly going for these days. My advice would be to wait until the September run of visits pass until you freak out. If no commits come (or, at least, it doesn’t look like Notre Dame is firmly in the driver’s seat for any of these guys), then it might be panic time for Irish fans.
Irish Hoops Recruiting Board
DJ Harvey – SG/SF – 41st overall prospect in 247’s composite ranking, 4 stars, .983 rating
Let’s start with the most fun name on the list. Why is Harvey a fun name for Irish fans? He’s been a five-star prospect much of the time this class has been ranked by the major services, only recently “falling” into high four-star territory because *shrugs shoulders*. He was, by all accounts, very impressive in all phases of his game most of the summer. Harvey is a great-if-not-ELITE athlete who is quite well-rounded offensively at a premium position. Harvey also plays highly competitive ball year-round at DeMatha HS and for the Team Takeover AAU program.
And on top of all that, Notre Dame is currently the crystal ball favorite for Harvey. There was a lot of early traction for Arizona, but Harvey’s comfort level with Brey (who has personally been recruiting Harvey as long as if not longer than anyone) and the newly-constructed coaching staff has apparently given the Irish the leg up in this one. 7 of the 8 predictions on 247 that came in this summer have been for Notre Dame.
The staff hopes to land Harvey, or at least pull way out in front, during his visit this upcoming weekend. Louisville, Texas, UConn, and Alabama are looming large here, however, so don’t count your chickens yet by any stretch.
Darryl Morsell – CG – 60th overall, 4 stars, .976 rating
Morsell is a very interesting prospect in that he wasn’t much of one until this summer. Then, almost all at once, he earned about a dozen high-major offers seemingly out of nowhere. He is only rated by one ranking service yet (Scout), who debuted him at 60th. He is well on track to be a mid/high four-star by everyone once rankings are updated more thoroughly. Morsell is a very confident, smooth-as-can-be guard with a sound shooting stroke and could slot in quite nicely next to TJ Gibbs in the future Irish backcourt.
Morsell’s final five include Dayton, Maryland, Notre Dame, Villanova, and Virginia Tech. All except Va Tech currently have him on the books for an OV, but Notre Dame was first to do so and have just generally been very aggressive here since offering in July. Maryland is a bit of a favorite here due to proximity, but Morsell, who attends Eric Atkins’ Mount St. Joseph’s high school (where Atkins was just inducted into their Hall of Fame), is quite high on Notre Dame. Morsell visits South Bend the weekend of September 17th for the Michigan State game.
Luke Garza – C – 138th overall, 4 stars, .923 rating
Garza is another recent offer for Notre Dame and plays for the same AAU team as Harvey. He is a traditional big, quite skilled, but not exactly a rim-rattler. Brey was able to see Garza quite a bit as he was chasing Harvey all over the AAU circuit, so he must have a good idea where Garza can fit into his program (i.e.: they need more bigs). Garza will visit the same weekend as Morsell, and a visit materializing so quickly after an offer must bode well. Iowa, Alabama, and Georgia have been recruiting Garza a lot longer and are the likely favorites at this point.
Aamir Simms – PF – 141st overall, 4 stars, .922 rating
Simms earned rave reviews this summer as one of the best rebounders at a couple high-profile events and as a very active, bouncy defender. When the Irish offered Simms back in April, he said that it was an offer that he wanted for a long time, certainly a good sign for Notre Dame. He has since put the Irish in his top 6 with Clemson, Iowa State, Miami, Pitt, and VCU. The staff is trying to get Simms to squeeze in a visit to South Bend in September (or, perhaps, bump one of his other scheduled visits). However, they might have to wait until October to make an impression after Simms has already visited the rest of his top 6. I would estimate Simms to be a longshot, but he is worth monitoring should he visit without committing elsewhere first.
Robby Carmody (2018) – SG – 58th overall, 4 stars, .975 rating
Why bother with a 2018 prospect when the Irish haven’t even started their 2017 class? Well, they might be getting this 2018 recruit before anyone else. Carmody is on track to visit for the September 17th weekend as well, which will be his third visit in the past year and first since scoring an offer in May. It left an impression on him that he was Notre Dame’s first 2018 offer.
The Irish staff, including Brey and Ryan Ayers, are being very aggressive here. Michigan and Pitt are real threats, but Notre Dame beat both schools to the punch by quite a margin. Michigan just offered a couple weeks ago and Kevin Stallings just finally reaffirmed an earlier Pitt offer shortly thereafter. That’s an entire summer with a leg up on the main competition (which may also include recent offers Ohio State and Syracuse). Carmody and Ayers have a great rapport, and the Irish will get their chance to close this one out soon. If it lingers too much past that September 17th weekend, then these other schools will have their chance to catch up.
Wow, Brey really aiming high here. I like it. Ride those back to back elite 8s to nice recruiting class. Even if he can just pick up 1 Top 150 big and 1 Top 60 shooter, I’ll be pretty happy with where we stand. Throw in another Top 60 shooter in the 2018 class, and we’re sitting really pretty. If he somehow could pull in both of the bigs, we’re looking at probably the most well-rounded roster he’s had in years. Brey might even be tempted to go 8 deep in a rotation!
Harvey and Carmody would be a terrific baseline to continue the truly excellent (and, in my mind, underrated) back court tradition we have. At this point, it’s hard to see us ever truly “breaking through” with recruiting bigs, just keep bringing in guys Brey likes with different skill sets and develop 1-2 of them to be really good players, as he’s seemingly done for awhile now. That’s a pretty damn good system at this point.
I know we aren’t likely to ever have a great back-to-the-basket big, but it would be interesting to see Brey’s lineup with a defensive eraser in the middle. The 4 around 1 offense might not end up working at all, which could easily negate the benefits, but if you’re going to always struggle to implement a defensive system, one great defensive big is a good way to help clean up that mess.
That being said, I’ll gladly take the high flying offense Brey is currently winning with over the Burn that Brey used to win with. In a college basketball wasteland devoid of exciting offenses, Brey continues to run an incredibly fun system.
Your SS chart needs updating. If you show 2 seasons to Torres with a RS notation, you need to show 4 seasons for Burns with a RS notation (you have just 3). I’d just move his name below Rex and Matt Ryan and above Djogo.
Simms is definitely a long shot – Notre Dame has not been as aggressive with him as others recently. Another 2018 name to look for is Tim Finke, a 4* guard from Illinois – he is visiting this weekend along with DJ Harvey.
While I see that some could be nervous by the lack of commits, it seems as if Brey is getting into a higher tier of recruits this year – ones that take longer to make decisions. The baseline for recruiting is mimicking the new baseline for our tournament success! Now we just need a practice facility…
There don’t appear to be many 2017 options for 3 spots.
Simms appears to be out. Randolph cancelled his visit, going to Cuse instead- seems likely he may be off the board. Jaren Jackson is a major long shot.
Right now it appears there are just 3 legit options who have been offered- the first 3 names noted in the article. That would be a very good class- just very skeptical Brey can land all 3.
Still a bit of a head scratcher, Brey turned down a cinch verbal in Reuvers (who is now in many top 100 lists).
So you’re saying it’s time to panic?
I should have written as much in the post, but a 2-man class for 2017 is not necessarily a bad thing and may actually be the plan, especially given so few names remaining. The trend for college coaches is certainly to keep a scholarship available for a transfer as transfers have increased so dramatically in recent years, and that has seemingly been Brey’s preference as well. So maybe I should have set the expectations better for a 2-man class rather than hype it up for 3.
Alternatively, a transfer out (no clear “favorites” there, but you never know) or a mutual decision that Torres will not be staying for a 5th (not sure what the plan is there, either) could potentially open something back up to 3 (or maybe even 4) as well.
I do, however, think it would be a misfire not to get a big in this class. By 2018-2019, only Burns and Mooney will be left as true post players for at least that season. Might be playing with fire to just have those two and whatever true freshmen from the 2018 class. Maybe Djogo or Ryan could fake it defensively down there, but I’d rather not have to find out.
I would say if they just sign 2 in the fall, it certainly points to Torres playing a 5th. Obviously if there are 3 recruits good enough to offer and accept, you would prefer that (bird in hand). It is apparent, Brey is not going after a reach recruit unless it is in the spring. Apparently he viewed Reuvers as a reach recruit or too much of a duplication of Mooney (though much skinnier). In the spring, you then have 4 markets to go after to add another player or two: HS spring late risers or a depth target (Farrell), recruits asking out of their LOI due to a coaching change, traditional transfers, and grad transfers. A name worth keeping an eye on is 7’0 Isaac Humphries at UK. He will be a soph this season. He has some promise down low and can shoot. He finished up his prep career at nearby Lalumiere and reclassified to 2015 from 2016. I just don’t see him ever playing more than 10 mpg at UK. They have some stud frosh bigs (particularly Adebayo) this season and will bring in more next season (Bamba). Four star combo guard Charles Matthews saw the over recruiting writing on the wall and transferred to MI. You are correct, they definitely need a big if they do not land a transfer (which IIRC the last one was Sherman), but Brey has been vocal he wants replacements for Steve and VJ. It would sure seem Morsell and Harvey would be excellent gets. As far as 18-19, you can make a case for all positions in the 2017 classs- as right now there are 6 players for that season (barring a RS season to Colson/Geben/Farrell): PG Gibbs, SG Rex, SG/SF Djogo, SF/PF Ryan, PF/C Burns, PF/C Mooney. I list Burns as a potential 5 spot candidate because he has been described as Nash with a jump shot. The obvious comparison on Mooney is Kurz. I see 4 levels of HS recruits Brey looks at: 1. The big time top 50 talent- will be an impact player at ND (though possibly not as a frosh) with certain NBA potential. Examples would be DJ and Harvey. 2. The high 3 star to mid 4 star talent who has the potential to be a star college player with NBA potential (Grant, Pat, VJ). Developmental time and opportunity to play will vary. 3. The mid 3 star to low 4 star talent that appear to be program guys and could be key players as early as their soph seasons, but more than likely as juniors or seniors (Steve, Bonzie, Geben). What’s troubling is this seems to be the more likely tier for Rex and Matt Ryan than tier #2. Translation: there needs to be some major and perhaps unexpected improvement in 16-17 for the 17-18 team to be anything more than NIT worthy. 4. The low rated flyers that are also program/depth guys with minimal expectations. Could strike gold with an Abro, but… Read more »
I’m hoping Ryan can still be one of your Tier 2 guys. I’m not sure he’ll ever be a strong defender, but with his shooting stroke, I could see him putting up some big numbers this year. I’m hoping he basically follows the VJ developmental path.
As for Rex, I agree 100%; I had higher hopes for him in his freshman year. Maybe those were unrealistically high expectations, but he would have to make an incredible jump in production this year to get to where I hoped he would be by year 2.
It’s great this site was created and a post was made to talk hoops.
Rex- his shot has to get a lot more consistent (35% treys) and he has to go to the hoop. If that occurs he could be a solid player. Right now, I see him as a Torrian Jones type. I am guessing he will TJ junior and senior numbers as a soph and junior.
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/torrian-jones-1.html
As far as Ryan, he has to show he is more than a one trick or he needs to be a lethal one trick pony. The best comparison is Abro. One major distinction with Abro is his scoring did not rely on treys. His best game as RS soph at Louisville he had 29 points and was just 2-4 on treys. A better current comparison would be Duncan Robinson at Michigan- but Robinson even showed considerable more scoring versatility than Ryan.
I came across today the first CBB publication- Athlon. It had ND #7 in the conference and a prediction of a round of 32 loss in the NCAAT (beat Cal in 8-9 game and then lose to Nova). FWIW the Pac 10 predictions were Oregon, Arizona, UCLA, Cal, Colorado, USC, Utah, Washington….
As far as the ACC, they had 11 teams making the NCAAT with NC State at 11. They had Cuse at #12, but this write up was done before they picked up Andrew White. They had ND’s recruiting class at #9. As far as all ACC teams, there was no VJ on the 3 teams. 1st Team: Allen-Tripper, Bacon, Blossomgame, Giles, Dennis Smith. 2nd Team: Berry, Jackson, Nichols, Perrantes, Young. 3rd Team: Abu, Allen, Artis, LeDay, Tatum. Allen-Tripper POTY.
ACC standings: Duke (NC pick- really went on a limb there), UNC, VA, Ville (IMO over rated), Va Tech, FSU, ND, Miami, Pitt, Clemson, NC State, Cuse, WF, Ga Tech, BC. I would be shocked if any publication differed on the bottom 3.
FWIW, they did list former FB player Patrick Mazza as a newcomer- though 6’10 for height is way over stated.
Wisconsin was not surprisingly picked first in the B10, but only making the sweet 16. A lot of Badger fans think they have another final 4 team- but this team is not close in talent to the Kaminsky-Dekker teams.
Garza to Iowa. Simms enamored with Clemson after being enamored with Pitt. It would be shocking if he actually visits ND.
So do we have any big guy targets left that are realistic gets?
Not really particularly if you mean low post big guys. I read Simms is now enamored with Clemson because they convinced him that they coached Blossomgame from being an undersized back to the basket big into an NBA prospect 3 man.
I guess Jaren Jackson is still on the radar and he is a helluva prospect- 5 star stretch 4.
Will do well to land two wings- Harvey and Morshell.
In other news, the schedule is out. There is the potential for at least 4 OOC losses and the ACC is brutal (as expected).
FWIW this guy was someone ND was looking at, but apparently cooled on.
Is now playing for the same prep program as Burns.
He has some good offers.
http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Zach-Kent-78704/RecruitInterests
Same story with this guy, but he looks more like a tall SF.
http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Nicolas-Claxton-82461/RecruitInterests
Today I came across Lindy’s. High respect for ND- #5 in the ACC and #22 overall. VJ picked for second team ACC and listed as a top national SF. IIRC it was Duke, UNC, Va, Ville (over rated IMO), ND, FSU, Cuse, and Va Tech. They did a semi justified diss on Torres and Geben- noting that Bonzie may have to play center because neither have a track record of dependability. In fact, they mentioned Geben in the text but forgot to include him on the roster (and they listed every other player on the team including the 2 walk-ons). They picked 8 ACC teams for the NCAAT. I want to say they left out MIami, NC State, Clemson, and Pitt. They had Cuse at #7 despite the fact the publication was printed before they picked up Andrew White. Lindy’s went outside the box and picked Oregon #1, with Kansas #2, and Duke #3. I want to say Nova was #4, UK #5, and Wisconsin #6.