The Irish hoops staff strikes again as guard Parker Friedrichsen committed to Notre Dame on Tuesday afternoon. Friedrichsen becomes the Irish’s third 2023 commitment, just a few days after forward Brady Dunlap became the second.

Friedrichsen plays his high school and AAU ball in Oklahoma, one of very few national prospects from the state in this year’s class. I have to imagine he’s the first Notre Dame basketball player from the Sooner State since Ryan Humphrey, who incidentally just left the Irish staff this summer, in the early aughts.

A former Oklahoma State commit, Friedrichsen committed to Notre Dame over Davidson and Nebraska this time around. He held offers from quite a few programs, including the likes of Cincinnati, Creighton, Iowa, Memphis, Missouri, and Xavier. Friedrichsen, of course, mentioned Brey’s guard-friendly offense as a big part of his motivation to play at Notre Dame, including the possibility of playing early as an off-guard before growing into more of a lead guard as his career unfolds.

In an interview with ISD, his high school coach compared Friedrichsen to Trae Young, Steph Curry, James Harden, and Pete Maravich. No pressure!

Rankings

247: 4 star – 102nd overall – 16th ranked SG

ESPN: 4 star – 34th ranked SG

Rivals: 3 star – 127th overall – 34th ranked SG

On3: 4 star – 104th overall – 23rd ranked SG

247 Composite: 4 star – 122nd overall – 18th ranked SG

Highlights

*note this is from his sophomore year but it’s worth seeking out his junior year stuff on Hudl as well

Ridiculous Range: Truly absurd stroke. Quick and effortless, with range well beyond the arc already. Apparently over 90% from the free throw line this summer as well. Moves so well off the ball to get quality looks. Can’t emphasize enough how quickly he can get his shot off.

Point Guard Skills?: Shows some decent playmaking ability. Can drive with either hand pretty smoothly. Some impressive vision to hit tough passes across the court or to cutters down the lane. Creative finisher around the rim to overcome his lack of size. Have seen him struggle against size, which isn’t often a huge problem in Oklahoma but will be at the next level.

Hit the Weight Room: His coach raves about his work ethic, so he’ll get bigger. It’s just a question of how big he can reasonably get. Very thin frame with good but not great length. Noted above some struggles going up against size. Seems like a smart, roving, instinctual defender but how will he hold up man-to-man? Will be interesting to see how he develops physically.

Impact

Friedrichsen is another floor spacer, first and foremost, and much like with Dunlap, Mike Brey desperately needed to add some more deep threats to this Irish hoops roster. But I think Friedrichsen adds a lot of potential here as an elite off-ball scorer. In their recruitment of Friedrichsen, Davidson was explicit in making the Steph Curry connection for him, which I think is a fascinating archetype for him watching his game footage.

He is obviously a quick and deadly shooter, but it’s the way he bounces around the court without the ball that is reminiscent of the legendary Curry, coming off screens, sagging into hidden spots in the defense, and willing to get into the lane and score creatively amongst the trees. He just seems like a total pain in the a** to guard and at least credibly able to score a bunch of different ways.

He’s a very skilled guard with good instincts (search the phrase “basketball IQ” in any write-up about him around the internet…you’ll find it!). That said, he certainly needs to add some weight to withstand that kind of workload, let alone get the job done on the defensive end. All told, I do worry about his size and how much that might inhibit his ability to be anything other than an outside shooter against ACC defenses.

Broadening out, this class certainly checked some very necessary boxes for the future of this roster. Brey and the Irish hoops staff lose at least four and maybe five guards after this year. They needed to bring in more perimeter threats in a big way and did exactly that.

It’s a good class, and I really like each guy individually. But if I’m being honest, I worry where the defensive core is to at least not be terrible on that end. Thinking about Burton, Friedrichsen, and Dunlap all on the court together, that is a small, skinny crew. I’m not sure exactly who they’re going to be able to guard. Maybe it can work if they’re alongside Ven-Allen Lubin and Dom Campbell, which I do hope to see. But Brey needs to be careful to compliment these guys with some muscle moving forward.