Mike Brey has done it again. The Irish hoops program gained another commitment on Thursday afternoon in Pittsburgh-area combo guard Robby Carmody. The 6’4″, 200 pound Carmody joins Prentiss Hubb in Notre Dame’s 2018 recruiting class and transfer Juwan Durham as big additions to the Irish roster this offseason.
God, Country, Notre Dame. pic.twitter.com/J3EthOpUJ9
— Robby Carmody (@robbycarmody23) June 22, 2017
Carmody was Brey’s first offer in the 2018 class, and the Irish staff has been all over his recruitment ever since. Ryan Ayers, in particular, was the lead dog in this one and showed a lot of his own potential as a relentless and relatable recruiter. I also want to note the Penguins jersey that Brey is sporting in Carmody’s tweet, so it looks like the Irish staff struck all the right notes for the Pittsburgh product.
Notre Dame has long been thought to be the favorite for Carmody, and this week’s campus visit to South Bend finally sealed the deal. The Irish beat out finalists Purdue and Michigan, as well as local favorite Pittsburgh. Carmody has an impressive offer list, including the likes of Maryland, Syracuse, Louisville, Xavier, and plenty of others. At one point, Sean Miller of Arizona was getting heavily involved, but other commits luckily prevented him from ever offering.
Rankings
247 composite – 102nd overall, 4 star, 21st ranked SG, .95 rating
247 – 77th overall, 4 star, 15th ranked SG, 94 rating
ESPN – 74th overall, 4 star, 19th ranked SF, 84 rating
Rivals – 98th overall, 4 star, 48th ranked G
Scout – 95th overall, 4 star, 22nd ranked SG
Don’t ask me how his composite ranking is 102nd when all of component rankings are better than that.
Highlights
Some thoughts: Great leaper off two feet but not nearly as impressive off one foot, which is a much better indicator. Nice quick release, outstanding off the catch but delivery is a bit slow off the dribble. Impressive ability in midrange to rise and shoot cleanly in traffic. So-so handle and hardly ever gets by his man one-on-one. Creative finisher around the rim with both hands. Obviously intense and committed defender who will probably need to work on his footwork rather than just rely on his athleticism.
I’ll also add this. He has a bit of a reputation as a dirty player. A video emerged showing some apparent trips and nut-shots. I think we can all agree that, if it was intentional at all, that crap needs to stop. I don’t think Brey will stand for any of that and I wouldn’t be surprised if they already had a chat about it. It doesn’t worry me too much, but it’s already out there as part of his narrative.
Outlook
All of a sudden, the future back court for the Irish is looking pretty loaded. Carmody will step on campus joining senior Rex Pflueger, junior TJ Gibbs, sophomore DJ Harvey, and fellow freshman Prentiss Hubb. He will likely be fifth of five in that pecking order. This won’t necessarily preclude him from playing a role at all early, given that Brey is happy to play a three-guard lineup when his personnel calls for it. But it will probably be a modest role off the bench, perhaps maxing out with the role Pflueger played in his freshman year.
I will also add that I think Brey is still open to adding another guard to this class. Brey has hosted other guard targets very recently despite probably knowing that he was about to add Carmody. Add someone like Luther Muhammad (ND is the crystal ball favorite), and Carmody may be a redshirt candidate.
As the upperclassmen graduate, you can envision Carmody’s role slowly expanding, with a potential opportunity to start his junior year alongside Hubb and Harvey. Carmody looks like a very well-rounded player that can help the Irish on both ends of the floor. But he does seem to lack any elite traits that indicate he’s really going to develop into a star. Thinking about a potential Hubb-Harvey-Carmody-Djogo-Durham lineup, and Carmody looks like a feature perimeter defender but probably the fifth option offensively. This is not unlike Steve Vasturia during the magical 2014-2015 season. Which, hey, if the Irish are in that position again with their lineup, we’ll all be mighty happy with how things are going.
Whether he can develop into something more remains to be seen. But either way, Brey locked down what looks to be a fairly surefire 3-and-D guy for the future. Carmody looks to be a very valuable piece to what is hopefully a Final Four-worthy puzzle moving forward.
Never saw Carmody referred to as a combo guard- more a SG/SF type. Also, never heard much about him being an above average defender. Have to remember that ND plays 3 guards all the time- the only time they did not in the last 3 seasons was when VJ was at the 3 (as he did not have guard ball handling skills). With that in mind, I don’t currently see the 18-19 roster being that crowded at the 1-3 spots.
18-19
TJ, Hubb
Rex, Carmody
DJ, Djogo
Also, would not surprise me if Brey goes small ball at times with DJ or Djogo at the 4.
In 19-20, the 3 back ups I noted will go after Rex’s spot.
Possible they could still bring in Muhammad or Locke.
Finke is a possibility at SF, not sure if he has guard ball handling skills.
Bey is a possibility at the 3 and could play some small ball 4 ala VJ. Read he could grow some more. I believe he has some guard ball handling skills (unlike VJ), because he was a guard before a growth spurt.
Horton-Tucker is an intriguing prospect at 3 or a small ball 4. To date, he has not been offered. Perhaps Brey is waiting on others to make decisions.
With all the optimism over the 3 players picked up this spring- it still will be seen nationally as ND bringing in 2 recruits in the 50-75 range and a transfer big man with a lot of questions due to injuries.
Where ND would make the big national splash is landing a 5 star in Shittu and to a lesser extent a high 4 star combo forward in Hauser. It’s going to be tough to keep Shittu from going to a power program and Hauser from leaving the state of WI.
Riley Battin from CA seems like a serviceable big man, but he appears to for now the bulkier version of Nathan Reuvers. Brey waiting on decisions from Shittu and/or Hauser before offering?
Right now, there are 3 true bigs for 18-19. Even with small ball likely, have to land at least 1 big. If the big is a stud, could get by with one. If not, 2 will be better. It’s time for Humphrey to step up and bring in another option besides Durham.
If Brey brings in Locke or Muhammad, it would seem clear he is focused on playing a lot of small ball. You better have a special guy at the 5 to advance in the NCAAT or have a team that resembles the one that lost to UK.
I’d love Muhammad or Bey. Obviously very different skill sets, but getting one of those two leaves us pretty set in the 1-3 positions (I’d probably take both too, but that seems like more guys than Brey would like, assuming he pulls another big).
I’m really interested to see how the big situation plays out. I definitely won’t be upset if no other top 100 big signs with us; I think Brey is going to be able to turn Durham into another Zach Auguste-esque player. I would be perfectly happy if Brey ends up with a lower rated big to round out the class. In fact, I would still love this class.
That being said, come on Hauser. Obviously Shittu would be fun, but I’m not sure how a 1 and done would work out under Brey. Maybe it would be great (I did want Thon Maker, so it’s not like I’m opposed to the idea). But if he can get Hauser, that’s a guy who could see valuable minutes for all 4 years at ND. I’m giddy just thinking of a Hubb/Carmody/Muhammad/Hauser/Durham class. (Add Bey or Shittu to that and I would go personally help renovate Rolfs for Brey).
I would still love to see Muhammad added to this class, but obviously it’s not a huge loss if Brey misses. If he can pull Hauser, this class (including Durham) is definitely Brey’s most impressive.
This makes 2 straight commits who have mentioned the new facilities as part of the reason they committed. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for Brey and the Irish.