Slap the Sign
Fansided

Notre Dame Basketball Recruiting Dilemma

By Chase Eyrich

facebooktwitterreddit

What problems might Notre Dame face in recruiting and roster numbers in the near future?

Last season we saw a lot of success from the Irish, and so far this season, we’ve seen some struggles along with success. College basketball is all about looking forward. You can enjoy the team you see now, but if you don’t focus on retaining players or recruiting, you will never have a significant program.

It’s safe to say no matter how the Irish finish out this season, ND hoops has been on the rise. Past players success at South Bend like Luke Harangody, Eric Atkins, Jerian Grant, and Pat Connaughton, led to the biggest recruit ND has landed in a long time, Demetrius Jackson.

Jackson has proven to be one of the top point guards in the nation and his draft stock keeps rising. Although he hasn’t publicly said he is leaning one way or the other, Mike Brey has to be prepared for a Jackson departure.

If Jackson does elect to move on to the NBA, the Irish will have incoming freshman Temple Gibbs to take the point. This wouldn’t leave ND in that bad of a position. Gibbs is an incredible athlete and looks ready to play at the college level with his .9703 247sports composite ranking. Even with Gibbs, Jackson leaving would be a huge blow to the Irish.

As of now, Notre Dame is in the running for two of the top big men in the 2016 recruiting class. Thon Maker and Jarrett Allen who are both 5 star recruits, haven’t committed yet, and arguably have ND in their top three choices. In my opinion, Thon Maker will prove to be one of the best in this draft class and is an absolute freak athlete with comparisons to Kevin Durant, but either player would do some serious damage for the Irish.

Nov 27, 2015; Kissimmee, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Demetrius Jackson (11) drives to the basket as Iowa Hawkeyes guard Mike Gesell (10) defends during the first half at HP Field House. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

ND has struggled in the big man department since the Jack Cooley days. Zack Auguste has his days but will not have any more years of eligibility left after this season- which means Notre Dame will be forced to fully commit to playing “small ball”.

More from Slap the Sign

At this point Notre Dame has run out of scholarships to give, but Mike Brey is still pursuing Maker and Allen, and they still have the Irish on their radar. The only way to open up a scholarship for one of these players is if Jackson elects to go to the draft, or a current scholarship player transfers.

There is not one specific player that we can look at and expect to transfer but we have seen players just randomly get up and leave. Look at Cam Biescheid for example, played decent minutes as a freshman, averaged 6.2 PPG, scored 14 points and played 50 minutes in the 5 OT victory over Louisville, and one day just announced that he was transferring to Missouri- where he never played a game before announcing that he was transferring to Iona and a week later he actually signed with Jacksonville State.

Will we see another player this season just get up and leave? Or, will we have to watch Demetrius Jackson opt for the draft, to be able to open up a scholarship for Maker or Allen? How ever it works out, it will be extremely tough for the Irish to move forward without picking up either Maker or Allen, especially if they lose Jackson.

Home/Football Recruiting