Notre Dame Basketball: Irish Make The Cut For UK Transfer

Former McDonald’s All-American Sacha Killeya-Jones narrows his list, and Notre Dame basketball is on it.

Coach Mike Brey doesn’t take a ton of transfers. Some coaches around the country seem to build their entire program through the free agent market, but Notre Dame typically relies on development.

However, when the Irish do take on a transfer, they are typically high impact players. Since Coach Brey took over in 2000-01, he has welcomed in a double-double forward (Ryan Humphrey from Oklahoma), a do everything player (Dan Miller of Maryland) and a Big East Player of the Year (Ben Hansborough from Mississippi State). Brey is also looking to strike gold this year with former top 50 recruit Juwan Durham (UConn).

On Monday, Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari landed his second most recent 5 star recruit in center EJ Montgomery (he added Ashton Hagans shortly after). This prompted sophomore Sacha Killeya-Jones to announce his transfer from Big Blue Nation.

For those who aren’t aware of Killeya-Jones, he is another really talented kid who was seduced by the bright lights of the one and done factories instead of finding the best fit for himself during recruiting. Now, 2 years later, he has been continually recruited over, which is becoming more and more frequent.

In an Instagram post yesterday it was announced that SKJ had cut his list of possible schools to ten, five of which are ACC schools, Notre Dame included.

Killeya-Jones, the 23rd ranked player in the 2016 class, is a 6’10 230 pound power forward out of Virginia Episcopal School. He had originally committed to Virginia during his junior HS season but later de-committed when Kentucky and UNC got involved. It is surprising that the Cavs didn’t make this list to be quite honest.

In 48 career game for the Wildcats, Killeya-Jones averaged 3.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in roughly 12 minutes per game. He is a high energy guy who attacks the rim and can impact the game without having plays run specifically for him. He will get after it on the offensive glass and finish on the fast break. He also has the ability to step away from the hoop and put the ball on the floor a little bit.

Next: Notre Dame Men's Basketball: Early 2018-2019 Preview

Looking at the Fighting Irish depth chart, Sacha Killeya-Jones would also provide high quality depth at a position of need in the 2019-20 season. Elijah Burns and John Mooney are good role players in the front court, but a player like Jones is an immediate impact type talent and can probably play along side Durham if Coach Brey wants to go that way.