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Notre Dame Basketball Nuggets: September 2019

By Nathan Erbach

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 13: Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks on against the Louisville Cardinals during their game in the second round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 13, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 13: Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks on against the Louisville Cardinals during their game in the second round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 13, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame basketball has had a nice little run the past few months after a long year or two of disappointment on the trail.

Suddenly, Notre Dame Men’s basketball has some momentum on the recruiting trail.

After landing former top 100 guard Cormac Ryan from Stanford in July, they have now picked up two commitments since the start of August — one being from the 2020 class and the other a 2021 recruit.

They are also closing in on some other top targets for 2020 and could receive some good news soon.

Notre Dame Lands First from 2020

Elijah Taylor, a power forward/center from Philadelphia picked up an Irish offer back in July and Notre Dame quickly became one of his top schools. After visiting campus during the weekend of the New Mexico football game, rumors started to swirl that he was a silent commitment to the staff and it would be made official later the next week. That turned out to be true, as Taylor publicly committed on Thursday, September 19th — making him the first commitment for Notre Dame in the 2020 class.

Taylor isn’t the flashiest of players Notre Dame could have landed, as he is a 3-star across the board. However, he comes from a great high school program, is extremely athletic, and couples that hard work in all facets of the game. He also already has a college body and shouldn’t take too much time to develop in the Brey system.

At the end of his career, Notre Dame fans should look back and be happy with what Taylor provided the program on the court.

2021 Recruiting Off to a Hot Start

We covered the commitment of JR Konieczny back in August, but he is important to include in the monthly recap, because the August article was already out prior to his commitment.

JR gets the 2021 class off to a terrific start, and he also happens to be good friends with another South Bend local and Irish target, Blake Wesley. In fact, Wesley was also on campus for the New Mexico football game and by all accounts seems to really like the Notre Dame program.

Wesley could be on campus plenty in the coming months as he gets closer to this college decision — and paired with Konieczny — would really get fans excited.

2020 News and Notes

The staff is still heavy on the 2020 trail, but the list is definitely narrowed down some for better and for worse. They missed on Terrance Williams and others, but have gained ground with more recent targets such as Matt Zona, while also holding steady with others.

Speaking of Zona, the New Jersey big man will be on campus this weekend for the Virginia football game, and many feel he is on commit watch.

Zona would be a solid compliment player to match with Taylor as their playing styles compliement each other well. While Taylor is a better athlete and more of back to the basket type of player, Zona is the type of big man Notre Dame fans are used to. He is not overly athletic, but he can stretch the floor due to his shooting ability. He is a tough cover with his length and shot alone.

Hopefully Notre Dame can pair the two this weekend.

The staff is still shooting big for players like Puff Johnson and Hunter Dickinson, but it is unclear if they have much of a shot. They recently visited both, and Dickinson is a more likely bet to end up Irish. Landing either would be big.

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Lastly, we have Jakobe Coles out of Texas — not a traditional state Notre Dame recruits hard in basketball. That said, Coles has shown genuine interest in the Irish and is good friends with Notre Dame football commit Xavier Watts. He was also on campus during New Mexico weekend, and the feeling is that the Irish lead slightly. He will visit in-state schools Texas A&M and TCU soon and likely make a decision shortly thereafter.