Notre Dame basketball has eyes on Carey Booth portal replacement

The Notre Dame basketball team is officially in rebuild mode. It’s even in more of a rebuild mode after losing forward Carey Booth to the transfer portal. There have been a few players that have caught the eye of Micah Shrewsberry, but it appears one has stepped to the front of the pack.

Hampton Pirates forward Jerry Deng entered the portal last month, and he’s getting ready to start making visits to narrow down his list. According to Jamie Shaw of On3, the Notre Dame basketball team is one of the schools getting a visit.

Just when Deng might head to South Bend is starting to crystallize. It appears he’ll be scheduling the visit for after the recruiting dead period, which starts on Thursday and runs for a week. The freshman forward is hearing from TCU, Georgia Tech, VCU, Loyola-Chicago, Seton Hall and Cal. He’s also looking to schedule a visit to Notre Dame basketball conference rival Florida State sometime in the next month as well.

Notre Dame basketball looking to add a young big man

It’s not surprising that Deng is a popular prospect these days. The former three-star recruit averaged 10.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game as a freshman. He can also do some serious damage from everywhere on the court. 

The former Pirate shot 46.0 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from 3-point range and 79.7 percent from the free-throw line. Those last two numbers are obviously offerings that not every player Deng’s size can boast.

There is one thing that does make the pursuit of Deng an interesting one. The Notre Dame basketball team has very clearly needed a veteran presence at the four or five. Deng will be a sophomore in the 2024-25 season.

That likely means that the Fighting Irish won’t be done going after big men even if Jerry Deng lands in South Bend.