2015 Irish Hoops Recruiting Big Board - May Edition

Notre Dame Scholarship Chart & Eligibility
Player	Position	Ht/Wt.	1	2	3	4
Pat Connaughton	SF	6-5/214
Jerian Grant	CG	6-5/203
Zach Auguste	PF/C	6-10/242
Austin Burgett	PF	6-9/227
Eric Katenda	PF	6-9/230
V.J. Beachem	SF	6-8/187
Demetrius Jackson	PG	6-1/195
Steve Vasturia	SG	6-6/207
Bonzie Colson	F	6-3/160
Matt Farrell	PG	6-2/170
Martin Geben	PF/C	6-6/200
Austin Torres	PF/C	6-7/218

Combo Guards
Score	Player	State	Ht/Wt.	Temperature	1*	2*	3*	4*	5*
.990	Antonio Blakeney	FL	6-4/170	Cold
.985	Jalen Coleman	IN	6-3/160	Mild

The staff has been recruiting Indiana guard Jalen Coleman for literally years and remain in contention. Many consider Michigan the favorite for Coleman, but mutual interest has maintained. Coleman visited this past season for the game against UNC (which was actually a reschedule after weather prevented him from seeing the win over Duke), and the staff has made a stop to his high school in this most recent recruiting period.

 

 

It looked as though the Irish had a decent chance with Donte Divincenzo after he visited almost immediately upon receiving an offer. He curiously did not even include the Irish in his top 6 shortly thereafter, however, and has since committed to Villanova.

Antonio Blakeney and King McClure are two other big time prospects reportedly with offers, but the latter just committed to Baylor this week, and the former has yet to give much indication publicly that the Irish are major players.

 

It's hard to fit any of these players in a particular position box, but I would put most of them in at more of a wing or small forward position to replace Pat Connaughton. I've classified them all here in a general "Forwards" category.

Matt Ryan remains the best bet to commit to the Irish in the coming year at this point in time. A season-ending injury stalled a recruitment that had been exploding, and Duke looked to be passing Notre Dame as the favorite to land Ryan. The Blue Devils have loaded up since then, however, including landing Irish target Luke Kennard at a similar position, and a recent in-home visit with Mike Brey and official visit on the books for September 6th looks to have regained momentum for the Irish. Ryan explicitly said that Notre Dame is his leader following the in-home.

Rex Pflueger continues to be in play for the Irish, who is considered a lean to USC where his brother plays. He spoke favorably of Notre Dame last fall, but there have not been many updates to his recruitment throughout this school year. Irish assistant Martin Ingelsby has been out to California to see Pflueger and reportedly maintains regular contact, so this recruitment could get interesting if Notre Dame can manage to schedule a visit.

DJ Hogg is another big time prospect who has generally been patient and quiet with his recruitment. The Texas forward is expected to remain in Big XII territory for college, but he has been tough to read so far and had good things to say about the Irish last summer.

Elijah Burns is a recent offer and is probably more in the power forward mold than the rest of this list. He was reclassified to the 2015 class and, despite mostly only having mid-major offers, is garnering a lot of attention from the likes of Georgetown, Providence, and Syracuse, in addition to Notre Dame, but no reports on where the Irish may stand at this point.

 

 

Others to watch
Score	Player	State	Ht/Wt.	Temperature	1*	2*	3*	4*	5*
.969	PF Esa Ahmad	OH	6-7/210	Cold
.900	CG Levan Alston	PA	6-4/165	Cold
NR	PG Devin Cannady	IN	5-11/165	Mild
.978	PF Henry Ellenson	WI	6-9/250	Cold
.868	SG Andrew Fleming	TN	6-5/200	Cold
NR	PF Nate Fowler	OH	6-9/240	Cold
.959	C Jessie Govan	NY	6-10/250	Cold
.972	CG Soso Jamabo	TX	6-3/210	Cold
.896	PF Luke Maye	NC	6-7/225	Cold
NR	C Derrik Smits	IN	6-11/215	Mild

 

With the late addition of Matt Farrell to the 2014 class, it is hard to see Devin Cannady getting an offer even down the road. He holds a handful of mid-major offers and some interest from local major programs, including Indiana and Purdue. I liked him as another local Marian product who would be a lock if offered but think he is more likely headed to the MAC or MVC for his college career.

Soso Jamabo is an interesting case, as he is an elite football prospect (the ratings above are for football) and legitimate hoops prospect as well. The football staff is working hard to get a visit this summer, and though he would likely never be a major impact guy on the court, he might be able to work his way onto the hoops roster if allowed down the road.

Mike Brey has recently increased his interest in Philadelphia guard Levan Alston, who compares favorably to Jerian Grant on the court. The staff reportedly has indicated that Alston checks all the 'program fit' boxes. If they move on Alston soon, Notre Dame would be Alston's best major offer yet, and things could escalate from there if he is at all interested in getting out of Philadelphia, where most of his offers are at this point.

Andrew Fleming still looks like an SEC lean between Florida and Vanderbilt but has gained some other interest from major schools like Ohio State, UNLV, and Memphis. Notre Dame may rather wait on Coleman than increase their guard offers anytime soon, but they may miss out on Fleming entirely by doing so.

 

It seems likely that Notre Dame would be interested in using its third available scholarship for the class on a big man, and they have certainly been heavily recruiting at least a handful despite the lack of offers.

Jessie Govan continues to get a lot of attention from the staff, who remains 'wide open' despite some escalating movement with UConn and Georgetown. If the Irish want a chance on the New York big man, they will have to move early this summer to have much of a shot at a visit. Brey was watching Govan at the recent EYBL event in Sacramento.

The Irish may have already missed the boat a little on Wisconsin power forward Henry Ellenson, who most consider a Wisconsin lean. Still, they are monitoring and could offer if they feel it might get them in contention.