Charlottesville (Va.) St. Anne’s-Belfield forward Javin DeLaurier committed to Duke after taking his official visit there this weekend. Notre Dame put a lot of resources in here; he was arguably their top target when you look at the combination of his talent and likelihood they could actually land him.
DeLaurier has scored a 32 on his ACT, and academics were a huge priority for him, obviously in addition to somewhere with quality hoops. Notre Dame coming off their Elite Eight run last year was a perfect fit for him on and off the court – but objectively, maybe Duke was the one school out there that was a better fit. And when they decided to enter the mix, it seems it wasn’t much more than a snap of the finger, unfortunately for the Irish.
So the question becomes what’s next? There are still a couple possibilities on the board, guys that are more talented than DeLaurier – but it’s not going to be easy to land them.
Five-star center Thon Maker – Mono (Ontario) Orangeville Prep
A 7-foot, 210-pound center, Maker is considered one of the top prospects in the country regardless of class, although he’s not ranked by Rivals because they don’t rate prospects out of the U.S. He's an incredibly versatile forward who draws comparisons to the likes of 15-time NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett. The Irish visited him in-home on Sept. 14, and are looking to get him on campus for the Oct. 17 weekend for the game against USC.
Arizona State is also heavily in the mix right now because Thon’s guardian and Thon have a longstanding relationship with Sun Devils assistant Brian Merritt and head coach Bobby Hurley.
It should be noted that Maker played on the Under Armour circuit this summer, averaging 15.4 points, 10 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game for Canada Elite, and played in Under Armour’s Elite 24 All-Star game in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Aug. 22.
Five-star center Jarrett Allen – Austin (Texas) St. Stephen’s Episcopal
A 6-10, 215-pound center, Notre Dame is one of many schools that have been in relentless pursuit of Allen for a while, but made little or no progress – until Sept. 23, when the No. 20 ranked player nationally released his top eight schools. The Irish made the cut, as well as Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Indiana, Houston and Kansas State.
Progress in Allen’s recruitment had been difficult to come by, been a strange recruitment. Usually in the case of a five-star kid like Allen, if they get too busy to handle recruiting stuff, they’ll pass along some power to a guardian or coach – but it seems Allen’s never done that. So coaches from all sorts of schools have kept trying to reach him over and over, trying to set up visits, etc., but they haven’t been able to make much progress. And it’s not like Allen is disrespectful or has a bad attitude, that’s not it at all – he’s a hard-worker, and a great kid. He’s just not much into the recruiting process.
So the top eight was a big step for him. We’ll see if the Irish can get him on campus. Lots of big names in that final eight.
Unrated guard Nikola Djogo – Mono (Ontario) Orangeville Prep
This 6-7, 185-pound guard emerged suddenly on the Irish’s radar when Brey traveled to Orangeville Prep to see Maker. Brey was so impressed with Djogo in-person that he went ahead and extended a scholarship (for a recent full story on Djogo, click here – LINK.)
He’s been working on scheduling a visit as soon as possible, but looks like it could be as late as the Oct. 10 weekend against Navy.
Beyond those three, unless someone magically pops up on the Irish’s radar that is really deserving of an offer, ND won’t force anything just to max out on scholarships. They’ll roll with Temple Gibbs Jr. and John Mooney, and can save that spot, maybe work on taking a transfer.
We’ll see how it plays out. It’s easy for fans to look at the two five-stars and scoff, but there’s enough noise there to take them seriously. Who knows what can happen if they get those guys on a visit.
DeLaurier has scored a 32 on his ACT, and academics were a huge priority for him, obviously in addition to somewhere with quality hoops. Notre Dame coming off their Elite Eight run last year was a perfect fit for him on and off the court – but objectively, maybe Duke was the one school out there that was a better fit. And when they decided to enter the mix, it seems it wasn’t much more than a snap of the finger, unfortunately for the Irish.
So the question becomes what’s next? There are still a couple possibilities on the board, guys that are more talented than DeLaurier – but it’s not going to be easy to land them.
Five-star center Thon Maker – Mono (Ontario) Orangeville Prep
A 7-foot, 210-pound center, Maker is considered one of the top prospects in the country regardless of class, although he’s not ranked by Rivals because they don’t rate prospects out of the U.S. He's an incredibly versatile forward who draws comparisons to the likes of 15-time NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett. The Irish visited him in-home on Sept. 14, and are looking to get him on campus for the Oct. 17 weekend for the game against USC.
Arizona State is also heavily in the mix right now because Thon’s guardian and Thon have a longstanding relationship with Sun Devils assistant Brian Merritt and head coach Bobby Hurley.
It should be noted that Maker played on the Under Armour circuit this summer, averaging 15.4 points, 10 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game for Canada Elite, and played in Under Armour’s Elite 24 All-Star game in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Aug. 22.
Five-star center Jarrett Allen – Austin (Texas) St. Stephen’s Episcopal
A 6-10, 215-pound center, Notre Dame is one of many schools that have been in relentless pursuit of Allen for a while, but made little or no progress – until Sept. 23, when the No. 20 ranked player nationally released his top eight schools. The Irish made the cut, as well as Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Indiana, Houston and Kansas State.
Progress in Allen’s recruitment had been difficult to come by, been a strange recruitment. Usually in the case of a five-star kid like Allen, if they get too busy to handle recruiting stuff, they’ll pass along some power to a guardian or coach – but it seems Allen’s never done that. So coaches from all sorts of schools have kept trying to reach him over and over, trying to set up visits, etc., but they haven’t been able to make much progress. And it’s not like Allen is disrespectful or has a bad attitude, that’s not it at all – he’s a hard-worker, and a great kid. He’s just not much into the recruiting process.
So the top eight was a big step for him. We’ll see if the Irish can get him on campus. Lots of big names in that final eight.
Unrated guard Nikola Djogo – Mono (Ontario) Orangeville Prep
This 6-7, 185-pound guard emerged suddenly on the Irish’s radar when Brey traveled to Orangeville Prep to see Maker. Brey was so impressed with Djogo in-person that he went ahead and extended a scholarship (for a recent full story on Djogo, click here – LINK.)
He’s been working on scheduling a visit as soon as possible, but looks like it could be as late as the Oct. 10 weekend against Navy.
Beyond those three, unless someone magically pops up on the Irish’s radar that is really deserving of an offer, ND won’t force anything just to max out on scholarships. They’ll roll with Temple Gibbs Jr. and John Mooney, and can save that spot, maybe work on taking a transfer.
We’ll see how it plays out. It’s easy for fans to look at the two five-stars and scoff, but there’s enough noise there to take them seriously. Who knows what can happen if they get those guys on a visit.
