Best Recruiting Classes In Notre Dame Basketball
Notre Dame men’s basketball recruiting has had a buzz to it in the last month that it seldom has had for the past couple of decades.
It began on May 17 when 6-2 point guard Prentiss Hubb selected the Irish, followed by 6-11 UConn sophomore transfer Juwan Durham on June 10, and yesterday 6-4 guard Robby Carmody.
Because there is a general acceptance that the landscape of college basketball won’t involve Notre Dame seriously and realistically vying for top 10-25 caliber prospects who have an eye toward the NBA after one or two seasons, a top 80-to-150-caliber prospect usually is more the standard fare for the Fighting Irish.
Recent top examples/graduates include first-round selection Jerian Grant (105), second-round choice Pat Connaughton (128), Zach Auguste (97) and guards Steve Vasturia (108), V.J. Beachem (86) or current junior Rex Pflueger (83).
Current All-American and senior forward Bonzie Colson just did make that top 150 cut (145).
Every now and then a Demetrius Jackson (38) comes along, and it didn’t hurt that he grew up in the South Bend area.
Thus, to land three in a row who in Rivals.com were or are No. 45 (Hubb), No. 47 (Durham) and No. 98 (Carmody) is an attention grabber. That doesn’t even include incoming 6-7 freshman wing D.J. Harvey, ranked No. 48.
Back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2015 and 2016, an ACC runner-up finish in 2017, a hungry new staff of assistants comprised of former players under head coach Mike Brey and the skeletal plans of a basketball facility in the works all can be deemed as contributing factors to the recent upgrade, at least on paper, in the talent level.
If this current recruiting cycle can be rounded out with a couple more top prospects such as guard Luther Muhammad (56) or even 6-9 forward Simisola Shittu (9), it might be classified as one of the best recent harvests at the school.
For context purposes, though, what are the greatest classes at Notre Dame the past 50 years? Here’s are top 5 based on impact/production, balance and depth, and it requires at least three major contributors:
1. Kelly Tripucka, Orlando Woolridge, Tracy Jackson, Stan Wilcox and Gil Salinas — 1977
Woolridge, Tripucka and Jackson were taken with the Nos. 6, 12 and 25 picks in the 1981 NBA Draft, respectively. It is safe to say Notre Dame will never again land one class with three players taken among the top 25.
Tripucka is due to be in Notre Dame’s Ring of Honor (40th anniversary of Final Four team in 2018 would be fitting), and Jackson was on the first McDonald’s All-American team selected in 1977. Woolridge was the “sleeper” who became one of the most dynamic athletes ever to don the Irish basketball jersey.
As freshmen, they helped the Irish to their lone Final Four in 1978, followed by an Elite Eight, and in four years they never fell lower than No. 14 in the Associated Press poll.
Wilcox is the current director of athletics at Florida State. He and the 6-11 Salinas supplied quality depth.
2. Austin Carr, Collis Jones, Sid Catlett, Jackie Meehan and John Pleick — 1967
This quintet helped usher in a Golden Age of Notre Dame basketball from 1968-81, and a prime selling point was the sparkling new Athletic & Convocation Center that was to open in 1968, their first year of college eligibility. The ACC became known as “Austin Carr Coliseum” en route to Carr posting the second highest career scoring average (34.6) in NCAA history (behind only Pete Maravich) while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor.
Carr was the No. 1 overall selection in the 1971 Draft while Jones, who averaged about 20 points and 13 rebounds per game his last two seasons, was No. 17. Catlett, who like Carr and Jones was from Washington D.C., also played in the NBA.
All five started as seniors, highlighted by the 89-82 upset of No. 1 UCLA, and they were regulars in the top-10-15 their last two seasons. University vice president Rev. Ned Joyce C.S.C. believed this group should have vied for the national title, so when they lost in the Sweet 16 as seniors, it helped prompt a change from head coach John Dee to Digger Phelps, whose Fordham team had upset Dee’s Irish in 1971.
3. Adrian Dantley, Bill Paterno, Toby Knight, Ray “Dice” Martin and Dave Kuzmicz — 1973
Naismith Hall of Fame inductee Dantley trails only Carr as the greatest ever to suit up for the Irish in the modern era, and he averaged 18.3 points per game as a freshman for the 1973-74 unit that finished the regular season 24-2 and ranked No. 2.
Forward Paterno and point guard Martin also had impacts as freshmen and thereafter, while the 6-9 Knight developed into the No. 32 overall pick as a senior in the NBA Draft. They helped keep Notre Dame among the top 10-15 much of their careers.
4. Tim Abromaitis, Tyrone Nash, Carleton Scott and Scott Martin — 2007
Martin would transfer from Purdue after his freshman season, but this four-man group was vintage Brey in how mostly under-the-radar individuals developed as a collective team.
Forward Abromaitis was a two-star who tallied over 1,000 points in his last two full seasons alone. As senior starters they were a remarkable 25-5 during the regular season when they finished No. 4 in the AP poll, later earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
5t. — Troy Murphy/Ryan Humphrey, David Graves, Harold Swanagan in 1998, and Demetrius Jackson, Steve Vasturia and V.J. Beachem in 2013
The 1998 haul was mainly frontcourt, while the 2013 group was primarily backcourt and perimeter oriented, but both classes played huge roles to help the Irish get over the proverbial hump.
Notre Dame’s most miserable basketball decade was the 1990s, but the arrival of the 1998 class spearheaded the end of a nine-year drought from the NCAA Tournament. Murphy turned pro after his junior year, but the transfer of Humphrey from Oklahoma after his sophomore year filled that void. Both were first-round picks.
The 2013 group suffered a losing record as freshmen, and then helped propel Notre Dame into back-to-back Elite 8 appearances their next two seasons, a first since 1978-79.
Also given strong consideration:
• 1974 with Don “Duck” Williams, Dave Batton, Jeff Carpenter and Randy Haefner.
• 1982 with Ken Barlow, Tim Kempton, Jim Dolan and Joseph Price.
• 1988 with LaPhonso Ellis, Elmer Bennett, Daimon Sweet and Keith Tower.
• 2007 with Kyle McAlarney, Luke Zeller, Ryan Ayers (all three ranked from 66-79 on Rivals) and Zach Hillesland.
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