How A Decades-Old Relationship Helped Tony Sanders And Notre Dame Unite
Tony Sanders Jr. had high-major offers and before his senior year and could pick one suitor by the fall signing period if he wanted. He decided against it, wanting to see what other opportunities might come his way if he postponed a decision until the spring. A strong senior year would invite attention itself.
So too, though, would an assist from his new coach at Miami’s Gulliver Prep, Gary DeCesare, a battle-tested 35-year coaching veteran with stops in two of the most demanding high school conferences in the country.
DeCesare came from Chicago, where he coached the last 10 years at St. Rita High School and sent four-star recruits Charles Matthews (Michigan via Kentucky) and Vic Law (Northwestern) to prosperous Big Ten careers. He was a Division I assistant for seven years in the 2000s.
Before all that, DeCesare spent 16 in his native Bronx as the head coach at St. Raymond High, his alma mater, thriving despite the meat grinder of a schedule that comes with membership in the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association. He still won two-thirds of his games with teams that featured college-bound players just about every year.
“He’s about the 58th or 59th Division I kid I’ve coached,” DeCesare said of Sanders.
That adds up to a thick Rolodex of college basketball contacts.
Which is where this gets back to a phone call that, a few months later, led Sanders to eventually committing to Notre Dame Friday. The three-star wing became Notre Dame’s third member of the 2020 class, joining forwards Matt Zona and Elijah Taylor.
Last fall, in the early stages of the high school basketball season, DeCesare called an old friend he first met in those days at St. Raymond. He and Mike Brey met when Brey recruited New York as a Duke assistant and the Delaware head coach. They were on opposite sidelines in the old Big East, when DeCesare was the associate head coach at DePaul from 2005-09 and Brey early in his tenure at Notre Dame.
DeCesare had a thought for Brey.
I have a senior who’s still open. He would be a good fit for you.
Sanders even reminded DeCesare of a former New York prep star who played for Brey.
“He’s very similar to Tyrone Nash,” DeCesare said. “About a 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7 kid who was great in the middle of the floor.”
DeCesare sent Brey game film of Sanders. Intrigued, Brey eventually tabbed assistant Ryan Humphrey to watch a Gulliver game in-person. He sent Humphrey a second time. Notre Dame invited Sanders to take an official visit after the season.
The visit never happened. In March, the NCAA instituted a recruiting dead period that now runs through May 31. No visits of any kind. Sanders had taken one, an official to Dayton in February. Plans to see South Carolina and Florida State also eroded. Notre Dame’s pursuit, though, increased. Brey and Humphrey made a habit to talk to him on the phone and on FaceTime.
“Tony and coach just got to talking,” DeCesare said. “Mike liked what Tony had to say. Tony liked what Mike had to say. They built a little relationship. It’s hard to talk to kids on phones because they’re used to texting. And sometimes the answers you get are, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ One of Tony’s best personality traits is he’s articulate. When you get on the phone with him, it’s not a two-minute conversation.”
The only item left was an offer. Notre Dame was content with its nine returners and would look at transfers if it wanted to add another piece or two. But the more the coaching staff learned about Sanders, the more they liked about the fit.
Brey himself extended the offer Tuesday. In lieu of a visit, Sanders did a virtual campus tour on the school website. Sanders held a Zoom meeting with the staff and his parents Thursday morning. He committed when it was over, choosing Notre Dame sight unseen over Dayton.
“What took it over the top was the degree from Notre Dame was important to his parents,” DeCesare said.
DeCesare and Russell Powell, Sanders’ AAU coach with GameElite, tout his versatility. Both said Sanders guarded any position from one to four. As a senior, Sanders averaged 20.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He shot 42 percent from the floor and 34 percent on three-pointers, with more than five three-point attempts per game.
“He can really shoot, He can rebound,” DeCesare said. “He can dribble, take it to the basket, shoot, play inside, face the basket.”
Versatility is approaching a required trait in Division I recruits today. In an era of increasingly positionless basketball, it hurts to lack versatility more than it helps to own it. Many of DeCesare’s prior stars were projectable at multiple positions. Sanders, though, still stands alone among DeCesare’s nearly 60 future college players for one reason. Four-year production, from freshman to senior. He never averaged fewer than 13 points per game in a season.
“I coached him for one year, but he had a hell of a career,” DeCesare said. “He averaged the most points of his career, but he finished with 1,966 points and over 500 rebounds …I’ve never had a guy get almost 2,000 points.”
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