Notre Dame Basketball Signees Move In Final 2021 Rivals150 Rankings
The final 2021 Rivals150 ranking update gave Notre Dame a pair of top-125 players.
Notre Dame signee JR Konieczny rose three spots in the rankings to No. 124 overall, capping a steady rise since last spring. The 6-7, 195-pound three-star wing from South Bend (Ind.) Saint Joseph is the nation’s No. 28 small forward.
Last June, Konieczny was ranked 138th. He was not ranked when he chose Notre Dame in August 2019. He debuted in the Rivals150 at No. 132 in January 2020.
The Irish’s other 2021 signee took a small drop. Guard Blake Wesley, a four-star recruit from South Bend’s Riley High School, is the No. 100 overall player, down eight spots from the last ranking update. The 6-5, 180-pound Wesley is the No. 27 recruit at his position.
Konieczny and Wesley will arrive at Notre Dame this summer after successful and accolade-filled senior years. They were two of 14 players selected to the Indiana All-Star team, and each was a second-team Associated Press All-State selection.
Both also led their high school teams deep into to the Indiana Boys Basketball State Tournament as seniors.
Wesley had 16 points to lead Riley to a Class 4A sectional title with a 47-43 win March 7 over South Bend Adams. His team’s season ended with a 4A regional championship loss a week later.
For the season, Wesley averaged 27.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game, per MaxPreps. He shot 46.6 percent from the field. On April 4, he was one of eight players to compete in the 2021 High School Slam Dunk Contest. Konieczny averaged 28.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Konieczny and Saint Joseph reached the Class 3A semi-state, falling to Leo (Ind.) 61-59 in a game decided in the final minute. Konieczny scored 20 first-half points but was held scoreless in the second half.
Saint Joseph won four games to claim Class 3A regional and sectional titles and reach the state semifinals. Konieczny had 24 in the regional championship game to give Saint Joseph its first regional title since 1993. Earlier in the year, he broke the school’s career scoring record.
Both players signed with Notre Dame in November. The Irish’s two-man signing class is ranked 59th nationally and 10th in the ACC. Notre Dame also added Yale graduate transfer Paul Atkinson Jr. this offseason.
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