9/20/2016 football Edit

Notre Dame Lands Four-Star Forward D.J. Harvey

Harvey, a four-star small forward from Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic, became the first member of Notre Dame’s 2017 basketball class. (Nike/Jon Lopez)

Corey Bodden • InsideNDSports

Staff Writer

If you heard a loud commotion coming from the Joyce Center in South Bend, it was likely the men’s basketball staff.

Mike Brey and company got their man when Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic four-star small forward D.J. Harvey announced his commitment to the Irish via CSN Mid-Atlantic.

The search and wait for Notre Dame’s first commitment in the 2017 basketball class finally ended when the Irish reeled in their top target in the 6-7, 180-pound Harvey, who is ranked as the No. 51 overall player in the class.

Some fans believed the staff was putting too much into a short number of players including Harvey and recent official visitor Baltimore Mount St. Joseph guard Darryl Morsell. However, the staff’s efforts have paid off in a big way.

Harvey is the fourth-highest rated player to sign with Notre Dame since the Rivals rankings started in 2002, falling behind only center Torin Francis of Marion, Mass., who was a five-star in the 2002 class; forward Cameron Biedscheid of St. Louis, who was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 28 overall prospect in the 2012 class; and guard Demetrius Jackson of Mishawaka, Ind., who was ranked as a four-star talent and No. 38 overall nationally in the 2013 class.

The Notre Dame staff did all it could in recent weeks in order to land Harvey. The Irish hosted him during the weekend of Sept. 10. A few days later assistant coach Rod Balanis watched the talented forward work out at DeMatha. Harvey then took an official visit to Alabama starting Sept. 15 and the entire Notre Dame staff traveled to Maryland to have an in-home visit with him the Monday following his trip to Tuscaloosa.

Landing Harvey is a major coup for the 2017 class. Now the Irish have a player to build around and potentially lure in another Rivals100 caliber player who would jump at the chance to join Harvey in South Bend.

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