The sprint to the transfer portal has begun for Notre Dame men's basketball.
With a 60-day period for players to enter their names into the NCAA's portal starting Monday, three Irish players appeared before the morning ended: freshman guard JJ Starling, freshman forward Dom Campbell, graduate senior guard Robby Carmody.
They likely won't be the last Notre Dame players to enter the portal as athletic director Jack Swarbrick continues search for a replacement for head coach Mike Brey, who announced in January he would be stepping down at the conclusion of what ended as an 11-21 season.
If the new Notre Dame coaching staff wants any of Notre Dame's portal entries to return, those players can still withdraw their names from the portal and choose to stick with the Irish. Notre Dame likely won't have a head coach in place by the end of the week as Swarbrick is reportedly considering multiple coaches whose teams will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.
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ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Sunday four targets of interest for Notre Dame: Penn State's Micah Shrewsberry, Colgate's Matt Langel, Drake's Darian DeVries and Ohio State's Chris Holtmann. Three of those coaches are in the tournament: Shrewsberry, Langel and DeVries. No. 10 seed Penn State (22-13) and No. 15 Colgate (26-8) play their opponents Thursday. No. 12 Drake (27-7) will play Friday.
Starling came to Notre Dame as a five-star prospect, a McDonald's All-American and a potential one-and-done candidate with eyes on the NBA. Starling could still opt to enter the NBA Draft as he weighs his future options, but his draft stock likely didn't improve in Notre Dame's ugly season.
Starling, an ACC All-Freshman honoree, averaged 11.2 points per game for the Irish and totaled 79 rebounds, 32 assists, 20 steals and seven blocks in 28 games. He missed the final four games of Notre Dame's season with a bruised knee.
Syracuse is expected to be a major player in Starling's newest recruitment. The Orange were contenders for the Baldwinsville, N.Y., product before he picked Notre Dame while playing at nearby La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere. Starling has a long-standing relationship with new Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry.
Campbell arrived at Notre Dame as a four-star prospect but wasn't ready to be a plug-and-play big man in Brey's eyes. Campbell played for only 35 minutes in 10 games and tallied more fouls (eight) than points (seven). Rivals ranked Campbell as the No. 14 power forward and No. 113 overall in the 2022 class as a recruit out of Exeter (N.H.) Phillips Academy.
In a statement Campbell shared on his social media accounts, he stated that he was keeping all of his options open, including a return to Notre Dame.
Carmody struggled to stay healthy throughout his Notre Dame career. Each of his first three seasons with the Irish ended with a season-ending surgery of some kind: shoulder for 2018-10, knee for 2019-20 and knee for 2020-21. Carmody played in just seven games the last two seasons with six of those appearances coming this past season.
Carmody came to Notre Dame ranked by Rivals as the No. 22 shooting guard and No. 91 overall in the 2018 class.
Notre Dame's next coach will inherit a serious project in rebuilding Notre Dame's roster. Excluding the new transfer portal entries, Notre Dame has five scholarship players left on the roster with remaining eligibility: graduate senior Cormac Ryan, juniors Tony Sanders Jr. and Matt Zona, sophomore J.R. Konieczny and freshman Ven-Allen-Lubin.
Three-star point guard Markus Burton is the only 2023 recruit who remains signed with the Irish.
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