Trey Wertz On Notre Dame Commitment: ‘A No-Brainer’
Trey Wertz turned on his TV one afternoon in late March and stumbled upon a basketball game he remembered watching live. CBS was re-airing recent NCAA Tournament classics in the wake of the 2020 tournament’s cancellation. This one was Notre Dame’s near takedown of unbeaten Kentucky in the 2015 Elite Eight.
His first viewing had him intrigued as a fan. This one, five years later, helped him reach a realization: Notre Dame’s offense would fit him well.
And Notre Dame’s staff had already reached out to him after he entered the NCAA transfer portal to express interest in being his next destination. As those conversations went on, they eventually came back to one member of that 2015 team.
“Their coaching staff believes me and Jerian Grant are good comparison,” Wertz said. “I went back on Synergy and watched a lot of that team. It’s definitely fun to watch.
“That team was really good. I’ve definitely done my homework on Notre Dame.”
In the process, he found his next destination. Wertz, a 6-4, 180-pound guard from Charlotte, N.C., committed to Notre Dame Saturday after spending two seasons at Santa Clara. He started 58 games and averaged 12.0 points across his two years. The decision was made on Wednesday. He sat on the news, he said, in part so he wouldn’t steal attention from his brother, Khamani, whose birthday was Friday.
“I’ve known for a little bit now,” Wertz said.
In discussions with Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey and assistant Ryan Humphrey — who made first contact — the idea of fit came up often. One of Wertz’s primary motivations for transferring was finding an offense that was built on spacing and player movement with a lot of ball screens. Brey told Wertz that he watched five minutes of him on film and identified him as an ideal fit.
Wertz, in turn, knew after a short viewing that Notre Dame’s offensive structure and his place in it would be hard to top.
“It was the same for me,” Wertz said. “I could tell by the first couple possessions of offense that I could fit in really well in the spread out, free-flowing system. He loves guys with freedom, and that’s just my game.”
Wertz heard from about 60 schools, but narrowed his decision to Notre Dame, Arizona, Butler, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Virginia. He dove into each as best he could. The COVID-19 pandemic meant he would not be able to take visits before making a decision. He relied on virtual tours and Zoom meetings.
One Zoom call with Notre Dame’s staff lasted about an hour, he said. It included the academic presentation normally given to recruits on visits. He found the school’s online tour and the coaching staff showed him pictures and video of the basketball facilities.
Wertz and his mother, Whitni, sat down to discuss options, with offensive fit and academic opportunities as two of the most important criteria to meet. Wertz is a finance major who was on track to graduate from Santa Clara in three years.
“We both looked at each other and realized Notre Dame’s pretty high in all the categories,” Wertz said. “It was a no-brainer at that point.”
One other plus for Notre Dame: playing in the ACC, the conference he grew up watching in basketball-mad North Carolina.
“It was always kind of a dream to play in this conference,” Wertz said. “To get to come back through here and have parents, friends and family see me play at the schools in the area, that was big.”
Wertz gives Notre Dame 11 scholarship players for the 2020-21 season. He is Notre Dame’s second addition of the spring, joining 2020 three-star wing Tony Sanders Jr., a Miami product. Both committed without visiting campus.
Wertz will need to sit out the upcoming season as it stands now. A reported May 20 NCAA vote on a potential one-time exemption to the redshirt rule for transfers, though, could change that.
With Wertz’s addition, Notre Dame has taken a transfer in three of the last four offseasons. The Irish landed former Stanford guard Cormac Ryan last spring, and he is eligible for this season. Prior to the 2017-18 season, Notre Dame grabbed ex-Connecticut forward Juwan Durham.
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