The Notre Dame staff has started to get involved again with bigs in the transfer portal, days ago news broke that former five star recruit and Kentucky forward Keion Brooks would return to school and that the Irish staff was involved. Today, Notre Dame was included in former Denver, Portland, Cal Baptist, and UC Irvine forward Michael Henn's top three. The 6'8 forward also included Illinois and Penn State in his shortened list.
Henn tells me he plans on completing all of his visits in mid June.
The veteran big man averaged 8.8 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc.
Henn primarily works out of pick and roll or pick and pop situations and can most effect an ACC offense by stepping out and stretching the floor. With above average point guard play, Henn can thrive as a screener and shooter in Notre Dame's offense. The veteran big man will likely play the four at the high major level alongside a back to the basket big, Henn's frame allows him to play a bit of small ball five as well.
Adding Henn would allow Notre Dame to add a veteran presence to their frontcourt that is in desperate need of one. The veteran big man would also give the Irish some much needed lineup versatility whether Nate Laszsewski returns to school or not.
Maybe the biggest question in Henn's recruitment is whether his decision will be impacted at all by Laszewski, who has until June 1st to make his decision on whether to return to school. It is conceivable that Henn could decide to opt in even if Laszewski decides to return to Notre Dame. Throughout 2021-22, the Irish had one of the deeper backcourts in the ACC but had little depth in their frontcourt, Mike Brey often had to turn to small ball lineups when resting his two starting bigs rather than subbing in another true big man. That lack of lineup versatility cost the Irish at times throughout conference play and ACC tournament play.
Adding Henn and getting Laszewski back would allow Brey to run his small ball lineups but would
also give him the flexibility to keep two bigs on the floor for most of every game while still being able to stretch the floor because of their shooting ability.
Henn isn't a transfer that jumps off the page statistically but his skillset is a fit for Notre Dame and his veteran presence could be a welcome addition for an Irish team that is losing a few key leaders from last season. Henn's recruitment is certainly one to keep an eye on for Irish fans.
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