After landing a commitment and signing Ven-Allen Lubin along with two other top 100 prospects, Notre Dame is likely finished with their 2022 class, but in college basketball moving on to the next thing is crucial. The Irish staff did an unbelievable job recruiting this years' senior class. But in order to keep a healthy program, they'll have to follow it up with similar classes. Something they didn't do after the 2018 class arrived on campus. Here's where the Irish staff can turn after signing a top 20 class nationally.
Landing A Transfer Big Man
Mike Brey and his staff hit the jackpot in the transfer portal last winter when they landed former Ivy-league player of the year, Paul Atkinson. Up to this point Atkinson has looked to be every bit as good as advertised, but unfortunately he won't be Notre Dame's long term answer at Center.
Heading into next season, the Irish have plenty of depth at forward with JR Konieczny, Tony Sanders, Elijah Taylor, Matt Zona, Ven-Allen Lubin, and Dom Campbell. However, none of Notre Dame's young, talented forwards are over 6'9. It's no secret that Mike Brey likes to play small ball, but against the height and physicality of ACC big men, not having a true center could really hurt the Irish. Even if Nate Laszewski returns for a fifth year, the Irish still wouldn't have enough size and physicality down low to consistently compete with ACC big men.
Landing another player of Paul Atkinson's caliber would obviously be ideal for the Irish, but even a center with a mid tier offensive skillset would do the trick, assuming he has enough size and physicality to challenge ACC big men on the defensive end and the glass.
Notre Dame's 2022-23 backcourt has unbelievable potential and the Irish also have plenty of forwards on the roster, but having Matt Zona or another young forward as the main at center would be an interesting idea to say the least.
Xavier Booker
At this point in time, Xavier Booker looks to be Notre Dame's top target in the 2023 class. The talented big man holds offers from Purdue, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Louisville, among others. The 6'10 forward is ranked in the top 100 of his class most places and still has a real chance to rise up in the rankings.
Last month, Booker visited Notre Dame unofficially for the USC football game and by all accounts things went well. There is still a ways to go in the talented forward's recruitment, but Notre Dame will likely be a player in Booker's recruitment until the end.
Aden Holloway or Lawrent Rice
Notre Dame has been much more stingy with who they offer in the 2023 class as compared to 2022 but they have offered two top 150 guards that they seem to have a chance with. The Irish are all but set with guards for the 2022-23 season but after that they will lose Cormac Ryan, Dane Goodwin, and Trey Wertz (if they haven't already by then). Assuming they live up to or exceed expectations, there's also a chance that JJ Starling and Blake Wesley don't return either.
The Irish have a chance to stabilize the guard position with one or both of Aden Holloway or Lawrent Rice.
Aden Holloway is a 6'0 guard who can initiate offense and score at all three levels. The four star guard attends Lalumiere School and shares the backcourt with Notre Dame signee JJ Starling. Starling was Notre Dame's first commit from LaLumiere so there's reason to think they can use that connection to land Holloway. The 6'0 guard has already visited Notre Dame a few times unofficially and is someone the Irish could have a legitimate shot with.
Lawrent Rice was Notre Dame's first class of 2023 offer and is someone that seems like a solid fit in Mike Brey's systems. Rice was visited by Anthony Solomon a few months ago and still seems to be on the staff's radar.
The Notre Dame staff got a nice start in restarting the program with the 2021 and 2022 classes but if they can build on it, the program can be where they want to be consistently.
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