Within the last calendar year, Notre Dame has landed two big time players through the transfer portal in Trey Wertz and Paul Atkinson. Throughout his career Mike Brey has used the portal to get even with the top teams in the ACC by getting players that were underrated throughout high school. This year though, this year could be a lot quieter.
Last offseason a lot was different around the program, Brey was nowhere near the hot seat, his passion had returned and as a result the Irish landed three players in between the March shut down and season opener at Michigan State. The Notre Dame staff was active as ever in the portal, tied to some of the top players such as Jonny Juzang, Colin Castleton, and eventual Notre Dame guard Trey Wertz. Back then it was still standard for players to sit out a year like Brey encourages. The plan wasn't even for Wertz to see the floor this season but things have changed. With it becoming easier than ever for transfers to play immediately and Notre Dame's deep roster the fit just doesn't seem like it's there.
For the 2021-22 season Notre Dame only has one remaining scholarship and no glaring needs, sure they could use some depth at point guard or another hard nosed big man but it will be a harder sell than normal. The Irish have six players on their roster who are good enough to start on most ACC teams and unlike the previous few years, the Irish are in no need of help at the back end of their rotation. Robby Carmody, Blake Wesley, Matt Zona, Elijah Taylor, Tony Sanders, JR Konieczny, Elijah Morgan, and Alex Wade will all be competing for the limited number of minutes that the starters won't receive. Very few transfers are willing to step into that competition, if they're in the portal they want to play. Not many transfers worth getting are willing to go to a program that has their starting 5 locked in (outside of two platoon spots between Cormac Ryan, Dane Goodwin, and Trey Wertz) and so many talented players trying to earn their role.
The Notre Dame staff is looking for a pretty specific type of person and player in the first place and their lack of needs make that pool even smaller. There's only a few types of player the Irish could realistically land this spring. One would be someone like Nimari Burnett who is just too good to pass up on and could be guaranteed a starting role. The odds of Notre Dame landing a player of that caliber in the current state of the program seem extremely low. There are two other alternatives though, the first would be a player who wants to play right away and is dead set on coming to Notre Dame, it's not impossible to get a guy like this but he would have to be ok with competing for a rotation spot and probably wouldn't be the same quality of player as Trey Wertz or Paul Atkinson. Brey and the staff could have a real chance with a guy like Tre Mitchell who could fill this role, but it all depends on how Matt Zona and Elijah Taylor progress. If they aren't ready for a rotation spot yet then Mitchell would be a great addition, but if they are does Brey play Mitchell and risk stunting their development? Do they go with a small upgrade now that could hurt them in the long term? How does a guy Mitchell adjust to coming off the bench? Lots of questions have to be asked when bringing in a player like this and if there is any uncertainty about how it effects your chemistry and young bigs it may be beneficial for the staff to sit this cycle out. The only other kind of player the Irish could realistically land is a typical sit one play two or sit one play one type player that Brey has had success with throughout his time at Notre Dame.
Players like this nowadays are extremely hard to come by. However, the 2022-23 team could use a true big man to play the five alongside Matt Zona and Elijah Taylor who are likely best suited as power forwards, there could be a potential need at guard also, especially if Prentiss Hubb opts not to use his final year of eligibility. Even if Hubb goes in a different direction it is definitely possible that the staff is ok with combo guards Cormac Ryan and Trey Wertz sharing ball handling duties as they did at times when Hubb was having off nights or on the bench. With the lack of glaring needs on that team, the lack of players who want to sit out, and the possibility that Brey doesn't go all out in recruiting that class because of his uncertain job security, Notre Dame likely won't land one of those types of players either this spring.
A time of year that is typically extremely busy for Mike Brey and the Notre Dame staff could end up being quieter than usual, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Notre Dame's staff has done a nice job of constructing future rosters so that there are no glaring needs that they have to fill through the portal. Unless there is a player they have to have Brey normally likes to keep at least one scholarship open and that will likely be the case with the 2021-22 team. This offseason will probably be relatively uneventful with regards to recruiting but if there is any action it should come in the high school class of 22'.
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