As you can see in the scholarship chart, Notre Dame is currently using 12 scholarships for the 2016-2017 season, leaving one wide open for the 2017 recruiting class. There will be two additional scholarships becoming available once VJ Beachem and Steve Vasturia graduate after this season. You probably did the math already, but we are looking at a possible 3-man recruiting class for 2017. Looking ahead even further, there is a good possibility that there will be 4 scholarships for the 2018 class. Even though it’s early, that class may be starting to fill up fairly soon as well.

As for any consternation regarding the lack of commits so far, I can certainly understand that. But just for context, 37 of 247’s composite top 50 rated players for 2017 remain uncommitted. It does seem like the basketball recruiting cycle is being pushed later and later every season. This might be especially true of the top guys that Notre Dame’s staff is increasingly going for these days. My advice would be to wait until the September run of visits pass until you freak out. If no commits come (or, at least, it doesn’t look like Notre Dame is firmly in the driver’s seat for any of these guys), then it might be panic time for Irish fans.

Irish Hoops Recruiting Board

DJ Harvey – SG/SF – 41st overall prospect in 247’s composite ranking, 4 stars, .983 rating

Let’s start with the most fun name on the list. Why is Harvey a fun name for Irish fans? He’s been a five-star prospect much of the time this class has been ranked by the major services, only recently “falling” into high four-star territory because *shrugs shoulders*. He was, by all accounts, very impressive in all phases of his game most of the summer. Harvey is a great-if-not-ELITE athlete who is quite well-rounded offensively at a premium position. Harvey also plays highly competitive ball year-round at DeMatha HS and for the Team Takeover AAU program.

And on top of all that, Notre Dame is currently the crystal ball favorite for Harvey. There was a lot of early traction for Arizona, but Harvey’s comfort level with Brey (who has personally been recruiting Harvey as long as if not longer than anyone) and the newly-constructed coaching staff has apparently given the Irish the leg up in this one. 7 of the 8 predictions on 247 that came in this summer have been for Notre Dame.

The staff hopes to land Harvey, or at least pull way out in front, during his visit this upcoming weekend. Louisville, Texas, UConn, and Alabama are looming large here, however, so don’t count your chickens yet by any stretch.

Darryl Morsell – CG – 60th overall, 4 stars, .976 rating

Morsell is a very interesting prospect in that he wasn’t much of one until this summer. Then, almost all at once, he earned about a dozen high-major offers seemingly out of nowhere. He is only rated by one ranking service yet (Scout), who debuted him at 60th. He is well on track to be a mid/high four-star by everyone once rankings are updated more thoroughly. Morsell is a very confident, smooth-as-can-be guard with a sound shooting stroke and could slot in quite nicely next to TJ Gibbs in the future Irish backcourt.

Morsell’s final five include Dayton, Maryland, Notre Dame, Villanova, and Virginia Tech. All except Va Tech currently have him on the books for an OV, but Notre Dame was first to do so and have just generally been very aggressive here since offering in July. Maryland is a bit of a favorite here due to proximity, but Morsell, who attends Eric Atkins’ Mount St. Joseph’s high school (where Atkins was just inducted into their Hall of Fame), is quite high on Notre Dame. Morsell visits South Bend the weekend of September 17th for the Michigan State game.

Luke Garza – C – 138th overall, 4 stars, .923 rating

Garza is another recent offer for Notre Dame and plays for the same AAU team as Harvey. He is a traditional big, quite skilled, but not exactly a rim-rattler. Brey was able to see Garza quite a bit as he was chasing Harvey all over the AAU circuit, so he must have a good idea where Garza can fit into his program (i.e.: they need more bigs). Garza will visit the same weekend as Morsell, and a visit materializing so quickly after an offer must bode well. Iowa, Alabama, and Georgia have been recruiting Garza a lot longer and are the likely favorites at this point.

Aamir Simms – PF – 141st overall, 4 stars, .922 rating

Simms earned rave reviews this summer as one of the best rebounders at a couple high-profile events and as a very active, bouncy defender. When the Irish offered Simms back in April, he said that it was an offer that he wanted for a long time, certainly a good sign for Notre Dame. He has since put the Irish in his top 6 with Clemson, Iowa State, Miami, Pitt, and VCU. The staff is trying to get Simms to squeeze in a visit to South Bend in September (or, perhaps, bump one of his other scheduled visits). However, they might have to wait until October to make an impression after Simms has already visited the rest of his top 6. I would estimate Simms to be a longshot, but he is worth monitoring should he visit without committing elsewhere first.

Robby Carmody (2018) – SG – 58th overall, 4 stars, .975 rating

Why bother with a 2018 prospect when the Irish haven’t even started their 2017 class? Well, they might be getting this 2018 recruit before anyone else. Carmody is on track to visit for the September 17th weekend as well, which will be his third visit in the past year and first since scoring an offer in May. It left an impression on him that he was Notre Dame’s first 2018 offer.

The Irish staff, including Brey and Ryan Ayers, are being very aggressive here. Michigan and Pitt are real threats, but Notre Dame beat both schools to the punch by quite a margin. Michigan just offered a couple weeks ago and Kevin Stallings just finally reaffirmed an earlier Pitt offer shortly thereafter. That’s an entire summer with a leg up on the main competition (which may also include recent offers Ohio State and Syracuse). Carmody and Ayers have a great rapport, and the Irish will get their chance to close this one out soon. If it lingers too much past that September 17th weekend, then these other schools will have their chance to catch up.