Coach: Second Notre Dame Official Will Be Helpful For 5-Star C Hunter Dickinson
The recruiting process is a long one, especially when it starts in earnest when you’re a freshman in high school, which was the case with 2020 five-star center Hunter Dickinson.
As the 7-footer nears the end of the journey, he narrowed a lengthy list of scholarship offers to four last week; Notre Dame, Duke, Michigan and Florida State.
The DeMatha Catholic High School star will return to Notre Dame for another official visit this weekend after taking an official to South Bend last fall.
“He’s trying to do the best job he can to gather all of the information he can before he makes his decision,” DeMatha head coach Mike Jones tells Irish Sports Daily.
“I know he’s been out there, but they have new players this year. Just being able to get on campus again gives Notre Dame another opportunity and Hunter another opportunity to get to know one another better. It just goes into him trying to make the best decision.”
While the process has been ongoing for years, it’s really ramped up in recent weeks with college coaches making multiple trips to the Maryland powerhouse program to meet with Dickinson. Jones says Dickinson appreciates the schools taking the time and doesn’t seem to be getting sick of the process.
“This is an exciting time for a young man who has some great options in front of him, obviously Notre Dame being one of them,” says Jones. “I don’t ever think he looks at it as annoying. He’s blessed to be courted by so many great schools, so many great programs and so many great coaches. It’s just part of the information-gathering process.
“The fact that these schools are still in there and actively recruiting him and doing all they can to let Hunter know how important he is to them, that’s got to make a young man feel good.”
The Irish have been persistent in their recruitment of Dickinson since the start.
“I’m sure they feel good,” says Jones. “They were the first school to offer him. They’ve been pretty consistent over the course of Hunter’s career. I’m sure that’s got to be worth something.”
Those relationships will be a crucial part of Dickinson’s decision, but just one part.
“It’s going to come down to where Hunter feels as though he fits in best and where he’s going to be utilized and able to get on the floor, the relationship he has with the head coach, the relationships he’ll have with the players,” Jones says.
“All of those things will go into his decision as well as the academic part. Hunter is a great student. He’s as smart as they come. He wants to make sure he’s going to a school where he’s going to be challenged academically as well.”
Dickinson has an official visit scheduled to Duke next weekend, but Jones was unaware of any others to come.
“I don’t want to speak for him. Those are the only two I know of, but who knows? He could have scheduled something without my knowledge.”