2020 PF Matt Zona Signs With Notre Dame

Matt Zona has been committed to Notre Dame for a month and a half now, but the 2020 New Jersey power forward had been waiting for Wednesday, when college basketball’s Early Signing Period opened allowing prospects to sign national letters of intent, for much longer than that.

“I think it’s going to be really gratifying for me because my whole life, this is something I’ve dreamed about,” Zona told Irish Sports Daily prior to inking the paperwork. “To finally have it happen is going to be really cool.

“I’m really excited. I want to get this official and make sure it’s real and everything.”

It’s now official as Zona has sent his National Letter of Intent to Notre Dame.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder from Bergen Catholic High School chose Notre Dame over offers from schools like Penn State, St. John’s, Vanderbilt, St. Joseph’s, Harvard and Davidson and others.

“It’s the mix of basketball and academics there; it’s probably the best you can really get in the country and then the rich tradition of the school,” says Zona. “That was a big draw to me.”

The staff in South Bend, led by head coach Mike Brey, also made a strong impression.

“The staff has been great,” Zona explains. “Coach Brey and all of the assistants have been really awesome. They made me feel like they really wanted me and it was just an easy decision with them to be all onboard.”

As fired up as he was to make his college destination official, Zona is also looking forward to his final season of high school ball.

“I’m really excited,” he says. “We’re going to have a good team this year and I just want to go out on top.

“I tried to become more of a better ball-handler and making plays off the dribble. Those were my main focuses throughout the summer.”

Bergen Catholic starts practice on Nov. 25th and has its first game on Dec. 20th.