Notre Dame Hoops Signs Stellar 2025 Class

Depending on who you ask, the Notre Dame men’s basketball 2025 recruiting class may be a Top 10 or Top 5 class, but either way, it’s pretty dang good.

It may have seemed like it came together in a little over a week, but in reality, the Irish put months and even years into the group that inked on Wednesday, National Signing Day.

Of course, the four prospects the Irish signing today announced their verbal commitments in the span of about a week back in September with Indiana forward Brady Koehler‍ kicking things off. 

He was followed a couple days later by five-star Indiana combo guard Jalen Haralson‍. Sharp-shooting swingman Ryder Frost‍, from Massachusetts, came a couple days after that. 

Minnesota big man Tommy Ahneman‍ announced his pledge to the Irish a few days later to put a bow on what is likely the most impressive period Irish hoops has seen from a recruiting perspective.

A consensus five-star and Top 20 national prospect, Haralson is the unquestioned jewel of the class. 

“It's his ability to impact the game in so many different ways,” his coach at La Lumiere School, Pat Holmes, told Irish Sports Daily. “He's a guy who makes the guys around him better. You can have him run the point guard for you, use ball screens and make plays for teammates. You can have him coming off ball, off-ball actions and pindowns and flares and staggers. 

“He can space the floor and make shots. He's a guy who is not afraid to go down in the low post and utilize his size and strength to make a play in the paint. He can put his head down and play some bullyball and get to the rim and get to the free throw line. 

“He's just a guy who's always looking to make the right play. He makes guys around him better. He can make any pass in basketball. His size and strength give him the ability to pass over the top of opposing defenses. He does everything you ask him to do and he's not a selfish player. He's going to make the right play. If he needs to go score, and it's just one-on-one, he's going to go score. If he draws help, he's going to hit the open man, make the right read.”

Frost will stretch the floor as well. Mike Crotty, Frost’s coach with the Middlesex Magic, knows Notre Dame well and has coached sharpshooting pros like Duncan Robinson and Pat Connaughton in the past.

“Ryder's the best shooter I've coached in a Magic uniform,” Crotty said without hesitation. “Duncan was an excellent shooter when I coached him, but he continued to flourish and grow…Ryder can do it off the dribble, off any kind of action, certainly off the catch-and-shoot. I personally believe he's the best shooter in the country. He was the best shooter in the Under Armour Association.”

But Crotty, and Frost for that matter, know he’s more than just a shooter.

“I've been trying to become more of a complete player; handle the ball more, make more of an impact on defense and rebound for my position, guard multiple guys,” said Frost. “I feel like I just make the right play.” 

Koehler will add size and versatility, according to Indy Heat coach Jon Avery.

“At 6-9 with a 7-1 wingspan, he's not a kid you come by that often, especially throughout the Midwest,” Avery told ISD. “He's shown that he can compete at the highest level, having played with us this summer with the EYBL. In addition to that, playing at one of the top high schools in the state with Cathedral. He's proven that he can play at a high level. 

“He's extremely coachable, extremely likable, all those things makes it an easier process and transition for him to play at Notre Dame and in the ACC.”

Ahneman saw a complete fit at Notre Dame including the people, the academics and the basketball.

“They're very pick-and-roll heavy,” Ahneman told ISD. “I thrive in a pick-and-roll situation, pick-and-pop situations, stepping out and hitting a three. Low post game too; they hit the post entry. Their guards share the ball incredibly well there. 

“They're always developing the bigs so they can do everything a guard can do; passing, dribbling, shooting, and then they even make it even more of an emphasis on scoring down low for the bigs too.”

Notre Dame is still pursuing five-star Virginia forward Nate Ament‍, who was in town for an official visit this past weekend. Competition for Ament will be stiff though and Notre Dame will be more than content with the group it signed on Wednesday if that’s how it ends up. 

Despite being considered one of the Irish’s best recruiting classes in recent memory, the Notre Dame staff doesn’t see it as a foundational group as much as one that enhances what it feels it’s already laid down.

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