We saw how Matt Ryan's two surgically repaired hips led to poor rebounding, slow on defense, slow foot speed and may have affected his jump shot.
Durham Finds Fit At Notre Dame
If Juwan Durham had decided to go elsewhere, it would have been no fault of the Notre Dame men’s basketball staff, according to Durham’s former high school coach.
“They knew they did a great job in recruiting him from flying up to Storrs, Connecticut to meet with him to putting together a really nice visit for his mom and dad,” Tampa Prep head coach Joe Fenlon said of the Irish coaches’ pursuit of the 6-foot-10 transfer prospect from UConn.
“There was nothing else they could have done, so even if he would have chosen Villanova, there’s nothing else they would have done differently. They put their best foot forward and what happens happens.”
Fortunately for the Irish though, what happened was Durham choosing Notre Dame over Villanova, Virginia Tech and all of the other schools that pursued him after one season with the Huskies.
“He hit it off really well with the staff and the players when he was there,” Fenlon said. “He couldn’t go wrong. He narrowed it down to Villanova and Notre Dame and really tried to sort things out.
“He really put a lot of thought into it. He visited Notre Dame the first week in May and then made a decision last Friday night. He’s been debating this for a while. He made a quicker decision the first time around, not that it was the wrong decision, but I think he really wanted to make a decision, think about it, feel comfortable about it and that’s where he was.”
Current Irish assistant Ryan Humphrey transferred to Notre Dame after two years at Oklahoma, so he had a unique understanding of Durham’s position.
“I think he related to Coach Humphrey very well because he kind of went through some of the same stuff that Juwan is going through at the moment,” said Fenlon. “He wants to be challenged at the highest level.
“Both schools provided that and Notre Dame playing in the ACC will give him the opportunity to come back to Florida to play Florida State and Miami, which gives his family an opportunity to see him play. A Notre Dame degree is one of the most recognizable degrees you can have and I imagine that was a part of it as well.”
The Irish felt strongly about their chances following that visit back in May, but had to wait until Durham completed visits to Virginia Tech and Villanova before he made his final decision.
“I told them, ‘You couldn’t have done a better job,’” Fenlon recalled. “‘They’re in love with the place, but the kid just wants to have the opportunity to visit at least one more school.’ He needed to compare different schools in general, not just basketball. You’re looking at enrollment, size of the school, size of the campus.
“This time around because of having been a college student for a year, it was imperative for him when he left the campuses he visited that he had made a connection or didn’t make a connection with the staff depending on which school it was.”
In the end, those connections along with the opportunities on and off the court led him to South Bend.
“He felt very comfortable about pulling the trigger to go to Notre Dame.”