2019 NY G Joe Girard III Talks Notre Dame Offer & More
Joe Girard III has had some great college options to consider for a long time, but while there had been consistent contact with Notre Dame, the 2019 New York guard wasn’t seriously focusing on the Irish because it wasn’t a serious option for him.
That all changed on Sunday during a phone conversation with Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey.
“He just said he appreciates me waiting and seeing what their roster is and giving them time,” the 6-foot-2 prolific scorer said of his conversation. “He just wanted to figure out what their roster looked like. He felt that now was the time to do it and offered me a scholarship.
“It was a great moment for me. I was really proud to get that one. This has been in the works a long time, to know that I’ve worked hard and gotten it is something I’m proud of.”
The Glens Falls High School star averaged more than 50 points per game as a junior this past season and is already New York’s all-time leading scorer.
Prior to the offer from the Irish, he already had offers from schools like Duke, Michigan, Syracuse, Oklahoma, Penn State, Ohio State, Boston College and St. John’s among others. He says the delay won’t have any impact on how he views Notre Dame.
“It doesn’t really affect me at all,” he said. “I’m just focusing on the schools that believe me and they believe in me now and that’s what I’m really looking at. I’m just trying to find the best fit for me and my family.”
And now that Notre Dame is one of those schools he can focus on, he’ll spend more time getting to know Brey, his area recruiter Ryan Ayers and the rest of the guys in South Bend.
“I’m just going to become closer with Coach Brey and the rest of the staff now that it’s finally official and they’ve offered me,” Girard said. “I’ve been close with Coach Ayers and I think it’s just going to expand even more now.”
He was in South Bend for a football game during the fall and expects to return at some point.
“I haven’t made any plans yet, but I probably will get back there,” he said. “I’m not sure when though.
“I’ll probably just want to see where I would fit in. They’ve had a lot of traditional players like me, but I’d just want to see what the roster would look like and where I would be able to fit in with the team and the roster.”
Girard doesn’t have any visits plans and isn’t sure when he’ll get back on the road.
“I’m just getting ready for AAU right now and focusing on EYBL,” he said. “I haven’t really thought about that. I play football as well. It’ll probably be a lot more difficult for me to do my official visits because I’ll be playing a sport at the same time and that’s when they usually do it. I’ll figure it all out, but I just haven’t really thought about it yet.”
He isn’t claiming any favorites and hasn’t trimmed his list.
“I haven’t narrowed it yet. I don’t know when I’ll do that, but I haven’t done it yet.”