Brey Not Done With One-And-Dones

When it comes to recruiting, Mike Brey knows his lane and for the most part, he’s going to stay in it, but that doesn’t mean the Notre Dame men’s basketball head coach would be against a quick veer into the passing lane if he felt that was the best way to get the Irish to their ultimate destination.

As college basketball has become a younger game with premier players looking to get to the NBA as quickly as possible, Brey has zigged when others have zagged; being patient, redshirting future stars and attaining success with veteran squads year after year.

“We can’t lose sight of who we are and who we’ve been with four and five-year guys,” Brey said earlier this week.

But he has long maintained he wouldn’t be completely against bringing in a one-and-done player if it was the right fit either and repeated that stance when he met with reporters on Tuesday.

“We aren’t going to say never because you never know,” Brey added.

While it may seem like an odd match and there are still those who doubt it would ever happen, the Irish have certainly tried, seriously recruiting players like Jarrett Allen, Thon Maker and Jaren Jackson Jr., all of whom have been one-and-done guys in recent years – or in Maker’s case, none-and-done.

“We have run the race,” Brey said. “We haven’t won any of those battles. There is still one that will go on throughout the season to the spring.”

That “one” Brey is referring to, of course, is 2019 point guard Cole Anthony.

NCAA rules prevent Brey from publicly naming any prospective student-athlete who hasn’t signed a National Letter of Intent, but Anthony took an official visit to Notre Dame earlier this fall and trimmed his list from 12 to six just the other day with the Irish making the cut. Depending on which service you choose, the son of former NBA point guard Greg Anthony is either the second or third-best prospect in the entire class and will almost certainly spend one year in college before heading to The League.

There is actually a decent chance the Irish don’t sign any prospects in the Class of 2019. Part of that is because of how well they did in the Class of 2018 and the fact that Brey has an unusually young squad this year. The Irish signed five freshmen last cycle and also add Juwan Durham, who is eligible this season after sitting out last year following his transfer from UConn.

“Those guys have to play,” Brey acknowledged. “It’s been hard to sell to the next wave. Kids want to know where their spot is. I don’t have an answer.”

Brey said immediate playing time is a topic that is always broached by recruits.

“If they are going to ask you three questions, ‘My role as a freshman’ is one of the three and a lot of times it’s number one,” he said. “It’s not the Mendoza Business School. It’s ‘My role as a freshman.’ Right now, it’s honestly a hard discussion for me with some guys out there. I’m really excited about those seven in our lower classes who will be our nucleus down the road.” 

But for one-and-done prospects like Anthony, that’s not as big of a concern because they know they’re going to play right away.  And, when five-star prospects and/or those closest to them let you know there would be interest on their behalf if you showed interest in them – which may have been the case with Anthony – you show interest in them regardless of how young your nucleus is.

“They are reaching out to us,” Brey said. “It’s not just us. It hadn’t always been us lighting the fuse on some of these, and it’s been the other way around. I’m flattered, and we’ll keep exploring it.” 

But Brey isn’t changing his overall philosophy either. 

“My feeling is we’re going to try to get the best players, and if that happens, we’ll manage it and go from there,” he said. “We are who we are at the end of the day. This freshmen class is an example of who we are probably going to get.” 

And when he looks at his list of targets in the 2020 class, he sees more of the same.

“There are a lot of guys who look like the guys we’ve had rolling through here for 19 years on that list. You never say never, and you investigate it all. I’m also a very realistic recruiter and know where we are with things and who we can get.”