Tag: J.J. Starling

Breaking: Notre Dame’s top player entering transfer portal

Notre Dame’s five-star recruit from a season ago is entering the transfer portal after one year with the Irish.

Yesterday our very own Geoffrey Clark wrote about how dark days are ahead for Notre Dame basketball.  A team with very little experience awaits whoever the next head coach will be and on Monday the task for that new head coach didn’t get any easier.

[autotag]J.J. Starling[/autotag], who just finished his freshman season, is entering the transfer portal. The combo guard was seen as a five-star talent and a top 25 player nationally in his recruiting class.  Starling started 24 games for the Irish this past season, averaging 11.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.  With the key players being lost to graduation, it was assumed Starling would be the top returner for Notre Dame in 2023-24.

Instead, the rebuild that awaits the next head coach just got a bit more difficult.  Starling had offers from several powerhouse programs including Duke, Alabama, and Syracuse.

Watch: Jon Rothstein lists Notre Dame 40th on preseason countdown

Happy with this ranking, Irish fans?

At the time of this writing, we have exactly 40 days until the college basketball season begins. That mean CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein has been counting down what he believes are the top programs in the country this season. Rothstein started at 45, so he’s fairly early in the countdown. Still, Irish fans will be pleased to hear that their team has claimed the 40th spot:

When you consider where the Irish were at the start of last season, this is quite the leap forward. Just swap out Blake Wesley for J.J. Starling, and you really do have pretty much the same team that made it to last year’s NCAA Tournament. The returning core of Nate Laszewski, Dane Goodwin and Cormac Ryan is getting a lot more respect than it previously did, and it undoubtedly is because of Mike Brey’s coaching that they’ve taken such giant steps. Here’s hoping those players can ascend even higher this year.

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Notre Dame can’t close deal vs. Texas Tech, out of NCAA Tournament

That’s all she wrote for this season.

For 38 minutes, Notre Dame battled Texas Tech as well as it could have. In fact, the Irish had a three-point lead on the Red Raiders and just needed to hold on a little longer to earn a date with Duke in the Sweet 16. Instead, everything on both ends suddenly went south at the wrong time. The Red Raiders scored 10 unanswered points and eliminated the Irish in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 59-53 win in San Diego.

The Irish (24-11) had a 52-49 lead thanks to taking care of the ball, playing solid defense and making shots when they needed to. All of that changed in the game’s final two minutes, and the Red Raiders (27-9) were the beneficiaries.

Out of an Irish timeout with the lead cut to 52-51, Terrence Shannon Jr. stole the ball from Blake Wesley to set up the possession that ended in two free throws for Kevin Obanor, which he earned after being fouled on an offensive rebound. Wesley tried to answer, but his go-ahead layup attempt was blocked by Marcus Santos-Silva, who hit two free throws himself after he was fouled immediately.

The nightmare wasn’t over for Wesley. He turned it over again, leading to another foul that resulted in two successful Red Raiders free throws, this time from Kevin McCullar. Down five and desperate for points, the Irish came up empty on three straight shots. The last of those was blocked and thrown down the court so a completely-alone McCullar could dunk with authority to erase any doubt about this game’s outcome.

Obanor was the star for the Red Raiders as he achieved a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds. McCullar had 14 points, as did Bryson Williams. Adonis Arms grabbed seven boards and a game-high four assists.

Dane Goodwin led the Irish with 14 points. In what likely will be his final game for the program, Wesley scored 11 and also had eight rebounds. However, those three turnovers he had in the final two minutes are sure to weigh on him and Irish fans for a long time.

While it was a tough way to end the season, surely any Irish fan would have taken how this team got after such a rough start. Now, we wonder who will be back next year to join highly-touted commit J.J. Starling. Maybe he will get the Irish even deeper in the tournament next year. It sure will be exciting to find out the answer to that question.

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Notre Dame commit J.J. Starling makes U.S. team for Nike Hoop Summit

A big month is coming up for a future Notre Dame player.

J.J. Starling, the most anticipated Notre Dame commit in years, is going to be very busy over the next month. In the last week of March, he will take part in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago. A week-and-a-half later, he will get the opportunity to represent the U.S. in competition for the first time. That’s because he has been selected to play for his country in the Nike Hoop Summit, an annual game between the best U.S. players and the best international players ages 19 or younger.

Starling, who attends La Lumiere in La Porte and participated in a 2019 U.S. junior national minicamp, will be part of the first Nike Hoop Summit since 2019. COVID-19 has forced the event’s cancelation over the past two years. The international roster for the game, which is taking place in Portland, Oregon, will be announced later.

Starling is believed to be taking the roster spot of Cason Wallace, who signed a letter of intent with Kentucky in November.

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Incoming Notre Dame guard J.J. Starling named to McDonald’s Game

Nice honor for the kid.

For only the second time since 2005, a future Notre Dame player has been named a McDonald’s All-American. J.J. Starling, who hails from Baldwinsville, New York, but is playing this season at La Lumiere in La Porte, is the first McDonald’s All-American to represent Notre Dame since Demetrius Jackson in 2017. As part of the honor, Starling will take in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago in March. Barring another COVID-19 cancellation, this will be the first game actually played since 2019.

Starling is not merely a great player who happened to pick the Irish as his landing shop. Per 247Sports, he is the Irish’s top-ranked recruit since 2000. Once he put pen to paper, he replaced Jackson as No. 1 in that category. Talk about a strange coincidence.

Of course, you never know how players are going to perform in their collegiate careers. On the aforementioned list, Irish freshman phenom Blake Wesley doesn’t even rank in the top 20. It really is all speculation based on how they perform before college. Let’s hope they get it right with Starling.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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