Notre Dame men’s basketball hosting two transfers for visits this weekend
Notre Dame knew it needed to mine the transfer portal to fill out its 2022-23 roster. It wasn’t a matter of if the Irish would take a transfer, but how many and at what positions.
A frontcourt player was a given with center Paul Atkinson Jr.’s departure. The Irish have zero proven internal options to replace him. The backup five last year was Nate Laszewski, a four by trade who is going through the NBA Draft process and not a lock to return. Leading scorer Blake Wesley’s declaration for the draft and highly unlikely return made snagging a transfer guard more important.
A month of portal perusing has led to Wright State transfer forward Grant Basile and Niagara transfer guard Marcus Hammond emerging as top targets. Notre Dame is hosting both for official visits beginning Saturday, multiple sources told BlueandGold.com.
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Basile averaged 18.4 points and 8.5 rebounds this season, both team highs. He added 2.0 assists per game while shooting 49.8 percent from the field, 28.3 percent on three-pointers and 78.4 percent from the foul line. Wright State went 22-14, won the Horizon League tournament and earned a No. 16 seed in March Madness. The Raiders beat Bryant in the First Four before losing to Arizona 87-70. Basile averaged 17.5 points in the two tournament games.
The 6-9, 225-pound Basile mainly played center for Wright State in 2021-22. He’s a graduate transfer with two seasons of eligibility left. Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Iowa State are the other contenders for him.
Hammond was a three-year starter at Niagara, averaging 18.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists as a senior this season. He shot 43 percent overall, 37 percent on three-pointers and 83 percent on free throws for the 14-16 Purple Eagles, who play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. He’s a career 38.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc.
The 6-3, 173-pound Hammond played on and off the ball at Niagara. The Queens, N.Y., native is using the COVID-19 waiver to play a fifth and final season as a “super senior.” Georgetown and Rutgers hosted him for visits earlier this week. He will visit Kansas State after seeing Notre Dame.
Basile and Hammond are the first transfers to visit Notre Dame this spring. The Irish were slated to host former Nevada center Warren Washington, but he committed to Arizona State on Tuesday at the end of an official visit.
Including Laszewski but excluding Wesley, Notre Dame has 12 scholarship players on its roster for next season. The Irish signed the No. 23 recruiting class in the fall, according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking. All three signees are four-star prospects, with McDonald’s All-American guard J.J. Starling as the headliner.
