Report: Rutgers transfer Paul Mulcahy to visit Notre Dame
Rutgers transfer guard Paul Mulcahy will visit Notre Dame on Thursday, according to ZagsBlog basketball insider Adam Zagoria.
Mulcahy, a 6-foot-7 graduate transfer, visited Xavier on Wednesday and is also considering Washington, Zagoria said.
This past season, Mulcahy averaged 8.3 points per game and finished fourth in the Big Ten with 4.9 assists. The assists leader, Jalen Pickett, played for Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry at Penn State. In Mulcahy’s junior season, he finished second in the Big Ten with a career-high 5.3 assists per game.
A consistent starter for the past three seasons, Mulcahy averaged 32.4 minutes per game in 2022. He shot 37.0 percent from 3-point range, which was slightly down from his career-high of 39.3 percent in his sophomore year.
Mulcahy announced he would enter the transfer portal June 9.
“I would like to thank Coach (Steve) Pikiell for believing in me and each individual on campus who has impacted my experience,” Mulcahy said in a graphic he tweeted. “Being New Jersey’s Point Guard has been something I’ve taken great pride in. For my final assist after 457 on the court in New Brunswick, I am donating 457 meals to Elijah’s Promise in New Brunswick, New Jersey. With love, gratitude and appreciation, Paul Mulcahy.”
When Mulcahy first entered the portal, one Rutgers reporter saw Notre Dame as a possible destination for him.
“We all saw Jalen Pickett take a huge step forward under Shrewsberry,” On The Banks managing editor Greg Patuto said. “This could be an intriguing factor for Mulcahy.”
With Mulcahy running the point, Rutgers men’s basketball experienced something of a renaissance in the past few years. The Scarlett Knights made the NCAA Tournament in 2021 for the first time since 1990, and they made it again in 2022.
Rutgers was among the first teams out in 2023, and it could have been in in 2020 if the Tournament was held. In Mulcahy’s career, Rutgers went 73-52. Its last winning season before Mulcahy arrived was the 2005-06 season.
Shrewsberry’s roster, in his first year with the Irish, is almost entirely different from former Notre Dame coach Mike Brey’s in his last season. It’s also almost entirely made up of underclassmen.
Notre Dame brought in a four-player freshman class, which includes point guard Markus Burton, combo guard Logan Imes, center Carey Booth and shooting guard Braeden Shrewsberry. The Irish also signed three transfer additions: junior shooting guard Julian Roper (Northwestern), sophomore small forward Tae Davis (Seton Hall) and sophomore center Kebba Njie (Penn State)
Blue & Gold will continue to cover Mulcahy’s recruitment as it develops.
