Notre Dame lands one of nation\’s best recruiting classes â€¦ in hoops

admin November 14, 2012 0

By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor

Notre Dame is used to signing the nation’s finest football recruiting classes. As for men’s basketball, well that’s a different story.

Today though, Irish coach Mike Brey announced the signing of four high school players that give Notre Dame one of the best basketball recruiting classes the nation has to offer.

Three of the players inked hail from Indiana, including Ft. Wayne’s V.J. Beachem, Mishawka’s Demetrius Jackson and Mishawka’s Austin Torres. New Jersey’s Steve Vasturia is the lone out-of-state player to sign a National Letter-of-Intent with the Irish on the first day of the early signing period.

Those four players make up what ESPN believes is the 10th-best recruiting class in the country. Kentucky has the top-rated class, followed by Kansas, Memphis, Indiana and Florida, respectively.

The class is also drawing kudos from Scout.com and Rivals.com, which has the group 10th and 11th in the nation, respectively.

Beachem is a four-star, 6-foot-6, 180-pound small forward, who is ranked 64th nationally by Scout and 85th by Rivals.

Jackson is one of the most coveted players in the class. The 6-1, 170-pound point guard is ranked 26th by Scout and 30th by Rivals.

Like Jackson, the 6-6, 200-pound Torres, a power forward, is a local kid.

Vasturia is another four-star recruit, who looks to be an asset in the Irish backcourt, especially with his 6-5, 190-pound frame. Scout ranks him 90th.

We felt that we needed to strengthen our perimeter game with this year’s class and I really think that we accomplished that, 13th-year Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. Our current guards, (Eric) Atkins and (Jerian) Grant, believe it or not, are getting older.

We feel we accomplished our needs with the three players we added (Beachem, Jackson and Vasturia) and then strengthened our frontline with a young man (Torres) who is an active player around the basket.

This is a heck of a class for us and it keeps our perimeter strength in great shape for years to come, Brey added.

All four players will be freshmen at Notre Dame in the fall of 2013.

Brey likes the versatility the four-member class will bring and also loves their basketball acumen.

Like other players that we have recruited into this program, this group has a real feel for the game and a high basketball IQ, Brey said. They’re going to fit into the system we have and the trend we have established of being unselfish and sharing the basketball. It’s also a highly-skilled and athletic group and one that will play together a lot.

Beachem plays at New Haven High School where he averaged 19.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game as a junior. He helped guide New Haven to a 17-4 record en route to all-state honors. In addition, Beachem was a member of the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Junior All-Star Team.

V.J. is a smooth, scoring wing who can really shoot the basketball and just knows how to play the game, Brey said. He has a great feel on the court for what is going on around him. V.J. is an active and long defender.

One thing that V.J. does very well is that he can put the ball on the floor. He needs to get stronger, but he has great length and plays above the rim. What I love most about him though is his calm demeanor on the court. He is extremely steady and plays with a great deal of composure.

Jackson preps at nearby Marian High School. Last season the junior averaged 22.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.0 steals. Jackson led the Knights to their first sectional title in 43 years as they finished 22-4.

He was an honorable mention All-American by MaxPreps.com and earned all-state honors to go along with being a member of the IBCA Junior All-Star Team.

Jackson is a three-year starter and two-time Northern Indiana Conference Player-of-the-Year recipient.

We are so happy to have Demetrius become a member of our basketball program, Brey said. Being a local product, he and Austin are going to bring a lot of energy for our fanbase to our building.

He’s an extremely talented player with Derrick Rose’s ability kind of ability. Demetrius is a higly-skilled and dynamic point guard. As good as he is right now as a player, I believe that there is still so much potential there for him to become an even better player.

Brey loves how Jackson has become a gym rat.

He’s improved his shooting immensely and that is one area of his game that I have been very impressed with in terms of how far he has come since I began watching him as a freshman at Marian, Brey said. Demetrius has a chance to be a very special player within our program.

Of the four signees, Torres may be more of a project when you look at his statistics and lack of overall accolades, but that doesn’t mean Brey is any less excited about adding him to the program than the others.

We are thrilled ot have Austin join our basketball program, said Brey about the player who averaged 10.0 points and 7.2 rebounds for Penn last season. I’ve watched this young man really mature as a player ” he’s an athletic player with a workmanlike attitude. He defends really well and plays above the rim. Austin can block shots and finishes well along the basket.

Austin is a guy that is going to come in and be a role player for us early on. He is going to be someone who is going to earn his minutes by doing a lot of the dirty work for us. As he has gotten older, I have been impressed with how hard he plays and how unselfish he is on the court and how tough he plays.

Vasturia has opened a lot of eyes at St. Joseph’s Prep in Medford, N.J. The four-star recruit, who is ranked 90th by Scout, averaged 21.0 points and 9.3 rebounds while leading his team to the Philadelphia 4A state championship a year ago. Vasturia was a big reason why St. Joe won that title as he went for 35 points in the championship game, which tied the record for most points in the title game that was set by Wilt Chamberlain in 1955.

Vasturia’s team finished 21-6 and he was named MVP of the Philadelphia Catholic League. Vasturia was first-team all-state and enters his senior season with 1,149 career points and is on pace to become his school’s all-time leading scorer.

Steve is going to be a very good player for us and has been very well-coached in high school, Brey said. The Philadelphia area has been really good to us and he is going to follow in the footsteps of the great players that we have had from that area.

Steve’s got a mature feel for the game and he plays older than he actually is. He’s the complete package – shoots the ball well, puts it on the floor, is a good defender and moves without the ball. He’s just got an excellent feel for the game.

Follow Doug Griffiths on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ISLgriffiths.