Maya Dodson, Lauren Ebo and Kylee Watson are all post...
by Cavanaugh82 (2024-04-28 07:13:49)

In reply to: Been losing track at this point - what do we think would be  posted by irish_dan

Post Reply Return to McGraw's Bench

players that have transferred to Notre Dame under the Ivey regime and, I would argue, have excelled in this environment. I don't think that the guard-heavy coaching staff or offensive strategy has hindered their development but I can't say that I know for sure how a prospective post player in the transfer portal right now views the ND opportunity.

Other board members have speculated on some of the challenges of recruiting to ND for both high school and transfer players. For the general student population Notre Dame has(d) a policy of not admitting transfers in their junior year but that has been relaxed, I think, for scholarship athletes. Jess Shepard, Dara Mabrey, and Kylee Watson are recent examples of players transferring in after completing two years at another school.

I also wonder what the official policy is about accepting grad transfers into a degree program or whether athletes are offered a non-degree graduate studies program that allows them to take enough classes to remain eligible to play. Ebo and Dodson both received MS in Management from Mendoza so the precedent is surely there for an academically minded player to achieve both on court and in classroom success.

Not to be too cynical but I wonder whether the Irish are competing on equal footing in the NIL part of the equation. In an era in which some high school recruits reportedly require NIL compensation just to make an official visit to a school, I suspect that the transfer portal is not immune from this. Also, head coaches are salesmen as much as they are athletic teachers and, as any fan of Glengarry Glen Ross knows the first rule of sales is ABC: Always Be Closing. If you get a highly desirable recruit onto campus you don't let them leave without trying to close them. After rolling out the red carpet for the prospective transfer player the final pitch of "You've met the players and coaches and feel at home here, we really think that you are just what our team needs to succeed next year and just to show you how highly we think of you we can offer you an additional NIL bonus of $___K if you announce before you leave here".

I've never heard anyone suggest that this occurs, I just think that within the current environment it is likely to occur. Does this sound like something that Notre Dame is likely to do? I don't honestly know but the lack of success lately in attracting some of the elite transfer prospects makes me wonder.


Just as an aside, Maya Dodson is currently playing in Spain and Lauren Ebo is playing in Turkey and will be a member of the Nigerian Olympic team playing in Paris, their first game will be July 29th against Australia.



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