Ryan Carter - June 20th
Sydney Savoury - Fall football weekend
Jayla Forbes - June 27th

I don't know if I love having prospects on campus in late June, when the campus life is very much siloed into whatever summer programs happen to be there. Not to mention, they'll have had their fill of Ivey by then, so it could be overkill. (Savoury will have time to miss her!) But, at least ND is getting them on campus, which is more than plenty of other schools can say!

That you noted. I didn't post it because it's not permitted to post paywalled information on this board.

I wouldn't worry about the June visits. Those are serious kids that are all business when it comes to academics. The hustle and bustle of a full campus isn't what's going to attract them to ND. My only concern is that when you take a June official visit, then take other official visits in the fall, the summer visits tend to become out of sight, out of mind. However, if they make their decisions relatively soon after the early visit, it often works out for ND.

The Class of 2026 is/will be on campus at this point, so if this visit includes a catered dinner at Coach Ivey's house, there will be plenty of time for full interaction with players you'll be spending a lot of time with the following year(s...knock on wood).

As noted, these kids know what they're after and attending a football game isn't going to tip things much for them.

I'm very interested in following what Carter does thereafter.

What were your impressions?

63er,

It's difficult to take too much away from this tournament, as apart from USA and Canada, the rest of the countries participating are noncompetitive. It's also fair to point out that these teams haven't played together much, so there's not a lot of cohesion.

Those caveats aside, parts of her game have been okay (shooting and rebounding), but she's been a little careless with the ball and led the team in turnovers yesterday. Please note that Team Canada has been primarily playing their starters for the bulk of the time and the rest of the team (which includes Sangha) comes in against the other team's backups and it's just poor competition.

I've previously stated that everyone will need to be patient with Sangha for the first year or two. I also don't think playing volleyball and basketball in college is going to help accelerate her basketball development as quickly as anyone would want, so I'll be interested to see whether she drops volleyball at some point. But she might need to play in some games this year out of necessity if they have injuries to multiple frontcourt players.

player at this point in time. I watched a few clips and she was superior at spiking the ball. Got up, hit the ball really hard and looked very aggressive. I do give her credit for trying to do both in college. It will play itself out.

Yes, NDWBB is allowing her to play both sports. However, she's on a basketball scholarship, so basketball will be the priority. It's up to her if she wants to switch to volleyball fulltime, but if she does then she'll either likely have to accept a partial scholarship (unless she's elite) or transfer to a school that provides full volleyball scholarships.

Given the level of competition, along with the academic time requirements/rigors at a school like ND, multi-sport excellence is the exception rather than the rule.

major Div I college, but it does happen on occasion. I wasn't aware that she is not on scholarship for volleyball. I'm glad you clarified that. (Wasn't one of the star football players also a elite lacrosse players over the last few years?). A wide receiver I think.

Jordan Faison is who you're thinking of and I'm glad you brought him up. Yes, he played well in both football and lacrosse, but he didn't play for the lacrosse team this past season. The reason why is because he didn't feel like he was playing to the best of his abilities in football and he wants to give himself the best opportunity to play in the NFL. Therefore, he spent the entire spring in football practice. While he was an example of someone that capably did both (which is an exception), he eventually admitted to himself that he needed to drop lacrosse in order to be a better football player.

What does it mean for Sangha? It will take away precious basketball developmental time this summer and fall by playing volleyball. ND plans on bringing in more players her size in the next recruiting class (they already have with Long) that are rated higher and are frankly further ahead developmentally than her. She runs the risk of getting buried in the depth chart in a year or two. This is her decision and clearly everyone respects that, but she might feel differently in a couple years.

watched Sangha for the first time in a game situation. (8 pts., 3/4 %, 3 rebs., 1 steal, 4 turn overs.). She was 2/2 from three!). I am not necessarily a great evaluator of talent, but based on what I saw, she is definitely a developmental player. She has a nice shot and is a good (not great) passer. I also thought she showed the ability to jump and can run the floor. Also, seemed to have an understanding on playing defense. The one area that was fairly dramatic, as far as weaknesses go, was her lack of upper body strength. (Catching the ball and holding on to it, on both rebounds and catching passes.)
As you point out, the competition at forward will be challenging, with all of the talent of this years class and Long. Knowing Niele's propensity to play a limited bench, may well hurt her development. (Along with missing practices, do to volleyball commitments.).
What we don't know is how driven she is and how hard she will work. I still give her credit for trying to play both sports, at that level.

Jordan Faison, who played on the NCAA Lacrosse National Championship Team from ND in 2024, did indeed take this lacrosse season off to concentrate on the 2026 football season. I suspect that was done to improve himself short-term and with the NFL draft in 2027 as a mid-term goal.
As such, I doubt we'll see him for Coach Kevin Corrigan's Laxers.

Matt Jeffery, a sophomore wide receiver/special teams player, was also brought aboard initially for lacrosse: he was the highest rated Inside Lacrosse (iL) prospect his freshman year. He, too, decided to walk on and has become something of a special teams ace, although he caught some passes as well.
He continued to play lacrosse and made ACC and All-American teams this spring. He's due to come back to play lacrosse next spring; in part because he's probably going to be a team leader in lacrosse and he's not approach the level of Faison at this point. But if he does improve, it will be interesting to see what he does with his junior year. BTW, his scholarship is now a football one.

Lastly, there's Donald Faison, Jordan's younger brother who enrolled early to play for the '26 lacrosse team, much like Olivia Miles and Cass Prosper did for the ND women's basketball team. I'm pretty sure he's going to "walk on" the football team as well. I could see him using his four seasons of lax before using his last year to concentrate solely on football. He's needs to put on some weight, but he's both quick and fast with great hand-eye coordination.

Coach Corrigan has been steadily recruiting better, biigger and faster athletes. So, it would figure to see ones who can not just play, but excel at both.
Stay tuned.

your feet.

I found the following basketball skills translated well to (beach) volleyball, in my case:

- Blocking. This might seem like captain obvious, but it's not just about going up higher, but knowing when to jump up to intercept the spike. Also, what angle to come at. You'll work with your fellow front liners to determine if one or two should go for it and how to approach.

- Setting. Specifically, sets in which you're allowed to use your (set) fingers, which came about somewhat lately. Really takes advantage of redirect passing skills that hoopsters have, not to mention touch on some shots.

- Lateral movement....just instinctive, but playing hoop has helped.

On the flip side:

- Digging. Hard time with this, to this day. Any good hoopster wants to use his/her fingers and/or open up the hands to get a low ball. That's a big-time rules infraction. Girls are utterly spectacular at this and I see why one position is dedicated to a player who can "dig" a serve or spike. The idea of softening a blow the redirecting it is something to admire.

Had to have a sense of humor. Liked it a lot, but it was hell on my knees as I got older.