Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527865
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 19, 2024 47 "I'm a guy that can facilitate, a guy that can get paint touches," Haralson said. "Not even as a lead guard, like re- ally just becoming a complete basketball player. I'm really good with the ball in my hands, but my next step is becoming great without the ball and with the ball." That's why playing with Markus Bur- ton, who will be a junior when Haralson arrives, is so appealing to the five-star prospect. In an ideal world, Shrews- berry always wants to have two ball- handlers on the court at the same time. Burton and Haralson will give him that, and then some. "He's a guy that's hard to get out of the paint, and I'm hard to get out of the paint with my size," Haralson said. "He's faster than me, but I have a physi- cal body. Him coming off ball screens, kicking to me for open shots, me coming off ball screens, kicking to him. That's why we're going to complement each other really well." Haralson also mentioned Braeden Shrewsberry, his future head coach's son, as a player he's looking forward to competing alongside. "I love when guys surrounding me can shoot," Haralson said. Haralson's other takeaway from practice was the way his future team- mates worked. He saw the intensity of Shrewsberry's sessions, which are aimed to help the Irish play with a faster pace than they did last season. When he watched from the sideline, Haralson saw something he wanted to be a part of. "Those guys love to work and get after it," Haralson said. "Kind of like myself." THE FINAL PIECES OF THE CLASS Publicly, Frost was the third domino to fall and Ahneman was the fourth. As of Oct. 10, Notre Dame had the No. 4 recruiting class in men's college bas- ketball, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. The Irish consider Frost, a 6-foot-6 swingman, one of the best shooters in the country. On3 national basketball recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw agrees, believing Frost is in the conversation for the top spot on the list. Frost drilled 44.2 percent of his three- pointers (on 8.6 attempts per game) this past AAU season with Middlesex Magic. During the season, Frost scored 15.1 points per game at an efficient clip, averaging 1.21 points per possession. "I would say I can stretch the floor with my shooting and guard multiple positions. I take a lot of pride in just making the right play," Frost told On3's Joe Tipton. "I also feel like my game is still developing, and I am constantly working to expand it." Ahneman, standing 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, is an On3 outlier. The industry rates him as a three-star prospect, but On3 has him as a four-star prospect and the No. 57 overall player in the country. He earned that ranking with his low- post game, which he learned from his mom, Erin, who played basketball at North Dakota State. "I'm more of a low-post presence, and Notre Dame is very good at getting their bigs into pick-and-roll and post-up scenarios," Ahneman told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "Their guards share the ball incredibly well, and so do their bigs. "I felt like everything just kind of played toward me as a player." Ahneman told the coaching staff he was in during the second quarter of Notre Dame's 31-24 win over Louisville. He knew where he wanted to go mo- ments before kickoff, when Cathy Rich- ardson's "Here Come The Irish" echoed throughout Notre Dame Stadium. "Everyone erupted," Ahneman said. "I just knew it was where I wanted to be." ✦ Phillips Exeter (N.H.) Academy product Ryder Frost is rated as the No. 18 small forward and No. 84 over- all prospect nationally in the On3 Industry Ranking. PHOTO COURTESY RYDER FROST Tommy Ahneman, a 6-11 center from St. Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Durham Hall, is ranked by On3 as the No. 8 center and No. 57 overall prospect in the country. PHOTO BY KYLE KELLY