Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Forest, Virginia and Syracuse will visit Purcell Pavilion, while the Irish will travel to North Carolina, North Car- olina State, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Pittsburgh. Notre Dame's Dec. 3 home matchup with Michigan State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge will tip off at 7:15 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The program's meeting with Tom Izzo's Spartans marks the first between the two schools since 1979, when Michigan State defeated Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament on its way to a national champion- ship. The Irish lead the all-time series, 59-35. In its inaugural ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup last season, Notre Dame lost 98-93 at Iowa. The Irish play another Big Ten team, Purdue, as part of the annual Cross- roads Classic matchup in Indianapolis Dec. 20. IRISH SET TO HOST FOUR PROSPECTS The Irish are set for a giant football recruiting weekend Sept. 5-7 when Michigan visits, but it will also mark a significant few days for the basketball program's recruiting efforts as well. Four prospects are set to descend on campus for the weekend, including two uncommitted guards high on the coaching staff's list of priorities a little more than two months before Novem- ber's early signing period. Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., four-star small forward Matt Ryan and Troy, N.Y., three-star power forward Elijah Burns both committed to Notre Dame in July and had already set official visits to South Bend for the Michigan weekend. The duo will be joined on campus by La Porte, Ind., five-star combo guard Jalen Coleman and Santa, Ana, Calif., three-star shooting guard Rex Pflueger. Ryan is the No. 104 overall player in the class of 2015, the No. 20 small forward in the country and the fourth- best prospect in New York according to 247Sports. Burns is the No. 178 player in the class of 2015, the No. 43 power forward in the country and the eighth-best prospect that plays in New Jersey according to 247Sports. Coleman, the No. 25 overall player in the class of 2015, the No. 4 point guard in the country and the second- best prospect in Indiana according to 247Sports, has visited the nearby c a m p u s s e v e r a l times in the past y e a r. T h e I r i s h coaching staff has w o r k e d h a rd t o build a strong re- l a t i o n s h i p w i t h w h a t w o u l d b e the crown jewel of Notre Dame's 2015 recruiting efforts. Although Michigan and Illinois appeared to be the frontrunners for Coleman last winter, Notre Dame's ef- forts have appeared to pay off. Sources close to the program feel confident that Coleman will ultimately sign with the Irish. Michigan added Division III transfer Duncan Robinson last month rather than continue its recruitment of Coleman. The five-star guard has remained quiet during the recruiting process, letting his father handle much of the JALEN COLEMAN