Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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In due time, though, the 2015 recruit- ing haul might challenge as the best under McGraw, unless … 2016 CLASS ONE CENTER AWAY Notre Dame's two verbal commit- ments for the 2016 recruiting cycle — 6-2 forward Erin Boley and 5-11 guard Jackie Young — saw their stock rise in the espnW Super 60 rankings after sensational junior campaigns. Boley is now ranked as the No. 5 player in the na- tion, while Young — maybe the clos- est to a Loyd-like scoring machine — is No. 9. For the second year in a row, Eliz- abethtown, Ky., resident Boley was named Gatorade Player of the Year in the basketball- m a d B l u e g r a s s State. She aver- aged 20.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game while also maintaining a 4.0 grade-point av- erage in the class- room. Boley could join 2009 recruit Skylar Diggins, Loyd, current junior forward Taya Reimer and current sophomore Turner as yet another Irish recruit ranked among the top-five players in her class. Meanwhile, this past year, Young be- came the first girls' basketball player in Indiana high school history to eclipse 1,000 points in a season (four boys have done it) while leading Princeton Community High to its first-ever state title. Patberg guided her team to the 4A title while Young did the same at the 3A level. During a 30-1 campaign, Young scored 1,003 points, 36 in the state championship contest, while av- eraging 31.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game — and shooting an extraordinary 69 percent from the field. T h e re i s o n e more vital piece t h e I r i s h s t a f f wants to add to the 2016 harvest — 6-4 center Lauren Cox from Flower M o u n d , Te x a s , the nation's No. 1-ranked player. In April she nar- rowed her choices to three-time reign- ing national champ Connecticut, Notre Dame, Baylor, Lou- isville, South Caro- lina and Tennessee. Last year, she av- eraged 21.7 points, 15.3 rebounds and 5.4 blocked shots per game while l e a d i n g F l o w e r Mound to the Class 6A state semifinals. Notre Dame should be well stocked at guard and along the wings in its Princ- eton motion offense, but needs a little more in the post to complement Turner. Landing Cox to join Boley and Young would likely elevate the Irish to No. 1 For the second straight season, class of 2016 for- ward Erin Boley was named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Kentucky. PHOTO COURTESY THE BOLEY FAMILY