Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BASKETBALL RECRUITING BY JORDAN WELLS N otre Dame is hoping to round out its 2016 recruiting class with two more prospects, and the Irish coaching staff is thinking big. Austin (Texas) St. Stephen's Episco- pal center Jarrett Allen — who is rated as a five-star prospect and the No. 20 overall player nation- ally by Rivals — visited campus with his parents Oct. 8-10, when the Irish football team played and defeated Navy. His party arrived on Thursday night before a busy day of Friday activi- ties that included a tour of campus, eating in the dining hall and playing pickup basketball with the team — the high- light of which for Allen included a matchup with Notre Dame senior forward Zach Au- guste. "I went up against Zach, and that's who I really wanted to play against," Allen said. "He had a couple of out- side shots, but I threw a couple jump hooks on him, which helped me out. "Demetrius Jackson was actually on my team. He was fun to play with. He looks in when he drives and still has his eyes open down the lane. He was one of the better points guards I've played with." Notre Dame's sales pitch to Allen includes its four-around-one offense, which usually features four perime- ter players and one post player. With Auguste exhausting his eligibility this year, there's an opportu- nity for Allen to come in and start right away next season as the team's pri- mary post player. " C o a c h M i k e B r e y talked about how he would use me," Allen said. "He said he would love to have me. He thinks I'm a perfect fit both academically and athletically for their pro- gram. He was trying to tell me how great I could be there. "They can shoot very well. Coach Brey was tell- ing me they run the four- around-one because they all can shoot, so they couldn't double-team me. Au- guste is leaving, so they're going to need a big man coming in to step up. That's appealing — anyone would want to start in a program like that." Following his trip to Notre Dame, the 6-10, 225-pound big man sched- uled official visits to Kansas (Oct. 24 weekend) and Kentucky (Oct. 31 weekend). Five-Star Bigs Are Considering The Irish Austin (Texas) St. Stephen's Episcopal center Jarrett Allen, the No. 20 overall prospect in the class of 2016 according to Rivals, took an official visit to Notre Dame Oct. 8-10. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS