Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/601719
BASKETBALL RECRUITING three brothers, and you have to play one‑on‑one in the gym and fight for ev‑ erything, and get pushed around — the kid has a real toughness about him, that 'I‑95' edge that I like to refer to. "He shoots it, he has a feel for the game, and he has good defensive hands like [former Irish point guard] Tory [Jackson] — he can get in there and strip the ball." Mooney was originally committed to Florida under then‑head coach Billy Donovan, pledging to the Gators in September 2013. But after Donovan left for the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, Mooney reopened his commitment this August — and with a little assist from who he originally thought would be his college head coach, the 6‑9, 245‑pound senior found the Irish. He averaged 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game as a junior. "My guys remembered him a little bit," Brey said. "When Billy called me and said, 'Do you know Johnny Mooney?' I thought he was trying to en‑ dorse a coach for me or something. He was off the board in 10th grade. "I talked to [assistant coach] Martin Ingelsby after I talked to Billy, and he said they really liked him when they saw him when he was young. He was off the circuit because Team Florida didn't have a team — so not only was ✦ 2016 NOTRE DAME RECRUITING CLASS Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Nikola Djogo SG 6-7 185 Mono, Ontario (Orangeville Prep) Temple Gibbs Jr. PG 6-3 185 West Orange, N.J. (Seton Hall Prep) John Mooney PF 6-9 245 Altamonte Springs, Fla. (Lake Brantley)