Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 27, 2017 47 BY COREY BODDEN After taking an official visit Nov. 3‑5 and landing an offer from Notre Dame, Marlborough (Mass.) High power forward Chris Doherty felt South Bend was the place for him. The 6‑7, 225‑pounder actually con‑ sidered committing to the staff before leaving town Nov. 5. However, he wanted to mull it over for a bit lon‑ ger. In the end, he knew he couldn't turn down the Irish. Doherty pledged to head coach Mike Brey and his staff Nov. 13 and signed his National Letter of Intent the next day to become an official member of the 2018 class. "I went back home and thought about it for a few days. I realized that with basketball and off the court when the ball stops bouncing, Notre Dame is going to help me in the long run," Doherty said. "I thought it was a no‑brainer. Just the alumni they have there, it's one of the best institu‑ tions in the country. How could you say no? "I've always liked Notre Dame basketball. I've known about Coach Brey and the success they've had with big guys like myself. Once Zach [Auguste] went there I got more into them and really followed them over the past four years." While the basketball program and academics caught his attention, so did the support from the Irish fan base during the Wake Forest foot‑ ball game and basketball exhibition against Bethel. "I went to the football game in the rain, and it was like 30 or 40 degrees. The whole stadium was sold out, and the crowd was into it," Doherty ex‑ plained. "That's the type of place I want to play — where the fans are really passionate about their sports. "You can see that there. At the ex‑ hibition game, you could tell the fan support was unreal." Though the offer came during the visit, Notre Dame had known about Doherty for some time. Con‑ tact picked up after a strong summer AAU circuit playing for the same program as fellow Irish forward signee Nate Laszewski of Northfield (Mass.) Mt. Hermon. "They started recruiting me my freshman year of high school on the circuit … they were watching me and Nate a lot," Doherty stated. "Then my sophomore year I got hurt, so I didn't play AAU, and I kind of fell off a little bit. When I got back to playing, they were really interested in me, and Nate and I were playing well together. "I caught their eye again, and they kept talking to me. I talked to Coach [Rod] Balanis a lot. With the relation‑ ship we built, I really felt comfortable. "They were talking to my AAU program about me a little bit. … Our other big guy got hurt, so I got a lot more opportunities to play. Over the last five or six games, I played the en‑ tire game. That helped me get more exposure, and I played pretty well." Doherty also built a good relation‑ ship with Brey during the process. "In the time I was there, you could tell he's a cool person," Doherty said. "He's not fake for the cameras. He's a laid‑back guy, and I like that about him. Not saying screaming is bad because it happens in basketball, but the way he approaches it he's more of a players' coach. "He's not just screaming. He'll talk through your problems on the court. That just really caught my attention." The power forward averaged 16.0 points per game for Marlborough last season. During his freshman campaign, he helped lead his team to a state title appearance while averag‑ ing 22.8 points and 14.3 rebounds per contest during the state tournament. Boston College and Rutgers were among the other programs to offer the power forward. Arizona, Vir‑ ginia, Xavier and Georgia Tech were showing interest. Following Doherty's commitment, Rivals rated Notre Dame's class No. 9 in the nation. The Irish boasted the third best haul in the ACC, be‑ hind only Duke (No. 1) and North Carolina (No. 5). ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE CHRIS DOHERTY Massachusetts Power Forward Added To Top-10 Irish Class The 6-7, 225-pound Doherty, who Rivals rates as a three-star prospect, picked Notre Dame over offers from Boston College and Rutgers plus interest from Arizona, Virginia, Xavier and Georgia Tech. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM FILM ANALYSIS He's just willing to do whatever it takes to win — the dirty work — which is why I com- pare him to Austin Torres. … Torres is playing for a potential ACC champion, and that's what Chris can be for Notre Dame. He's not sexy — he's blue collar. He's tough. Ask him to jump off a bridge, and he'll say, 'How high?' That's the kind of guy he is. Most of his work is off pure energy. It's scor- ing off offensive put-backs. He's not a tre- mendous athlete. His timing and instincts are really, really good as a rebounder and shot blocker. I think he can be someone that plays differ- ent spots for Notre Dame and can be a real big threat on the glass and also as a defender. — Rivals national analyst Corey Evans