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NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Biggest winners and losers from 2019 classes

By Tristan Freeman

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 25: Penny Hardaway, head coach of the Memphis Tigers, watches the action during the game against the Charleston Cougars at HP Field House on November 25, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts to a call in the first half during a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena on February 16, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts to a call in the first half during a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena on February 16, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

No. 1 Loser – Notre Dame Fighting Irish

It was a dreadful past season for Notre Dame, going 14-19 overall and just 3-15 in the ACC. The loss of Rex Pfluger early on was damaging but the Irish could never replace the combined production of Matt Harrell and Bonzie Colson.

The hope was that the coveted 2018 recruiting class would collectively perform well, with a quartet of four-star players coming in. None of them scored over 8.1 ppg this past season, although Prentiss Hubb did average 4.0 apg as the team’s starting point guard.

So why would I put Notre Dame as the biggest loser in regards in the 2019 recruiting class? That’s because they have no recruiting class. Not one single commit to speak of. They went after several top-100 prospects such as Malik Hall, Chris Ledlum, Justin Moore and others but failed to land a single signature. Part of it could be that they were concerned with playing behind the 2018 class.

But no matter the reason, Notre Dame will essentially be “running it back” with the same roster that finished last in the ACC, while most of their conference peers all seemingly gotten better. They’ll benefit from having Pflueger back for a full senior season but they won’t have double-digit scorer DJ Harvey, who transferred to Vanderbilt.

Next. Top 25 impact freshmen for 2019-20. dark

The Irish still had a few scholarships this offseason but only landed Stanford transfer Cormac Ryan, who isn’t even able to play next year per NCAA rules. The ultimate hope is that the sophomores take a big leap in year two but is it too much to ask for? As good a class they had a year ago, Notre Dame swung and missed this time around, coming up with nothing. Hard to see them back in contention in the ACC unless head coach Mike Brey pulls a rabbit out of his hat.

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