Notre Dame Basketball: Irish land huge commitment in 2022 guard JJ Starling

Mike Brey and the rest of the Notre Dame Basketball staff already had one commitment in the 2022 recruiting class in Dom Campbell, but the Irish added a huge commitment in JJ Starling to their 2022 class on Tuesday. This may go down as the best recruit Mike Brey has landed in his Irish career.

After some technical difficulties which get the suspense going a little while longer, JJ Starling committed to Notre Dame. Starling chose Notre Dame over Duke, Northwestern, Stanford, and Syracuse. Starling is a highly ranked prospect within all the major recruiting sites as well. He is ranked the 27th best prospect by ESPN, 33rd by 24/7Sports, and 40th by Rivals.

Mike Brey really seemed to put all his chips in on Starling and it paid off in the end. The class of 2022 guard Starling plays just down the road from Notre Dame in La Porte at La Lumiere High School which is only about 30 minutes from South Bend. This made it an easy drive for Brey and the rest of the staff to make their presence known at open practices.

When JJ Starling started his official visit to Notre Dame Mike Brey waited no time to go get JJ Starling and bring him to South Bend. Brey didn’t just show up in his regular everyday car either. He showed up in a Ferrari trying to make an impression. I’m sure Starling was surprised and enjoyed riding in a car like a Ferrari because I mean who would not like to ride in one?

An interesting storyline is the connection between the head coach at La Lumiere and Notre Dame. The head coach at La Lumiere is Pat Holmes who also is a Notre Dame graduate and served as a manager on the basketball staff. Holmes did not play at Notre Dame, but I am sure helped tell Starling anything about the program that he wanted to know since he was around it in college.

JJ Starling is a perfect fit for Notre Dame’s freestyle of play on the offensive end. He can play either the point or move over to the two-guard if needed, can shoot it from anywhere on the court with his quick release, and just always seems to be the smartest player on the floor with a very high basketball IQ. Brey’s teams have always done extremely well in taking care of the ball so Starling will fit right in at Notre Dame.

In years past coach Mike Brey has heard and been criticized by different outlets for not recruiting hard enough like other programs around the country. This was a huge get for Mike Brey and the rest of the staff to show they can recruit with the blue blood college basketball programs.

JJ Starling is now officially the biggest recruit to join Notre Dame under Mike Brey. The other biggest recruit besides Starling in the Mike Brey era is Demetrius Jackson back in 2013. Or if you really want a flashback you can go back to center Torin Francis in the very early days with Brey at Notre Dame.

With the extra year of eligibility handed down by the NCAA point guard Prentiss Hubb could return next year which would help form one of the better backcourts in the country alongside Starling. The Irish have other guards like Cormac Ryan, Trey Wertz, and Dane Goodwin who could make this team rather deep at the guard positions.

Notre Dame returns almost everybody this year in hopes to get back to the NCAA Tournament since 2017, but it is exciting to know that JJ Starling and big man Dom Campbell will be joining the Irish roster in 2022. Maybe Starling and Campbell can help bring in forward Ven-Allen Lubin to round out a really good 2022 class overall.

Notre Dame will always be seen as a football school first, but Mike Brey is still trying his best to bring excitement back to the Notre Dame basketball program.

Getting a player like JJ Starling to commit will definitely generate some much-needed buzz around the program. Hopefully, better years are ahead for the Irish program and fan base starting in 2021 and beyond.