Before Duke, North Carolina and Michigan came calling, Notre Dame already offered Matt Ryan a scholarship. When he needed surgery to repair a torn labrum and bone impingement in each hip, the recruiting effort of head coach Mike Brey and assistant coach Martin Ingelsby never wavered, unlike that of other schools.
The Fighting Irish wanted the highly skilled Iona Prep shooting guard in South Bend, Ind., and they showed it with action. Ingelsby spoke to Ryan every day, Brey on a weekly basis. It was as if he were 100 percent healthy.
And on Friday afternoon, Ryan rewarded their faith, picking the Irish over a host of other schools. He had over 30 Division I scholarship offers.
“That spoke volumes to me,” said the 6-foot-7 sharpshooter from Cortlandt Manor, a consensus three-star recruit. “They’ve been recruiting me nonstop. They deserve for me to go there and it’s a great fit for me as well.
“It was really a no-brainer.”
Originally, Ryan’s plan was to wait until the fall before making a decision. But he noticed more and more fellow prospects coming off the board while he continued to rehab his hips. Ryan didn’t want to lose out on an opportunity, and the more he thought of it, the more he felt Notre Dame was the place for him.
The last Metropolitan area player to attend Notre Dame, Moore Catholic’s Kyle McAlarney, enjoyed a memorable career, and Ryan plans to speak to him about his experience in South Bend.
“When I went out there [for a visit], Coach Brey showed me some film of players he thinks I play like, Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis,” said Ryan, who averaged 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in eight games as a junior before undergoing surgery in March and expects to be medically cleared by September to participate fully in fall workouts.
“He gives his shooters a lot of freedom. That’s what I do. I think I can go in there and have an impact right away.”
Rising junior Tyus Battle of Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone, N.J., scored a scholarship offer from Arizona, which joins, among others, Connecticut, Kentucky and Louisville, which are after the highly ranked guard.
Kansas State offered Roselle (N.J.) Catholic forward Chris Silva a scholarship, joining Syracuse, Georgetown, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova among his many suitors.
Former Oregon and Providence guard Brandon Austin of Philadelphia, booted from each program for alleged sexual assault, is transferring to JUCO Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.
Rutgers signed center Shaquille Doorson, a former Pittsburgh commit, of the Canarias Basketball Academy in Spain on Thursday.
White Plains shooting guard Jordan Tucker, a rising sophomore, added a scholarship offer from Dayton on Thursday.
Elmsford, N.Y., native Donovan Mitchell, a St. John’s target who attends prep powerhouse Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., landed scholarship offers from Kansas State, South Florida and Louisville on Thursday.