D.J. Harvey to explore transfer from Notre Dame men's basketball program
A crack in the storied basketball pipeline between Notre Dame and DeMatha (Md.) Catholic High School surfaced early Saturday afternoon.
Irish sophomore swingman D.J. Harvey, a former DeMatha standout and top recruit as a prep senior, has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Doing so allows him the option to explore a possible switch of schools, ND coach Mike Brey confirmed to The Tribune.
Staying at Notre Dame has not been ruled out. A timetable for Harvey’s decision — stay or go — is unclear.
A call and a text message left on Harvey’s cell phone Saturday afternoon were not immediately returned.
Harvey is one of two players in DeMatha’s storied hoops history to start as a true freshman at Notre Dame. The other is former Irish standout and Basketball Hall of Fame member Adrian Dantley. Other DeMatha players who attended Notre Dame include former Irish guard Jerian Grant and power forward Bob Whitmore.
Brey and associate head coach Rod Balanis also are DeMatha graduates.
Whitmore attended Harvey’s National Letter of Intent signing at DeMatha in November of 2016.
The only member of Notre Dame’s 2017 recruiting class, Harvey was ranked as high as No. 21 nationally by various recruiting services.
A current DeMatha player — center Hunter Dickinson, who will be a senior this fall — is high on Notre Dame’s recruiting wish list for 2020.
After missing the second half of his freshman season with a knee injury — which required microfracture surgery and kept him off the court for the entire summer — Harvey played in 29 of 33 games this past season. He averaged 10.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game. He shot 39 percent from the field, 29.9 percent from 3, and 74.7 percent from the foul line.
Harvey scored a season-high 19 points in a December home win over Jacksonville. He played a career-high 37 minutes in the February loss at Florida State.
Harvey missed the final four games of the season after suffering a strained right hamstring during a late-February practice. He started all 29 games he played in this season and was expected to start again next season — if the Irish roster did not have any offseason additions.
If Harvey decides to go elsewhere, he’d be the third player to leave the Notre Dame program in the past three years. Former swingman Matt Ryan transferred to Vanderbilt following the 2016-17 season. He sat out one year and played this past season with the Commodores. He also recently entered the transfer portal and will weigh another move following a change of coaches at Vanderbilt.
Former Irish power forward Elijah Burns left the program after four games in November. He transferred to Siena and will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Notre Dame currently has two scholarships to offer prospects this spring. If Harvey leaves, then three spots would be available. Notre Dame could add a late-rising high school senior, a traditional college transfer or a graduate transfer, who would be immediately eligible to play at the start of the 2019-20 season.
Notre Dame finished 14-19 overall, 3-15 and last place in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season. Brey expected to return all 11 scholarship players. That may change.
Maybe.
