Two Notre Dame Signees Make Final Hoops Rivals150
A pair of Notre Dame signees highlight the Irish's appearances in the final Rivals150 rankings for the class of 2016, released on Tuesday.
West Orange (N.J.) Seton Hall Prep guard Temple Gibbs Jr. and Altamonte Springs (Fla.) Lake Brantley forward John Mooney both finished their senior years of high school included in the rankings.
The 6-3, 165-pound Gibbs has been a long fixture in the Rivals rankings as a four-star prospect, concluding his prep career as the No. 62 overall player nationally - up from No. 64 in the previous list. That officially makes him the highest ranked Notre Dame signee since Demetrius Jackson (No. 38) in the class of 2013.
Mooney breaks into the list at No. 145 overall after previously being unranked, following a successful senior campaign. He averaged 24.8 points, 14.0 rebounds and 5.0 blocked shots for Lake Brantley, leading his high school to a 22-4 overall record.
He was named Class 8A first team all-state in Florida by coaches, and earned All-Area Player of the Year honors from The Orlando Sentinel.
Gibbs Jr. averaged 20.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game for Seton Hall Prep this year, leading his squad to a 29-2 overall record.
His squad won the Essex County Tournament Championship before falling 73-53 to Don Bosco Prep in North Jersey’s Non-Public A final. He was named first-team all-state in New Jersey by NJ.com.
The Irish also signed Mono (Ontario) Orangeville Prep forward Nikola Djogo in the 2016 class. Season statistics were unavailable, but Djogo finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in the second contest of a three-game series, helping his squad win the series 2-0 to take the Canadian prep school title.
He completes 2016 rated as a three-star prospect.
The ACC signed 25 of the final Rivals150 players, marking the most of any conference in the country. The SEC (24) and the Big Ten (23) closely followed.
The Pac-12 signed 21 prospects from the list, but signed the most five-stars (7) of any conference.
There are still eight undecided players left in the final rankings, but none are considering Notre Dame.