In town with one of his assistant coaches, Ray McCallum, a 6-foot-1 point guard and arguably the best player in the state of Michigan in the class-of-2010, made the trip for Notre Dame’s game against Connecticut. ESPN’s GameDay crew was also in the house, and the Joyce Center was rocking for most of the night.
McCallum was impressed.
“It was good,” he stated. “I didn’t know it was going to be crazy like that. Everything was real good. The fans, the facilities, the locker room, the coaches, atmosphere, it was all good.
“Just the atmosphere. I liked that a lot. The video they played, the introduction and all of that, I wasn’t expecting it to be like that. That fan support, it was crazy, it was real good.”
The only thing that wasn’t good, was the fact that the Huskies defeated the Irish, 69-61, snapping Notre Dame’s home winning streak at 45.
McCallum and his coach arrived about an hour before tip-off, and left a few hours after the game was over. They got some quality time with the coaching staff before departing.
“They were just telling me they could’ve used me tonight,” McCallum said. “They were telling me they really want me to come. They let their guards play with a lot of freedom. They were all good.”
So far this season, McCallum is averaging 17.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.4 rebounds, helping lead Detroit Country Day to an 11-0 record. Besides Notre Dame, he has scholarship offers from place like Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas, and of course Detroit, where his father is the coach. He claims no favorites at the time being. McCallum also added that he doesn’t even have a time-table for when he’s going to set a top-10, top-5 or when he’s going to make a verbal commitment.
With that being said, McCallum is keeping an eye on the Irish. Coach Mike Brey and assistant coach Anthony Solomon keep in regular touch, and have also visited the school.
“I like that they let their guards play,” McCallum said. “There is just a lot of freedom in the system. It’s not a slow-down offense. They get up and down and play, they shoot, there is a lot of freedom.”
During and after the game, 2009 Notre Dame signee Joey Brooks, was in McCallum’s ear a bit, talking about the Notre Dame program.
“He was just telling me how it was a good school and it would be a good fit for me, and how he’d like to play with me.
“It was good.”
McCallum said he has also taken unofficial visits to Kansas, Oklahoma and UCLA in the past, and has nothing else scheduled for the time being.