IRISH LOOKING AT FORMER UK COMMIT

April 16, 2009


In Billy Gillispie's short time as head coach at the University of Kentucky, the hard-working recruiter seemed to have the market cornered with early commits. While the wins on the court were not coming as frequently as the decision makers at UK would have preferred, Gillispie was subsequently fired after just two years as the Wildcats' head coach.

With John Calipari now the head coach of Kentucky, many of those early verbal pledges have decided to look elsewhere, including one of the Bluegrass State's top prospects in the class of 2010, Scott County HS power forward Dakotah Euton.

"[Dakotah] de-committed from Kentucky with the coaching change and has Notre Dame very high on his list," said Euton's AAU coach, Ritchie Davis of the Wisconsin Playground Warrios, to the NBE Basketball Report.

Euton on his AAU teammates got the spring travel season off to a great start by going 7-0 and capturing the 17-U championship last weekend at the KnoxVegas Heat Invitational at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Euton, who is not the most athletic 6-foot-8 power forward on the scene, set the tone for his team with intense play and effort in the post, piling up solid numbers all weekend. His production was highlighted by a 22-point, 11-rebound performance in a semifinal win over the CP3 All-Stars of North Carolina.

"Dakotah is not very athletic but he makes up for his limited athleticism by playing so hard," said Davis. "His desire really started to rub off on some of our younger players this past weekend during our first event."

A skilled forward, who can step away from the basket and drain shots out to the three-point range, Euton has some similarities to current Irish star Luke Harangody with his constant effort and diverse offensive game. Other highlights over the weekend included a 21-point, 9-rebound performance against the Worldwide Renegades (GA) and a 14-point, 13-rebound effort against SYF Players (IN).

"Dakotah is a very skilled forward," says Davis. "He is easily one of the best shooters on our team, and his ability to step away from the basket and consistently knock down the three-point shot really enables our structured high/low motion offense to really work."

In addition to the Irish, Boston College, Davidson, Iowa State, North Carolina State, Oregon State, Purdue, Stanford and Virginia are among the other schools making it known they would like to recruit Euton now that he is not committed to Kentucky.

This weekend, Euton and his Playground Warrior teammates will be in Little Rock (AR) for the Real Deal in the Rock, followed by a trip to Akron (OH) for the King James Shooting Stars Classic. They will close out the month in Fort Wayne (IN) for the Spiece Run ‘n Slam where the NBE Basketball Report will look to check in on Euton and his team in action.

Check the NBE Basketball Report for more coverage of the Irish and the efforts of the Notre Dame staff on the recruiting trail.