How grad transfer Marcus Hammond, once an unwanted recruit, found a fit at Notre Dame amid lots of attention

Recruitment is the charitable description of the process that led Marcus Hammond to Niagara. Indeed, Niagara offered Hammond a scholarship four and a half years ago and pursued him, so it’s technically an accurate characterization too.

The Purple Eagles, though, were competing against themselves. No other Division I school offered Hammond. As Hammond recalls it, they discovered him only when they went to watch one of his teammates on an unaffiliated and now-defunct AAU outfit in the summer of 2017. Hammond’s coach at Queens (N.Y.) Cardozo High School, Ron Naclerio, estimated he called about 50 schools asking them to consider offering his star player.

“I called a Division II school where one of my former players is the head coach,” Naclerio said. “He said he needed a point guard who could shoot. I said, ‘I have the kid for you.’ For whatever reason, it didn’t work out.”

All told, Hammond’s side did as much recruiting of coaches as coaches did of Hammond. Naclerio said he even put in a word with Niagara’s President, Fr. James Maher.

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When you have one offer, the decision is all but made for you. There are no promises, no sales pitches with grand plans, no wooing. You go to that one school hoping to make its coaching staff look smart for taking a shot nobody else did.

Which makes the next four years and this spring even more surreal.

Hammond left Niagara as a three-time All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection. He earned two first-team nods and averaged 18.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists as a senior. It made him wonder if high-majors would be interested in him as a graduate transfer. He entered his name in the transfer portal March 22 and was inundated with high-major attention almost immediately. Patrick Ewing wanted to FaceTime him. Big 12 and Big Ten programs were interested. He’s the No. 79 player in Stadium’s 2022-23 transfer rankings in a year where more than 1,300 players have entered the portal.

This is what a full-blown recruitment is like.

“It’s a special feeling to be recruited by a lot of icons in college basketball, a lot of great head coaches who are known all over the world,” Hammond said.

Mike Brey and Notre Dame’s staff, though, resonated more than others with their down-to-earth and upbeat vibe. The more he listened to their pitch and did his research, the more he saw Notre Dame as an appealing destination before he even stepped on campus.

“The bond I built with the coaching staff over the time they recruited me,” Hammond said, “I needed to see how it was in person up close.

“Before the visit, I knew this might be the place I want to be. I just needed the visit to solidify it.”

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Hammond committed to Notre Dame on Monday over Ewing and Georgetown, shortly after wrapping up his visit. He had scheduled a trip to Kansas State for this week, but did not take it.

He’s the Irish’s first transfer portal addition this offseason and joins a backcourt with a trio of fellow fifth-year seniors and freshman J.J. Starling. Even with a McDonald’s All-American newcomer and a cadre of experienced guards, they needed more help to replace two key losses.

Four-year starting point guard Prentiss Hubb is moving on. Leading scorer Blake Wesley became the Notre Dame’s first one-and-done when he declared for the NBA Draft in March. Hammond saw a gap he could fill and a place where he felt he could reach his first-ever NCAA tournament.

“These guys were second in the ACC last year,” Hammond said. “That’s big time. It’s one of the best conferences in the country. Adding me and the freshmen coming in, I felt like it’d be a great thing.”

Hammond is a career 38.9 percent shooter, which includes a 52.2 percent mark (36-of-69) as a freshman. Wesley and Hubb were Notre Dame’s two best off-the-dribble creators and facilitators. Hammond’s game is built around scoring and shooting off the bounce. He has played point guard and two-guard before.

What’s left to see is how it translates from the MAAC to the ACC. A small sample against high-major competition this year is encouraging.

Hammond totaled 47 points, shot 16-of-31 overall, made 8-of-19 three-pointers and pulled down 12 rebounds in November games against Xavier and Ohio State. The lone blemish was his 4-to-11 assist-turnover ratio. He’s used to operating with the ball in his hands, but still ranked top-two on his team in assist rate each of the last three years. At 6-3 and 173 pounds, adding strength will be a priority when he arrives this summer.

A high-major program taking low-major up-transfer is like buying a lottery ticket. A few will be jackpots. Many will give you something decent but unspectacular. And many will yield nothing of note. Every staff feels they’ll win big and, worst case, net a decent role player. But, it’s hard to truly know until at least preseason practice.

As a transfer with one year left, opportunity is at top of mind when picking a destination. A strong final act and successfully navigating a competition jump ought to expand professional options. But it can’t happen if you don’t see the court.

Even if Hammond is not a go-to high-major scorer, he’s a veteran guard. Brey likes veteran guards and building teams that “get old and stay old.” Hammond fits right into that idea, and Brey directly told him as much. He sensed he might not find a better mix of potential for team success and the leeway to prove himself than what Notre Dame offered him.

“I have one year, and I want to make the best of it,” Hammond said. “He shot me straight about how he plays, how his system is,” Hammond said. “He kept emphasizing the fact he plays his guards a lot. That was the biggest factor.”

In a decision decidedly not made for him.