With Jack Cooley having graduated and Tom Knight and Garrick Sherman both being seniors, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey could have used a win on the recruiting trail when it comes to adding to the front court rotation. The Fighting Irish heard the news they were hoping for on Friday, as 6-9 power forward Martin Geben has verbally committed to attend Notre Dame.
The news was first reported by Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com. Geben’s decision to commit to Notre Dame comes one week after he took his official visit to the school, and he’s their first commitment in the 2014 class.
Originally a native of Lithuania, Geben attends St. Maria Goretti in Hagerstown, Md. In addition to playing with the Team Takeover AAU program this summer Geben represented his native country in the FIBA Under-19 World Championships, posting averages of 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game (53.2% FG) on a Lithuanian squad that won the bronze medal.
In 2014 Notre Dame will have, in addition to Geben, Zach Auguste, Austin Burgett (both sophomores this season), current redshirt freshman Eric Katenda and current true freshman Austin Torres in the front court. Notre Dame has a few more spots to fill, with Knight, Sherman and point guard Eric Atkins out of eligibility after the 2013-14 season. The school lists guard Jerian Grant as a senior, but he does have another season of eligibility remaining due to the fact that he redshirted in 2010-11.