Prep's Vasturia picks Notre Dame for basketball

JUST BECAUSE Stephen Vasturia is relentlessly low-key, don't take that as a sign of weakness.

After all, the 6-4, 185-pound combination guard is still a month-plus away from beginning his junior basketball season at St. Joseph's Prep, yet he has already made an oral commitment to one of the country's glamour college programs.

Which one?

Well, if you weren't too close to the library table where the soft-spoken Vasturia sat Tuesday, during an ultra-brief news conference, you still might not know.

He showed up with no telltale goodies. No hat to tug on. No sweatshirt to hold aloft. Not even a ballpoint pen to display. His only extras were a small sheet of note paper, containing his, um, speech, and a bottle of blue Gatorade, stuffed into the right pocket of his sport coat.

"I wasn't even aware of the procedure for these things," Vasturia said with a shrug. "I do have Notre Dame stuff at home. I guess I would have brought some if . . . "

The word had leaked Monday, thanks to Vasturia's coach with an AAU team, and Prep coach William "Speedy" Morris was still disappointed, if not hissed, that any hint of surprise had been removed.

Actually, ND had been rumored for a while.

Vasturia, who last season averaged 17.9 points, 2.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds, and even sank 63 consecutive free throws, made unofficial visits to Villanova, Georgetown, Temple, Northwestern, Boston College and Virginia, in addition to ND. The trip to South Bend, Ind., was made Labor Day weekend and he got to see a football game vs. South Florida.

"You get a feel for the tradition and atmosphere," he said. "It's special, and you really don't get that anywhere else. I had a feeling in my gut about it.

"Notre Dame was my third or fourth visit. I used it as a measuring stick against anything I made afterward. It still stood out. I knew there wasn't any other place for me."

Vasturia said that he spoke often with Irish assistant Martin Ingelsby, a former star at Archbishop Carroll and ND, and that Ingelsby twice came to Philly to watch him work out.

"He was a big help to me," he added.

The Prep's library is two-tiered, and maybe 125 kids showed up to watch the proceedings. The instant Vasturia walked in, the applause began, and it didn't stop until he'd completed the roughly 20-yard walk to the table.

What's this kid? A rock star? Not quite. But he is the son of first-magnitude athletes. His dad, John, starred in football and baseball at Cardinal O'Hara, then did likewise at Penn. He's in the Quakers' baseball Hall of Fame.

When John was asked the reason his son has become so good in a third sport, he smiled and said, "Right there," while pointing at his wife. The former Kathy Weir is a member of Dickinson's Hall of Fame. Yes, for her hoops exploits.

Family friend Kevin Callahan, a South Jersey sports writer who coached him in youth/CYO ball, said Vasturia was a natural going way back. Better yet, he also was the hardest worker, routinely shooting 1,000 jumpers a day.

"In second grade, he dribbled the length of the court righthanded, then used his left for the layup," Callahan said. "I knew right then he was something special."

Morris said Vasturia, who lives in Medford, N.J., had 20-plus offers.

"He plays tremendously without the ball, and not many kids do that," Morris added. "He sees the game one play ahead. He can shoot, pass, play defense . . . Just the perfect guy to have on your team."

As a youngster, Vasturia saw himself playing someday for North Carolina.

Now, Carolina blue has given way to Irish green.

Online high school coverage at philly.com/rally.