June 17, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – University of Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Mike Brey has announced that Dennis Latimore (Halstead, Kan.) has transferred to Notre Dame from the University of Arizona. Latimore played in 57 career games for the Wildcats before voluntarily leaving the team in February of 2003. The 6-8, 238-pound foward will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2004-05 campaign. Under NCAA transfer rules, he will be required to sit out the upcoming 2003-04 campaign. Latimore is currently enrolled in summer school classes at Notre Dame.
Latimore averaged 2.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in his season and a half at Arizona. He started one game in the 23 he played during the ’02-’03 campaign and averaged 3.2 points and 3.1 rebounds, while shooting 51.9 percent from the field. Latimore netted a season-high 10 points against Oregon State on the road and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds versus Davidson and Oregon. His lone career start came against Washington State on January 9, 2003. He played 20-plus minutes on four occasions.
Latimore shot 42.6 percent from the field during his freshman year and averaged 1.9 points and 2.5 rebounds while playing 10.9 minutes per game. He scored a career-best 12 points against California and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds versus Illinois. Latimore played 20-plus minutes four times, including a career-high 28 minutes against Oregon State.
Latimore was the Kansas Class 3A Player of the Year as a senior (2000-01) at Halstead High School after averaging 24.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game, in addition to garnering first-team all-state recognition. He also earned Class 3A all-state honors from the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, Wichita Eagle and Topeka Capitol Journal following both his senior and junior seasons.
As a junior (1999-2000), Latimore was the Gatorade Circle of Champions Kansas Player of the Year and USA Today Honorable Mention All-America pick after netting 25.0 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game. He played his sophomore year (1998-99) at Meza Mountain View High School in Arizona and led that team to the Class 5A state title and copped third-team all-state recognition.
Following his final prep season, he played in two all-star games – the Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic and the Coca-Cola Classic in Las Vegas.
Notre Dame finished the 2002-03 campaign with a 24-10 record overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time since 1987. The Irish finished 15th in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 22nd in the Associated Press ranking.
” We’re thrilled to have Dennis Latimore join our program,” Irish head coach Mike Brey says. “He comes from a highly successful and competitive program at the University of Arizona. We feel that he’ll fill a need for us when he becomes eligible in another year. Dennis is excited about getting a degree from Notre Dame and he is a great fit for our program.”