Hutton: Cunningham sees bright future for Andrean point guard Gonzalez

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TAB MUG HUTTON Andy Lavalley/Post-Tribune ptmet

Updated: February 19, 2012 8:23AM

Andrean coach Carson Cunningham has the best point guard in Northwest Indiana — in his own, unfiltered view.

Take it for what it’s worth because there are plenty of good ones out there (Dean Danos of Bishop Noll and Tye Wilbon of Lake Central come to mind) but I was at a practice earlier this season when a recruiter from California, there to watch 6-foot-9 center Josh James, who was sick that day, started asking questions about D.J. Gonzalez. Gonzalez is an extremely quick, athletic 5-11 junior, who not surprisingly gets lost in the shadows of Valparaiso University recruit Nick Davidson, Joyce and 3-point specialist Collin Wojcik.

Cunningham, who knows a good point guard when he sees one (he played for Gene Keady at Purdue as his floor general for two seasons) says Gonzalez has “pogo sticks.” That means he jumps high.

Gonzalez is averaging 9.5 points per game, 3.5 steals per game and three assists per game and he is shooting 85 percent from the free-throw line.

“He has really come into his own,” Cunningham said.

Gonzalez credits Cunningham for giving him the confidence he needed after he hit a rough spot during his sophomore year.

Gonzalez started early last season then he injured his calf muscle and missed a stretch of games.

When he returned, for reasons Gonzalez can’t explain (he was younger perhaps) he just didn’t have it.

Gonzalez finished the season on the junior varsity team.

“I wasn’t there mentally,” he said.

Cunningham more or less gave him the keys to the car this year — no small leap of faith when the 59ers could easily have Davidson running the point — and it has all worked out beautifully.

“I just try to keep the positive energy going,” Gonzalez said, “and make some plays on defense.”

A Glen Park resident, both of Gonzalez’s parents are Andrean graduates. Cunningham is pretty certain that if Gonzalez stays on the upward trajectory that he is climbing, that he’ll play Division I basketball somewhere.

That means the 59ers have three Division I players with Davidson, Gonzalez and Joyce.

Notre Dame and Gunner Kiel: The news that Gunner Kiel, the five-star quarterback from Columbus, enrolled at Notre Dame on Tuesday was stunning and potentially program changing. Kiel is universally regarded as the best high school pro-style quarterback in the country.

Kiel had given a verbal commitment to Indiana before de-committing, then leaning toward the Irish before enrolling at LSU as the next quarterback to take the Tigers to the national championship game. He left Baton Rouge for South Bend almost in the dead of night after an uncomfortable week there.

It’s stunning on multiple fronts.

That Brian Kelly would work so feverishly to get him in South Bend with the quarterback situation as muddled as it is after Kiel danced with multiple schools and ultimately committed to three. Throwing Kiel into the picture means that Tommy Rees, Everett Golson, Kiel and Andrew Hendrix are all part of the spring practice competition. It also means either Rees, Golson or Hendrix is likely to transfer before his playing days are over and possibly before the 2012 season starts.

That Kelly has shrewdly breathed life into a recruiting class that had started to falter when Ronald Darby, a five-star cornerback, de-committed a couple of weeks ago. The presence of Kiel puts the Irish back in play for a few high-rolling prospects (Darby included) this year and beyond if he turns out to be as good as billed. Good players always breed good players.

The bad news? Kiel walks onto campus with a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders. Already the Notre Dame chat boards are blowing up about what he could mean for Notre Dame football. For a kid who has struggled with the spotlight and struggled with making a decision, that kind of bright light could be difficult for him to endure.

Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeHuttonPT.