Peoria Notre Dame’s Eoin Dillon, left, passes the ball as Manual’s Dietrich Richardson guards in the first half Friday, Dec. 2, 2022 at Manual High School. The Rams defeated the Irish 47-29.
Eoin Dillon’s last option proved to be the best one for him.
The Peoria Notre Dame senior gave his verbal commitment to Belmont on Saturday night. The Bruins gave Dillon the final of his 13 scholarship offers on Aug. 21. He then chose the Nashville, Tennessee, school and Missouri Valley Conference member 12 days later.
Dillon said in July he had the goal to make his college choice prior to his senior season. “That’s what the goal is,” he said then, “but when I know, I’ll know, so then I’ll just make my decision.”
That selection came in the form of Belmont, which went 21-11 overall and finished tied with Southern Illinois at 14-6 for third place in the 2022-23 MVC standings.
Dillon had offers from Indiana State, Bradley, Toledo, Eastern Illinois, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Illinois State, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, American, Loyola Maryland, Stonehill, Dartmouth and St. Thomas.
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As an all-Big 12 Conference second-team pick, the 6-foot-9 guard/forward averaged 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. He shot 40% from 3-point range and knocked down 85% of his free throws this past season.
During the summer, Dillon focused on improving his overall game. He worked on ballhandling and passing, while becoming more physical in the post.
“The first thing is he started to believe or started to realize how good he could be,” PND coach Tom Lacher said in July. “I think he always knew he was good, but I don’t have any idea if he had any idea of the fact that his ceiling is way, way up there.”
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Notre Dame senior Eoin Dillon commits to Belmont
