Five years ago Saturday, one of Notre Dame’s most memorable NCAA Tournament moments took place. Needing a basket in the final seconds to avoid an embarrassing second-round loss to No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin, the Irish did everything they could to get as close a shot as possible. Demetrius Jackson missed a layup, and Zach Auguste did the same with a putback attempt. Then came freshman Rex Pflueger, who averaged 2.3 points a game that season:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qerNHCMqL5s
As excited as much of the Barclays Center crowd was that Sunday afternoon, it was a particularly emotional moment for me. Ten years to the day, I lost my grandfather, a proud Notre Dame alumnus. He and my grandmother had football season tickets for several years, but I never heard him talk about the basketball program. Despite that, I couldn’t help but think he gave Pflueger a spiritual lift at the most opportune time.
Whatever the reason, the Irish road the momentum from Pflueger’s heroics to their second straight Elite Eight appearance. Pfleuger, of course, would go on to become a mainstay in the Irish’s starting lineup. Had COVID-19 not shut down the ACC Tournament during his final season, maybe he would have found one more bit of magic before riding off into the sunset. Still, he has his March Madness moment, and that never can be taken away.