NOTRE DAME, Indiana (April 16, 2021) — The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball program named athletic trainer Nixon Dorvilien its “Tougher Than The Year” Most Valuable Player Award at a team gathering on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, in Rolfs Athletics Hall.

The event was the final group gathering for the 2020-21 team. Graduate students Juwan Durham and Nikola Djogo gave brief remarks and were gifted framed jerseys. Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey also presented Monogram Club jackets to rising juniors Elijah Morgan and Cormac Ryan.

Brey capped the brief gathering by surprising Dorvilien with the team’s Most Valuable Player award. Dorvilien, in his second year with the program, helped guide the Irish through a full season of competition during the COVID-19 pandemic, including daily testing and establishing safety protocols that allowed the Irish to be available to play 32 games during the 2020-21 season.

“Nixon did an unbelievable job managing through the whole season to make sure we got our COVID tests, got our reports back and we were eligible for every game,” Brey said.

At the end of the season, Notre Dame did see six of its scheduled games cancelled due to COVID-19 safety protocols from the opposing team.

Dorvilien’s award was the lone individual award presented to the team this season. The program hopes to return to its traditional format, known as ‘An Evening With Notre Dame Basketball’ which allows Irish basketball fans, student-athlete families and staff member families to attend an event in person to honor the team in 2021-22.