Tag: Anthony Solomon

FIW Exclusive: Interview with Notre Dame guard Dane Goodwin

Hear from one of the Irish’s most prominent players.

[autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] is Notre Dame’s highest returning scorer from a season ago. At 13.6 points a game, he also is only returnee who averaged double digits in scoring last year. Additionally, he should see plenty of time on the floor after playing 33.5 minutes a game. To say the least, he will be key to the Irish’s success during the 2022-23 season.

Given Goodwin’s lengthy tenure with the Irish and continued productivity, we knew we had to interview him when we traveled to the Irish’s local media day in South Bend. We had the opportunity to do that, and perhaps the biggest takeaway was that he is very much focused on this season and only somewhat interested in what already has happened. That’s a sign of a true leader.

We asked Goodwin about a variety of topics, and he didn’t miss a beat with any of his answers. Here’s what he had to say:

Mike Brey meets with media ahead of Notre Dame’s 2022-23 season

Here’s what we heard when we traveled to the Irish’s local media day.

[autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] is coming off his best season coaching Notre Dame over the past few years. Irish fans will be anxious to see how his team will be able to build off last season’s success. Until they learn how or if that happens, words from the longtime coach will suffice. And he has plenty to say about it.

Fighting Irish Wire accepted an invitation to attend a media day for local media at Purcell Pavilion and was with the assembled group when Brey spoke. He addressed everything from the outlook of this year’s team to the ACC’s reputation to players old and new. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone by now, but he knows his team very well and is as much of an open book as you can imagine for a college basketball coach.

Here is some of what Brey had to say to the local media:

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey previews season at ACC media day

Excited about the Irish’s chances this year?

If you had written off Notre Dame before ACC play began last year, no one would have blamed you. After all, the program hadn’t been that good in a while, and the Irish didn’t exactly impress in their nonconference slate other than a win over ranked Kentucky. Then, longtime coach [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] proved he had a little magic left in him and guided the Irish to their first NCAA Tournament in five years. They even won a couple of games in the tournament and nearly made it out of the first weekend.

Now, Brey is focused on how to make the 2022-23 Irish even better. Here’s what he said at Wednesday’s ACC media day in Charlotte, North Carolina:

Twitter reacts to Blake Welsey being drafted by San Antonio Spurs

What was your reaction to the news?

Notre Dame never had a player drafted by the NBA after only one season. That officially has changed with the San Antonio Spurs drafting [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] with the 25th overall pick. The debate of how he will fit into Gregg Popovich’s system will last for the next few months and maybe beyond. For now, it’s time to celebrate one of the Irish’s best recent players making the leap to basketball’s highest level.

Naturally, the celebration has made its way to Twitter. Teammates, coaches and media personnel took to their accounts to congratulate Wesley as well as offer analysis about the news. Just looking at this tweets speaks volumes as to what this means to anyone who’s ever had anything to do with South Bend. Whatever happens to Wesley in the NBA, this moment always will be remembered by those it matters to.

Here are some of the best tweets about Wesley from draft night:

Michigan football linebacker selects transfer destination

This move makes sense.

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Well, that was fast.

On Monday, it was discovered that former Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas four-star and Michigan football linebacker Anthony Solomon had entered the NCAA transfer portal following his third season in Ann Arbor. And, also on Monday, we now know where he’s going.

Solomon had been recruited by former defensive coordinator Don Brown to play the VIPER position, which is obsolete in Mike Macdonald’s defense. Though he stuck it out with the Wolverines for a year, he’s now going to the school that Brown just departed, as Solomon announced on Instagram that he’s committing to Jedd Fisch and the Arizona Wildcats.

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Solomon appeared in seven games in 2021, four in 2020, and 12 in 2019. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.

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Two Michigan football defensive players enter NCAA transfer portal

Best of luck to them. #GoBlue

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While players are bound to stay on when things are going good, when it doesn’t appear there’s a role for them, they’re also bound to leave.

Such is the case for two soon-to-be former Wolverines, who stayed on during Michigan football’s 2021 College Football Playoff run, but now that that’s over, are looking, presumably, for a place where they can find more playing time.

On Monday, two players entered the NCAA transfer portal, both on the defensive side of the ball. The first is linebacker Anthony Solomon, who was a longtime target that suddenly appeared to be out of the fray, before the maize and blue started searching for more team speed on the defensive side of the ball following in the 2018 loss to Ohio State. The Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas four-star was in the VIPER rotation. However, despite that position being eradicated with Mike Macdonald taking over defensive coordinator duties from Don Brown, Solomon stayed on. He mostly played special teams snaps throughout the years.

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The other is another late addition, this time to the 2020 recruiting class, in Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne four-star cornerback Darion Green-Warren. Green-Warren committed after the early signing period, on Jan. 4, 2020, and was expected to shore up the secondary. However, in his two years with the program, he hasn’t been able to see the field in any form.

With the latter departure, there are plenty of defensive backs who could take his place, including any of the six already signed to the 2022 recruiting class.

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Notre Dame associate head coach Rod Balanis taking same job at Howard

The Irish’s bench is going through a shakeup.

Since Mike Brey first arrived at Notre Dame, Rod Balanis is the only assistant coach to have stuck by his side throughout. That’s 22 seasons the duo has been together. However, all good things must come to an end, and that appears to be happening here. Balanis, Brey’s associate head coach, will be leaving Notre Dame to take the same position at Howard:

Earlier this offseason, Notre Dame rehired Anthony Solomon as associate head coach for his third stint on Brey’s staff. The good news for the Irish is that they have someone who can slide into Balanis’ role immediately. Whether Balanis is leaving because of or in spite of Solomon’s return is unknown. What we do know is that the winningest coach in Irish history will have someone else in the right-hand man role for the first time in a long time.

Best of luck to Balanis in his new opportunity, and he will be missed in South Bend.

Antoni Wyche returns to Notre Dame as assistant coach

A familiar face is coming back to South Bend.

Notre Dame continues to shake up its coaching staff ahead of what many expect to be a big season. The Irish have hired Siena assistant coach Antoni Wyche to be in the same role under Mike Brey. This is the second time Brey’s staff has been shaken up after adding Anthony Solomon earlier in the offseason. As Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune points out, this move affects longtime Irish assistant Rod Balanis:

Longtime Irish fans will remember Wyche as a four-year player for the program at the end of the 1990s. During his career, he averaged 7.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game on 40.4 percent shooting from the field. After serving as a regular bench player during his first two years, he started all but one game for his final two years. He saved his best for last as his 11.2 scoring average his senior season was behind only Troy Murphy and David Graves on the team.

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Notre Dame gives offer to power forward recruit Jalen Washington

The Irish could use some size in the future.

When Anthony Solomon returned to Mike Brey’s staff, it was fair to wonder how soon he would pay dividends. While we don’t know yet as far as landing recruits, we now know as far as presenting offers to them. Jalen Washington, a power forward going into his senior season at West Side in Gary, Indiana, can add Notre Dame to the list of offers he’s already gotten. He credited both Brey and Solomon for their interest in him:

Washington has received over a dozen offers so far. The schools he’s mostly trending towards are North Carolina, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Stanford and Alabama. He visited the Tar Heels on June 2 and is scheduled to meet with the Cardinal on Saturday. The other schools in the mix are Louisville, Illinois, Iowa, Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland, DePaul and Oklahoma.

The Irish really need some depth with their size, and Washington would fit the bill perfectly.

Brian Jean-Mary breaks down VIPER linebackers behind Michael Barrett

If VIPER Michael Barrett can’t play vs. Indiana, here’s who Michigan football would put into the game on Saturday.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — No. 23 Michigan has a tall task ahead of it this week as it travels to No. 13 Indiana for the second consecutive year. And it might have to do it without starting VIPER Michael Barrett, who showed out in Big Ten Week 1.

Barrett was injured in Week 2 against rival Michigan State, and in his place, second-year Florida native Anthony Solomon got some play. Solomon played 10 snaps agains Minnesota but that number ballooned to 18 against MSU. As a VIPER does, Solomon was all over the field — from D-line to playing in the box to covering the slot receiver.

Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary says that he was quite pleased with what he saw out of the true sophomore in his first major outing on the defensive side of the ball.

“Anthony is another young man I was very familiar with when I got here,” Jean-Mary said. “Knew of him with some of the recruiting I had done down in Florida. He was a kid who was really dynamic in high school coming off of the edge. Was really excited to work with him. I thought he did a very admirable job once Mike got a little injured. He came in and with that position, we ask that position to do a lot of things. He was about 90-95%, which you can’t ask for much more from a player, especially coming in a little cold off the bench.

“Anthony is a very, very talented guy. Has to hone in on some of the coverage aspect things, but we’re comfortable with him as far as playing over tight ends and attacking the runs. He’s a kid that I still think has a bright future and has a chance to be a really good football player here.”

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But what if, say, something were to happen to Solomon? Who would be the next man up?

That honor would fall to true freshman William “Apache” Mohan, who got in for one snap against the Gophers, but did not play in Week 2.  Jean-Mary shared more about who Mohan is as a player, what he brings to the table and what he needs to improve upon before he’s ready to settle into the rotation.

“William – which, we don’t call him that, we go by his nickname, ‘Apache,’” Jean-Mary said. “He’s probably one of the more explosive players (I’ve ever coached). He’s probably about 205-210-pounds. But his explosiveness off of his first step is rare and is uncanny. When you talk about a guy that can be able to blitz and come off of the edge and make plays, he’s got great potential there. The big thing for him as a freshman, as with most freshmen, it’s just learning the pace of the college game, learning the speed which to play at and to practice at. Probably getting a bit more strength to take on college offensive linemen and tackles and being able to tackle college-level running backs. But he’s coming along. He’s a real unique kid because of his athletic ability. Another kid we think has a bright future, more and more once he gets the experience of playing.”

Michigan and Indiana are set to kick off on Saturday at noon EST at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.