Tag: Blake Wesley

Notre Dame holds off pesky Virginia to stay unbeaten at home

The skid against UVA is over.

Notre Dame should have known Virginia was not going to let its six-game winning streak in the series go without a fight. That’s exactly what happened as a seemingly easy victory turned into anything but down stretch. Fortunately, the Irish survived the late push and left Purcell Pavilion with their undefeated home record intact. With the 69-65 victory, the Irish now are 9-0 in their own building.

When the Irish (14-6, 7-2) opened up a 15-point in the second half, things appeared to be in order. Though the Cavaliers (12-9, 6-5) eventually cut the lead to four, the Irish had built it back up to nine with just over a minute left. Then, the Cavaliers tightened up their defense, got rebounds and converted on offensive opportunities to get within two with eight seconds to go. Two Prentiss Hubb free throws iced the game, and Irish fans let out a collective exhale.

Where would the Irish be without the shooting of Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin, particularly from 3-point range? The two combined to go 7 of 11 from there in this game, and two finished with 16 points apiece. Paul Atkinson Jr. shot 7 of 12 from the field to score 14 points while also finishing a rebound short of a double-double. Blake Wesley also scored 14 and had a game-high seven assists.

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Watch: Mike Brey greets Notre Dame fans before and after NC State game

Why would anyone want to stop this man from having fun?

Mike Brey has taken a very hands-on approach to the Notre Dame student body lately. Twice this month, he has gone to Notre Dame dining halls to promote upcoming home games. This is all part of an effort to drum up attendance for a team that has lost only one game over the past month. The students came out in droves for the Irish’s game against NC State, and Brey was there to greet them:

After the Irish defeated the Wolfpack, Brey let loose further, even helping hold the McLovin flag that students had brought to their section (albeit upside-down). South Bend native Blake Wesley saw how much fun everyone was having and decided to join in:

This team is becoming fun to follow, and Brey is at the forefront of making it fun. One would have thought someone like him would feel he’s above these things, but that’s not the case. The Irish need to make the NCAA Tournament if for no other reason than to see what else Brey will do.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame continues winning ways at home against NC State

The Irish simply can’t lose at Purcell Pavilion.

College basketball teams have to go into every game believing they can win. Otherwise, they won’t. However, teams that still have to visit Purcell Pavilion this season might start wondering if it’s possible to beat Notre Dame there. The Irish made NC State their latest victim as they won, 73-65, to improve their home record to 8-0.

The first half was filled with frequent lead changes and ties with both teams battling to hold onto the ball, so the game was tied at 30 at halftime. Then, the Irish (13-6, 6-2) went on a 15-0 run in the second half and never lost the lead after that. Every time the Wolfpack (10-11, 3-7) made a run, even cutting a 10-point deficit to three at one point, the Irish had an answer. Even when the lead was cut to five with less than two minutes to go, the Irish calmly sank free throws to keep the home crowd at ease.

Nate Laszewski had a huge game for the Irish, achieving a double-double consisting of 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field (4 of 5 from 3-point range) and 11 rebounds. Dane Goodwin nearly joined Laszewski in the double-double club, scoring 17 points with four of his own 3-pointers and grabbing eight rebounds. Blake Wesley shot poorly from the field (3 of 16), but he made eight free throws to finish with 15 points. Prentiss Hubb scored 11 points and had a game-high five assists.

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Incoming Notre Dame guard J.J. Starling named to McDonald’s Game

Nice honor for the kid.

For only the second time since 2005, a future Notre Dame player has been named a McDonald’s All-American. J.J. Starling, who hails from Baldwinsville, New York, but is playing this season at La Lumiere in La Porte, is the first McDonald’s All-American to represent Notre Dame since Demetrius Jackson in 2017. As part of the honor, Starling will take in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago in March. Barring another COVID-19 cancellation, this will be the first game actually played since 2019.

Starling is not merely a great player who happened to pick the Irish as his landing shop. Per 247Sports, he is the Irish’s top-ranked recruit since 2000. Once he put pen to paper, he replaced Jackson as No. 1 in that category. Talk about a strange coincidence.

Of course, you never know how players are going to perform in their collegiate careers. On the aforementioned list, Irish freshman phenom Blake Wesley doesn’t even rank in the top 20. It really is all speculation based on how they perform before college. Let’s hope they get it right with Starling.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame’s Blake Wesley wins ACC Freshman of the Week for third time

This kid is something else.

Christmas may be a month behind us, but Blake Wesley is the gift who keeps on giving for Notre Dame fans. For the third time this season, the guard from South Bend has been honored as the ACC Freshman of the Week. This time, he’s sharing the honor with Duke’s Paolo Banchero. Both players could be picked in the first round of this year’s NBA draft, making this week’s selections all the more appealing.

Wesley was instrumental in the Irish’s two road wins over Howard and Louisville over the past week. He averaged 17.5 points and shot 54 percent from the field. The 22-point game against the Cardinals marked the fifth time he has scored at least 20 points this season. He also has reached double figures in scoring 15 consecutive times, which is an Irish freshman record.

It no longer is a question of whether Wesley will have a big game every night, but whether it will be enough to bring the Irish to victory.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame gets hot on offense, ends road trip by beating Louisville

Another nice win for the Irish.

We likely will be hearing about how bad the ACC is for the rest of the season. That being the case, it will be difficult for many to determine how good Notre Dame is if it keeps winning games. It happened again as the Irish won, 82-70, at Louisville for the first time since 2015. That concluded a 2-1 road trip and gave them victories in eight of their past nine games.

The Irish (12-6, 5-2) found themselves in an offensive shootout with the Cardinals (11-8, 5-4) right out of the gate. They made their first 10 shots but couldn’t pull away, and the Cardinals went on their own run to lead by as much as nine before settling on a seven-point halftime advantage. The Irish battled back to make it a second half in which the lead frequently changed. But instead of letting things come down to the wire, the Irish ended the game on a 17-6 run over the final seven-and-a-half minutes, and the boo birds came out at the KFC Yum! Center as the final buzzer sounded.

Blake Wesley was the man for the Irish again as he led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Paul Atkinson Jr. and Dane Goodwin combined to shoot 11 of 15 while scoring 13 points apiece. Prentiss Hubb had 12 points while also dishing out five assists.

Blake Wesley highlighted in Associated Press story about ACC phenoms

Do you have high hopes for Blake Wesley’s NBA prospects this year?

John Marshall of The Associated Press decided it was time to look at ACC players who could go in this year’s NBA draft. Well, that actually might be a bit of a stretch. There a few players that get a paragraph at the bottom of the story. The vast majority of the words Marshall writes are about Notre Dame freshman phenom and South Bend native Blake Wesley.

Indeed, the chances of Wesley becoming the Irish’s first one-and-done player are very good if he chooses to go that route. What’s less clear is where he would be selected in the first round. NBADraft.net and Sports Illustrated currently project him as a late lottery pick. Cody Taylor of Rookie Wire thinks he’ll go much later in the first round, and that’s also where ESPN has him ranked as far as best players available.

All we know is that if this is Wesley’s only season with the Irish, he sure is determined to make it one that will be remembered. Of course, it would be nice if we didn’t have to wait as long to have more than only Pat Connaughton to watch in the NBA.

2022 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Jabari Smith rising in latest projections of every pick

Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr. highlighted the prospects on the rise in the latest Rookie Wire Mock Draft.

With the 2021-22 basketball season in full swing, scouts and front-office executives have had an extended look at the next wave of prospects set to enter the NBA.

Prior to the beginning of the season, Duke forward Paolo Banchero and Gonzaga center Chet Holmgren dominated the conversation atop most draft boards. However, the top of the draft looks to be changing with Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr. emerging in a big way this season.

Rookie Wire took a look at the next rookie class and projected every pick based on the latest information at hand. Of course, with much of the season left to play, these rankings will change but here is how we see things at the moment.

Note: The order of the draft was pulled from Tankathon as of Jan. 19. The 2022 draft may only have 58 picks after the Bucks and Heat were stripped of their second-round picks by the NBA.

Mike Brey speaks after Notre Dame survives late scare vs. Howard

That was too close.

Mike Brey probably needed some antacids as soon as Notre Dame finished holding off a late charge by Howard in a 71-68 win. An 11-point lead with less than three minutes to go was cut down to one as the Bison (6-8) imposed a full-court press that the Irish (11-6) simply could not shake off. It took a late layup by Prentiss Hubb and a missed Bison 3-pointer in the final seconds for the Irish to escape enemy territory with a victory.

Nate Laszewski was the big player for the Irish as he scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his third double-double this season. Dane Goodwin also scored 17, and Blake Wesley added 13 to break Troy Murphy’s program record for most double-digit scoring games by a true freshman (14). Of course, all anyone wanted to talk about after this game was how close it was. Here are some of Brey’s comments from his postgame news conference:

Aggregate NBA mock draft 3.0: Jabari Smith leaps ahead of Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren for No. 1

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

The best prospects in the world are all competing for the top spot in the 2022 NBA draft and it is hard to sort how everyone is stacking up.

In order to help us get a better sense of where all of the projected top prospects in the class stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from Draft Express (ESPN), Aran Smith (NBADraft.net), Sam Vecenie (The Athletic), Jonathan Wasserman (Bleacher Report), Jeremy Woo (Sports Illustrated), Krysten Peek (Yahoo), Matt Babcock (Basketball News) as well as USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score in order to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion. Predictions for a first overall pick earned a player 58 points while the second overall pick earned 57 points, the third overall earned 56 points, and so on.

Johnny Davis (Wisconsin), Jeremy Sochan (Baylor), Harrison Ingram (Stanford), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame), and Walker Kessler (Auburn) have improved their draft stock the most since our most recent update last month.

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Tari Eason (LSU), Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown), Dereon Seabron (NC State), Christian Braun (Kansas), Trevion Williams (Purdue) and Orlando Robinson (Fresno State).

Some of the top prospects who were not included in any of these most recent mock drafts include Matthew Cleveland (Florida State), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Max Abmas (Oral Roberts), Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Alex Fudge (LSU), Buddy Boeheim (Syracuse), Josh Minott (Memphis) and Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall).

Otherwise, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report