Tag: Blake Wesley

Notre Dame ready to face Indiana in Crossroads Classic

Regrettably, this is the final year of this event.

Coming off a thrilling win over Kentucky, Notre Dame is about to face another tough test against Indiana. The teams will meet in Indianapolis as part of the 11th and final edition of the Crossroads Classic. Although a 4-6 record in this event so far will keep the Irish from a final winning record, they still can leave it behind on a high note. They will have to do it against a Hoosiers team that has split its past four games after winning its first six.

Although Irish senior Dane Goodwin’s team-leading 14.3 points a game are impressive, the key to success in this game might come down to two newcomers. Freshman and South Bend native Blake Wesley has been nothing short of impressive, and being named the most recent ACC Rookie of the Week reflects that. Transfer Paul Atkinson Jr. has a field-goal percentage of .661, which is the best of any returning Division I player. While too soon to tell if those two will get the Irish on a roll after a 4-4 start, it certainly is encouraging.

One more thing: Fighting Irish Wire will be on location at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to cover this game. This is an exciting moment for us, and we hope it will help lead to additional opportunities down the road. Either way, we’ll see you in Indianapolis!

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2022 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0: Debut rankings of the top 101 prospects

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

Let’s be honest. Ranking the best NBA draft prospects is a fool’s errand. But evaluating this class is an especially challenging assignment.

One of the top pre-season prospects (Patrick Baldwin Jr.) is playing for a mid-major program that has just two wins so far this season. Other top prospects (AJ Griffin and Peyton Watson) are not getting much playing time for their high-major programs. Meanwhile, guard Jean Montero is playing in the inaugural Overtime Elite league. How do we compare his productivity to other prospects? I’m frankly not sure.

But nevertheless, my big board exists. Rather than going small, I decided to blow it up and do the opposite. Why did I go ahead and rank 101 prospects if this class has been so challenging to evaluate? There are two distinct reasons.

One is that I’m absolutely crazy and get a very fulfilling satisfaction with the completion of a mock draft and big board because it feels complete. It looks awesome seeing as many names as I can fit on one article, even if the science behind the rankings is a bit inconclusive.

The other reason is that as I make more big boards throughout the year, it’s interesting to track the progress (and regression) of certain prospects. I am inevitably wrong about most of these placements! But this article serves as a barometer for where I feel certain players are at in their development right now.

Note that several notable prospects (e.g. freshmen Max Christie, Matthew Cleveland, Nolan Hickman, Hunter Sallis, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jeremy Sochan, Kobe Bufkin) were excluded because I expect them to go back to school to improve their draft stock.

More likely than not, some of those players will declare for the 2022 NBA draft. When that happens, I obviously will not have them outside of my top 101.

Until then, as we prepare to turn the calendar into a new year, here are the debut rankings for 101 of my favorite prospects.

All stats are accurate as of Dec. 14 and are from Sports-Reference unless noted otherwise.

Notre Dame freshman takes home ACC honor after upsetting Kentucky

A great honor for the young star

Release from the University of Notre Dame:

University of Notre Dame men’s basketball freshman Blake Wesley has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Week for Monday, December 12, 2021. He shares the weekly award with NC State’s Terquavion Smith.

The South Bend, Indiana, native hit the game-winning free throw line jumper with :12 seconds remaining in Notre Dame’s 66-62 victory over No. 10/12 Kentucky on Saturday, December 11. It was the first home game start of Wesley’s career with the Irish.

Wesley eventually finished with 14 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the field with two three point field goals, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Related – The very best photos from Notre Dame’s upset of No. 10 Kentucky

The ACC Rookie of the Week award for Wesley is the second in program history. Steve Vasturia earned the nod back on January 6, 2014. It is the 15th ACC weekly honor for the program and the first since John Mooney was named player of the week on February 6, 2020.

— ND —

Notre Dame upsets Kentucky in blow-for-blow battle

What a win!

When a team struggles as Notre Dame has to start the season, it will take any spark it can get to turn things around. With preseason expectations at a somewhat high level, the Irish absolutely needed something positive that could potentially serve as a turning point. On a day in which LaPhonso Ellis was inducted into the Purcell Pavilion Ring of Honor and Marcus Freeman was in attendance, a 66-62 upset of No. 10 Kentucky was just what the doctor ordered.

This game was tied several times, and the Irish (4-4) trailed for the majority of it. To make things even more intense, neither team ever led by more than five points. Had the Wildcats (7-2) shot better than 2 of 19 from 3-point range, which included an 0-of-8 showing from their bench in that area, we would be talking about a completely different outcome. Alas, the Irish were meant to stay perfect in these Ring of Honor games.

It all came down to how the Irish came out of a timeout in a game tied at 62 with 28 seconds left. What happened was freshman phenom and South Bend native Blake Wesley driving from near the sideline to the paint just inside the free-throw line and hitting a pull-up shot off the dribble to put the Irish in front with 11.7 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats opted not to call their final timeout to try and respond immediately, but Tyty Washington Jr.’s game-tying layup attempt hit the glass and nothing more. Paul Atkinson Jr. got the rebound, and a quick passing sequence got the ball to Dane Goodwin in an open frontcourt, which allowed him to complete a buzzer-beating dunk with two hands. With the biggest win of the season so far complete, the Irish fans in attendance stormed the court.

It was appropriate for Wesley and Goodwin to score the Irish’s final four points because they led their team with 14 points apiece. Trey Wertz was just behind off the bench with 12 points, and Atkinson added 10. Goodwin and Atkinson also had six rebounds apiece to lead the Irish.

Aggregate NBA mock draft 2.0: Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith battle for No. 1

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 ESPN, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, Basketball News and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Since our last update, the players who have improved the most spots are Ismael Kamagate (Paris), Moussa Diabate (Michigan), Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona), Hugo Besson (New Zealand), Efe Abogidi (Washington State),  Iverson Molinar (Mississippi State), Justin Lewis (Marquette), Max Christie (Michigan State), EJ Liddell (Ohio State), and Ochai Agbaji (Kansas).

The most notable prospects making their debut on our rankings are Trevor Keels (Duke), Bryce McGowens (Nebraska), MarJon Beauchamp (G League Ignite), Keon Ellis (Alabama), Christian Koloko (Arizona), Wendell Moore (Duke), Blake Wesley (Notre Dame),  Josh Minott (Memphis), Zach Edey (Purdue), and Johnny Davis (Wisconsin).

Some of the top prospects who did not make the cut this time included Hunter Sallis (Gonzaga), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (Tennesse), Kobe Bufkin (Michigan), Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State), Jahvon Quinerly (Albama), Adam Flagler (Baylor), Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Matthieu Gauzin (Le Mans), Isaiah Wong (Miami), Marcus Williams (Texas A&M), and Tyson Etienne (Wichita State).

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

Notre Dame slips to .500 with Big Ten/ACC Challenge loss at Illinois

Yes, there was a basketball game going on while a major football story was breaking.

Notre Dame picked up two wins in its first two home games of the season. It then lost two of three at the Maui Invitational. Now, it’s wondering where this season might be headed after dropping its Big Ten/ACC Challenge contest to Illinois, 82-72. All of this is happening just ahead of visiting a Boston College team that’s undefeated at home, which will be followed by hosting one of the country’s top programs in Kentucky.

The Irish (3-3) hung around for most of the first half before the Illini (5-2) went on a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 11. Though the Irish were able to cut that lead to seven by halftime, the Illini proved to be the better team during the second half. To the Irish’s credit, they brought a 15-point deficit down to five with just over three minutes left. However, that was as good as it got as the Illini made all the free throws they needed to put the game away.

All-American Kofi Cockburn lived up to his billing by leading all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field. Not far behind was Alfonso Plummer, who scored 21 and made all eight of his free throws.

South Bend native and freshman Blake Wesley continues to impress as he set a new scoring high for his young career with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting off the bench. Dane Goodwin scored 15 points, and Nate Laszewski added 13.

Oh yeah, and something happened with the football team right before this game tipped off. The Illini fans decided to let the Irish know in case they were unaware:

Rough second half costs Notre Dame against Texas A&M

Are the Irish already in trouble early in the season?

If Notre Dame is going to live up to the preseason hype as an NCAA Tournament team, it will have to do better than it did the past few days. Despite being in front for much of its third and final Maui Invitational game against Texas A&M, it proved to be for naught. The Aggies came back for a 73-67 win, forcing the Irish to a 1-2 record in the tournament and a sixth-place finish.

The Irish (3-2) led almost the entire first half and held a 14-point lead early in the second. However, the Aggies (6-1) took control when their bench went on a scoring tear that the Irish couldn’t stop. Once the Aggies took their first lead since 1-0, they never gave it back. With the Irish piling up turnovers and being forced into tough offensive possessions, a win was not to be.

The Aggies received little scoring help from their starters, which makes this game’s outcome even more surprising. Quenton Jackson scored all but three of his 18 points in the second half and finished with an 8-of-11 shooting performance from the field. Hassan Diarra was just behind Jackson with 17 points as he was 7 of 11 from the free-throw line. Wade Taylor IV scored 14.

Dane Goodwin paced the Irish with 18 points and made all eight of his free throws. Prentiss Hubb scored 11 points but also committed a career-high eight turnovers. Paul Atkinson Jr. also scored 11, and Blake Wesley had 10 off the bench.

Notre Dame runs away from Chaminade in second half

The Irish are back on track.

Bumped to the losers bracket of the Maui Invitational, Notre Dame appeared to struggle to find motivation to beat Chaminade of Division II. At some points in the first half, it appeared the Silverswords might deal the Irish perhaps the most humiliating defeat in program history. Instead, the Irish came out hot after halftime and won, 90-64. They now will play Texas A&M in the fifth-place game of the tournament.

The Irish (3-1) led by as much as eight in the first half but later trailed by four after the Silverswords (2-2) went on a 7-0 run. A Blake Wesley layup as time expired in the frame put the Irish up three, and that tiny margin left everyone wonder what would happen in the second half. What happened was the Irish decided to quit messing around, and they scored 21 points to open the half as part of a 23-0 run that put the game out of reach. It allowed Mike Brey to empty his bench for the final couple of minutes.

All five Irish starters scored in double figures. They were led by Dane Goodwin, who had a game-high 17 points. Nate Laszewski achieved a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds. In another sign of what could be a great freshman season, Blake Wesley scored 14 points coming off the bench.

Notre Dame roster for 2021-22 season

Who will be hooping it up for the Irish this season?

It feels like college basketball remains far away, but Midnight Madness just happened, so it’s closer than you think. To that end, we should look at who makes up Notre Dame’s roster for the upcoming season. Many believe this is the team that can get the program out of the doldrums and back on track towards respectability. A major step in getting people to believe that would be the Irish’s first NCAA Tournament selection since 2017, which also was the last year they finished above .500 against ACC opponents.

This will be the 22nd iteration of the Irish with Mike Brey as coach. Despite having more wins than anyone in program history, he has two losing seasons in the past three and three losing conference records over the past four years. If he isn’t able to get this group to reach its full potential, questions about his future in South Bend certainly will arise. Here are the players who could determine where both Brey and the program headed going forward:

Incoming Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley featured in Herald Bulletin

The Irish have a real devotee coming in.

Blake Wesley has begun working out at Notre Dame to prepare for his freshman season. That’s according to a story from The Herald Bulletin profiling one of the Irish’s newcomers. Wesley, a product of Riley in South Bend, recently played with the Indiana All-Stars. Now, it’s time for him to take the next step in his basketball journey.

Wesley cited the ability to stay close to home and the opportunities to play both immediately and in the ACC as reasons for selecting the Irish. Perhaps more importantly, he’s fallen in love with the overall culture at Notre Dame:

“I like the coaching staff and like the environment around Notre Dame. People just think Notre Dame is about football, but it’s really all sports, football, basketball, baseball and soccer, all that. But I’m looking forward to it, and it’s going to be a good freshman year.”

The story also says Wesley was a Notre Dame football diehard growing up, but he fell in love with basketball after attending a camp hosted by former Irish point guard Demetrius Jackson. The two were able to get a picture with each other that Wesley still has on his phone. It’s like suiting up for the hometown Irish was meant to be all along.