Tag: Grant Basile

Mike Brey, Cormac Ryan, Marcus Hammond speak after Notre Dame loss

Read some final words summing up the season and a whole era of Irish basketball.

Notre Dame’s 67-64 loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament signaled the end of an era. Yes, it means [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s days as Irish coach are over, but it also means the end for many players on the roster, especially rotational players. Two of them are [autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag] and [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag], players who didn’t begin their collegiate careers with the Irish but were the most impactful in Brey’s final game for the program. That allowed them to come out with Brey for the season’s last postgame news conference.

Hammond and Ryan sat next to Brey as he, among other things, called out the officials for a late lengthy review that ultimately resulted in a dead-ball technical for [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] that might have affected the game’s outcome. This came as the Irish were about to shoot their own free throws in a close contest. Brey has called out ACC officials before, and he apparently decided to do it one more time on his way out.

Here is what the Irish trio said after the game:

Notre Dame drops tight one vs. Virginia Tech in ACC Tournament

So close to a bright spot in an awful season, but at least it’s all over.

Notre Dame fans were just waiting to be put out of their misery for this season. However, none of them could have anticipated an ACC Tournament first-round game with Virginia Tech that came down to the very end.

But like so many other times this season, the Irish just could not close the deal. A frustrating 2022-23 campaign came to an end with a 67-64 loss that gave the Hokies a second-round date with NC State.

The Irish (11-21), who finished the season tied for the most losses in program history, turned a 12-point first-half deficit into a five-point lead with 5:35 remaining. They were up four with 2:08 left, but the Hokies (19-13) scored five unanswered points to retake the lead going into the final minute.

With 42.5 seconds left, [autotag]Trey Wertz[/autotag] made two free throws to put the Irish back up, but Sean Pedulla also was awarded two free throws after [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] fouled out on a dead ball technical. Pedulla made only one of them, so the game was tied at 64 with the Hokies getting the ball.

Justyn Mutts blew past [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] and around a screen for a dunk to put the Hokies in front, the game’s 16th lead change. [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] tried to answer with a layup but was blocked by Rodney Rice. [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] was forced to foul Pedulla, who had two free throws to try and ice the game for the Hokies. Pedulla only made one, and the Irish had a chance to tie it with a 3 with 9.8 seconds remaining.

[autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag] had the first 3 attempt but was blocked by Mutts, who touched the ball as it went out of bounds. That gave the Irish one last gasp to send the game to overtime with 2.4 seconds on the clock. This time, Laszewski got the ball, and he got the shot off. It didn’t fall, and [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s tenure as Irish coach was over.

Grant Basile led the Hokies with 20 points, but Mutts was their best player with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Pedulla scored 13, and Hunter Cattoor, the ACC’s co-leader in 3-point shooting, got nine of his 11 points from beyond the arc.

Hammond lead all scorers with a season-high 23 points, and Ryan scored 18. Zona had nine points on a career-high three 3s before fouling out.

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Mike Brey speaks after Notre Dame’s loss to Virginia Tech

The Irish’s coach has a lot on his mind, especially with a trip to Duke coming.

SOUTH BEND – Mike Brey’s mind after Notre Dame’s 93-87 loss to Virginia Tech featured a variety of things. It was his usual upbeat act that the media has come to expect from him win or lose, but you could tell he was thinking about a lot of things. There was [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag]’s career-high 33 points going for naught because of 33 from Grant Basile. And there was the fact that for the next game, he will lead the Irish to Duke, where he cut his coaching teeth as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski, for the last time.

With another loss in the books and his past facing him again in a few days, how can one possibly think he has only one focus right now? He’s coming at a crossroads in his life, so he’s doing his best to deal with that. You’ll find all of this and more in some of what he said after the latest in what has been many defeats in his final season:

Laszewski’s career day not enough for Notre Dame to beat Virginia Tech

The Irish can’t fight fire with fire.

SOUTH BEND – We’re not going to pretend it’s been a great season for Notre Dame, but you have to credit some players for trying to make it one. [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] has been that player this year as the Irish’s leading scorer. He displayed that in full force against Virginia Tech with a career-high 33 points. But it couldn’t keep the Irish from losing, 93-87, and giving the Hokies their first ACC road win.

While the Irish (10-15, 2-12) never really allowed the Hokies (150, 5-9) to pull away, they didn’t put themselves in the best position either. They failed to make enough shots, and they weren’t very effective on defense. There were a couple of stretches in which the Hokies couldn’t miss, and that could be attributed to a variety of reasons, particularly the second-half surge of Grant Basile, who scored 28 of his own 33 points in that frame. Whatever the case, the result was the same as it’s been all season: The Irish didn’t get the stops they needed to, and having to play catch-up once again had to be frustrating.

Basile’s big scoring afternoon came on 13-of-19 shooting from the field. Justyn Mutts was the Hokies’ next-best player on the day with 19 points and nine assists. Sean Pedulla and MJ Collins scored 12 apiece. To the Irish’s credit, they did limit Hunter Cattoor, the ACC’s leading 3-point shooter, to two baskets from downtown.

[autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] scored 17 points in the losing effort, and [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag], making his second straight start, added 11.

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Wisconsin to get a visit from Wright State transfer Grant Basile

Wisconsin to get a visit from Wright State transfer Grant Basile. #Badgers

Earlier this week, Jon Rothstein reported that Wright State transfer Grant Basile would be taking visits to four programs before making a decision on where he’ll play next season.

Among the programs named were Wisconsin, Iowa State, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech. 

Basile is coming off an impressive junior season where he averaged 18.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 blocks per game en route to being named first-team All-Horizon League. 

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward is a Pewaukee, Wisconsin native, that was recruited by Badgers assistant coach Sharif Chambliss while he was at Wright State.

Basile is a versatile big man that can run the floor, protect the rim, and step out and knock down the three. 

It’s easy to see the potential fit with Wisconsin who has plenty of minutes available at forward following the departures of Chris Vogt and Ben Carlson. 

The Wright State transfer has one year of eligibility remaining.

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Notre Dame among schools Wright State forward will visit

The Irish could use him.

With Notre Dame losing almost all of its returning depth at forward, it will take any help it can get at that position. However, relief could be coming in the form of Grant Basile, who will look elsewhere to use up his remaining eligibility after four years at Wright State. Notre Dame is one of four programs Basile will visit over the next few weeks:

Basile ranked first in rebounds and second in scoring for the Raiders this past season. That meant he played a big role in the Raiders reaching their first NCAA Tournament since 2018, which was made possible by them winning the Horizon League Tournament. He led the Raiders with 21 points in their first-round loss to Arizona, the top seed in the South Regional.

After playing only three games as a freshman, Basile appeared in 92 games over the next three years, starting 56 of them, including all 36 as a senior. For his career, he is averaging 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds a game while shooting 52.7% from the field.

Basile’s lone game against an ACC opponent came this past season at NC State. In an 84-70 Raiders win, he dominated with 23 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and four assists.

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