Tag: Martinas Geben

Notre Dame gets transfer center Nikita Konstantynovskyi from Monmouth

We’ll see how he does for the Irish.

Notre Dame always could use some depth down low as it seems like most of its production comes from the guard position. Concerns about height undoubtedly increased after Carey Booth transferred to Illinois. Now, the Irish seem to have at least attempted to the solve that problem after transfer center and Ukraine native [autotag]Nikita Konstantynovskyi[/autotag] announced he was coming to the program:

https://www.instagram.com/konstyk_n12/p/C69IHoRtGh2/

Konstantynovskyi, the first European player for the Irish since Lithuania native [autotag]Martinas Geben[/autotag] left in 2018, has had a long journey and not only geographically. He began his collegiate career with two seasons at community college Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College. That was followed by two seasons at Tulsa before spending last year with Monmouth, where he averaged career highs of 9.3 points and 8.1 rebounds a game.

Konstantynovskyi is the second player the Irish have added via the transfer portal this offseason after [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag]. They are allowed to add one more player to the roster, so the question now is how [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] and his staff want to use it. Stay tuned.

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2015 ACC Champion Irish Have Twitch Reunion

In this time of quarantine, it can feel a little lonely.

In this time of quarantine, it can feel a little lonely. But when you were part of a championship-winning team, that loneliness has potential to go away for a bit. On Saturday afternoon, the 2014-15 Notre Dame men’s basketball team did just that.

The ’14-15 Irish, who won the ACC championship and were one last-second 3-pointer away from getting to the Final Four, got together on Twitch to reminisce about their team, arguably the best team Mike Brey has coached in his time in South Bend. Never mind that this team got bounced in the semifinals of our Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament. This is the team people think of first when it comes to recent Notre Dame men’s basketball.

Hosted by Demetrius Jackson’s channel and co-hosted by associate athletic communications director Alan Wasielewski, the ’14-15 Irish were well-represented, so there were plenty of stories to be shared. Besides Jackson, the players on the chat were Jerian Grant, Zach Auguste, Pat Connaughton, Steve Vasturia, V.J. Beachem, Bonzie Colson, Austin Torres, Austin Burgett, Martinas Geben, Eric Kantenda and Matt Gregory, whose father crashed the chat at one point. Incredibly, Matt Farrell was the only player absent. Also joining them were team chaplain and Notre Dame’s Director of Campus Ministry, the Rev. Peter M. McCormick.

There were nothing but positive vibes all-around. In the great scheme of things, five years removed from a memorable event is not a long time. Still, it had the feel of a 20-year college reunion. These boys became men together, so they all see each other as brothers.

At the time of this writing, the reunion still was going on, so you might still be able to check it out if you hurry. It’s clear they all still love each other. That’s the glimmer of light we need in these dark times.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 11 Seed – 2017-18 Irish

Notre Dame had reason to believe the 2017-18 season would build on the success of the recent past.

Notre Dame had reason to believe the 2017-18 season would build on the success of the recent past, which included six NCAA tournaments in the previous seven years. It was ranked 14th in the preseason poll, and in the early part of the schedule, it upset No. 6 Wichita State to win the Maui Invitational. Ultimately, the Irish went 10-3 in nonconference play, ascending their ranking to as high as fifth.

The Irish won their first three ACC games, but by the time conference play had begun, they were out of the rankings, perhaps as an omen of things to come. After that 3-0 start to ACC play, they lost seven straight, and the wins that followed ultimately were too little, too late. In spite of this, they remained a bubble team for the NCAA tournament until the end, and it earned them a top seed in the NIT. After defeating Hampton in the first round, they lost to Penn State in the second to finish 21-15.

Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell were the senior leaders for this group. Colson averaged a double-double of 19.7 points and 10.1 rebounds a game, while Farrell ended up with 16.3 points and a team-high 5.5 assists a game. T.J. Gibbs and Martinas Geben rounded out the top scorers with respective scoring averages of 15.3 and 11.1.