Tag: Players Era Festival

Photos of Notre Dame men’s basketball loss to Creighton in Las Vegas

See how the Irish concluded their time in Sin City.

Notre Dame’s appearance in the inaugural Players Era Festival in Las Vegas could have gone a lot better. Not only did it lose all three games, including an 80-76 decision to Creighton on the final day, but [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] suffered a knee injury in the first contest that will keep him out for an undetermined amount of weeks. One can’t help but think Sin City would have been kinder to the Irish had that not happened.

That said, the Irish were in every single game up until the end or close to it, including against a ranked Houston team. That’s encouraging for a team that was missing its best player almost the entire time. While we don’t know if things will get any better without that player, it’s nice to see that there’s enough available talent to at least keep games exciting.

Here are some photos of the Irish in action during this loss to the Bluejays:

Notre Dame men’s basketball doomed by poor shooting in loss to Houston

Another late night, another loss in Vegas.

When the Notre Dame men’s basketball team looks back on this season, it can proud of it played No. 6 Houston. While it resulted in a 65-54 defeat during the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, it was a testament to how the Irish could respond to adversity.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was ruled out indefinitely with a knee injury earlier in the day. But that didn’t mean the Irish (4-3) just folded against the Cougars (4-2). In fact, their biggest deficit didn’t come until the very end of the game, which shows they were in it almost the entire time.

The problem for the Irish was that they shot 38.8% from the floor, making only 19 field goals. Over eight minutes elapsed between field goals at one point in the second half. It also didn’t help that the Cougars used their suffocating defense to score 11 points off 12 Irish turnovers.

Emanuel Sharp led the Cougars with 17 points. Milos Uzan scored 10 points and finished within an assist of a double-double.

Terrance Arceneaux had 13 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting. That alone was a far better showing than the entire Irish bench, which collectively was shut out in this game while missing all three field-goal attempts.

[autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] led all scorers with 22 points and tied for the game high with eight rebounds. Although [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] scored 16 points, he shot 4 of 13 from 3-point range, perhaps an indicator that he’s trying to make up for Burton’s absence.

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Notre Dame can’t overcome loss of Burton, falls to Rutgers in overtime

This will sting in more ways than one.

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team will remember its first game of the Players Era Festival for a lot of reasons. Unfortunately, it won’t be for a victory it lost an 85-84 overtime thriller to Rutgers in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was lost to a knee injury early in the game, and it’s unknown how serious it is right now. If he’s lost for a long period, it could derail the Irish’s season.

But even without him, the Irish (4-2) engaged in what became a back-and-forth affair with the Scarlet Knights (5-1), featuring 10 ties and 16 lead changes. It only was appropriate that [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] hit a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime.

The Knights appeared to have the game won when they went up six with 57.3 seconds left. Instead, Allocco made 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to tie score at 84. The Irish suddenly had a shot at double overtime.

However, [autotag]Cole Certa[/autotag] lost track of the situation and immediately fouled future NBA first-round pick Dylan Harper, who split two free throws to put the Knights back up one. After a pair of Irish timeouts with 3.8 seconds on the clock, Allocco fired up a prayer from 3-point range for a last-second heroic, but he missed, and the Irish had suffered a tough defeat.

Harper set the freshman scoring high for college basketball so far this season with 36 points and also dished out a game-high six assists. Jordan Derkack scored 16 points off the bench. Jerem Williams scored 10, as did future NBA first-round pick Ace Bailey.

Allocco played the entire game and achieved a double-double of 24 points, which included six 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds. He also led the Irish with five assists.

[autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] scored 16 points but shot 6 of 20 from the field, including 3 of 13 from 3-point range. [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] had 15 points but committed a game-high seven turnovers.

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Notre Dame standout guard Markus Burton leaves game with knee injury

Losing him long-term would be a brutal blow to the Irish.

(This story has been updated to correct a typo.)

Disaster struck for Notre Dame only a few minutes into its Players Era Festival opener against Rutgers in Las Vegas. As standout guard [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] drove to the basket for a short field goal, he fell down, and Scarlet Knights forward Emmanuel Ogbole landed on his knee.

Burton got up but clearly was in pain and headed for the bench, then to the locker room. When he reemerged, he was out of his uniform and in his sweatsuit with his leg elevated on a chair. It was a clear indication that he would not return to the game.

Burton was last year’s ACC Rookie of the Year and entered this game second in the ACC in scoring with 21.4 points a game. He also leads the Irish in assists (5.2), steals (1.6) and minutes (33.2).

Burton’s absence hurt the Irish’s chances against the Knights, but it could be disastrous for the team if he’s out for an extended period. Hopefully, that’s not the case. Keep reading here for any updates.

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Notre Dame no longer will participate in Rady Children’s Invitational

Make your plans for Vegas instead of San Diego.

When it was announced that Notre Dame would compete in a NIL-type tournament in Las Vegas this season, one thing might have been forgotten. Before the start of the past season, the Irish agreed to take part in the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego. But that won’t be the case any longer.

With the events conflicting with each other and the money involved with the Players Era Festival, the San Diego tournament officially will not feature the Irish. They, along with Arkansas, reportedly have opted out of their obligation, which involved a $200,000 buyout provision. They have been replaced by Ole Miss and Irish ACC rival NC State. Purdue and BYU will remain part of the invitational.

The writing for this was on the wall the moment the Players Era Festival was announced. No team in the NIL era is going to turn down an opportunity to financially benefit its players. Such is the new reality of college sports.

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What eight teams are in the Players Era basketball tournament?

Rutgers basketball to participate in unique NIL festival.

Rutgers basketball will be joined by seven other teams in the Players Era Festival, a new college basketball holiday tournament that will be driven by Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

The Players Era Festival is a first-of-its-kind tournament where players will be paid to participate. Rather than being paid to play, the players on the rosters in the tournament will be paid for certain appearances related to the tournament.

The tournament is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas. Per a report from CBSSports, the tournament will feature Alabama, Creighton, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M.

According to the reporting from CBSSports:

“The tournament would be unique in that the NIL collective of each participating school would be paid $1 million. Additional significant NIL opportunities (believed to be in the neighborhood of another $1 million) would be awarded exclusively to the winner or winners of the event, depending on the final bracket format(s). The money would then be distributed to athletes by the collectives.”

The only hiccup for the tournament is how the field will be established. NCAA rules say that teams from the same conference can’t play each other in a tournament. This means that Rutgers and (new Big Ten member) Oregon can’t be in the same field. The same goes for SEC members Alabama and Texas A&M.

[lawrence-related id=38038,38026]

Potentially, this means the festival is likely to run two separate fields or pods for the tournament.

Alabama Basketball to compete in Players Era Festival Tournament during 2024-2025 season

The Alabama men’s basketball team will be traveling to Las Vegas for a first-of-its kind tournament!

According to CBS Sports senior writer and analyst Matt Norlander, the Alabama Crimson Tide is one of several teams that are set to participate in the Players Era Festival during the 2024-2025 season. The event will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada during the week of Thanksgiving.

The seven other teams that have been confirmed to be participating in the tournament are San Diego State, Houston, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oregon Ducks, Texas A&M Aggies, and Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Alabama is ranked as the No. 1 team in On3’s way-too-early Top-25 rankings. The Crimson Tide are expected to bring in four signees as well as four transfers for next season. In addition, Nate Oats’ squad could see as many as five players return from last year’s Final Four team. This should be a good tournament for the Crimson Tide to boost their resume and strenthen their confidence heading into conference play.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama men’s basketball program.

Notre Dame reportedly involved in NIL-type tournament in Las Vegas

What’s happening in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas this time.

Like it or not, NIL is a significant part of the college sports landscape now, and it’s not going away. So the time has come to incorporate NIL into actual competition. Notre Dame’s men’s basketball team reportedly will have the opportunity to do just that.

According to a source, the Irish are one of eight teams that will take part in the inaugural Players Era Festival this November in Las Vegas. Each team will earn a NIL payout of $1 million simply for participating, and additional money will go to the players on the team that wins the tournament. Long-term NIL opportunities also will be there for the participating players.

While the NCAA still disallows direct pay-for-play, the players’ money will come after completing activities away from the game while they’re in Las Vegas. So any talk that this is unethical if not illegal can be squashed.

This is the way of the future, and the Irish are getting in on the ground floor.

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