2002 ESPN highlight of Notre Dame’s upset win over Pittsburgh

Remember this game?

Notre Dame had a pretty good 2001-02 season. [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] was in his second year at the helm and on his way to coaching the Irish to their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. One reason they got that far came when they visited Pittsburgh, then a Big East rival.

The Irish were down five late before scoring the game’s final eight points and winning, 56-53, thanks to a late 3-pointer by [autotag]David Graves[/autotag], whose 12 points tied [autotag]Ryan Humphrey[/autotag] for the second-most on the team. [autotag]Matt Carroll[/autotag] was the Irish’s big player with game highs of 15 points and nine rebounds.

ESPN recapped the game after it was over as such:

The loss temporarily knocked the Panthers out of the rankings, but they bounced back to where they became co-Big East champions and ultimately placed ninth in the season’s final poll. Needless to say, this was a highlight for the Irish in a season full of them.

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Most recent Notre Dame players to be NBA draft selections

All of these players did the Irish proud before making the jump.

Nobody on Notre Dame’s veteran-laden team from this past season will be selected in Thursday’s NBA draft. In fact, given the inexperience across the board on the upcoming season’s roster and under a new coach no less, it could be quite a while before we see another Notre Dame player drafted. On the bright side, that means no early departures except via the transfer portal. Then again, it sure would be nice to have NBA-ready talent in South Bend.

The only way to deal with a challenging present and short-term future is to look to the past. In this case, the way to go about that is to look at former players who heard their names called on draft night over the past several years. Of the 62 former Notre Dame players who have suited up in the NBA or ABA, 41 have entered professional basketball via the draft. Here are the most recent ones:

2024 combo guard prospect T.O. Barrett talks Oklahoma recruitment

Oklahoma Sooners 2024 guard target T.O. Barrett talks recruitment.

T.O. Barrett is on Oklahoma’s radar as a combo guard. He’s a local kid out of Edmond, O,kla. and he plays at Link Academy. He’s the No. 113 ranked player in the 2024 On3 rankings for basketball prospects. He hasn’t gotten a ton, but it should heat up more before signing day next year.

He stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 180 pounds. Barrett has the size to play shooting guard or even small forward but also displays an ability to play point guard with his proficiency for distributing the basketball.

He averaged 15.5 points and 4.1 assists per game last season in high school. Barrett is averaging 7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game on the Nike EYBL Circuit.

He recently took a visit to Missouri, but also talked about his recruitment overall and mentioned what he thinks of Oklahoma.

“So what’s standing out to me the most with them is how much they want me there,” Barrett shared with On3’s Jamie Shaw. “They’ve expressed that a lot. I’ve been to some of their games. I feel like I will fit into their play style of play well, especially with the way they use pick-and-roll reads and their mentality on the defensive end. I talk regularly with Coach (Ryan) Humphrey and Coach (Porter) Moser.”

When you watch his tape, he already has a great shooting stroke. He can get in the lane as well. Barrett shows up well on the defensive end of the floor where his length can cause problems for small guards.

TO Barrett’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine projection has him leaning towards Missouri at 74.9%, but nothing is official just yet. Oklahoma State is second at 23.3% and then Oklahoma is next at 1.8%.

Film

Hudl

Twitter reacts to Blake Welsey being drafted by San Antonio Spurs

What was your reaction to the news?

Notre Dame never had a player drafted by the NBA after only one season. That officially has changed with the San Antonio Spurs drafting [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] with the 25th overall pick. The debate of how he will fit into Gregg Popovich’s system will last for the next few months and maybe beyond. For now, it’s time to celebrate one of the Irish’s best recent players making the leap to basketball’s highest level.

Naturally, the celebration has made its way to Twitter. Teammates, coaches and media personnel took to their accounts to congratulate Wesley as well as offer analysis about the news. Just looking at this tweets speaks volumes as to what this means to anyone who’s ever had anything to do with South Bend. Whatever happens to Wesley in the NBA, this moment always will be remembered by those it matters to.

Here are some of the best tweets about Wesley from draft night:

Notre Dame mourns loss of Blue & Gold senior editor Lou Somogyi

The Notre Dame writing community just lost a giant.

Whatever team you root for, there always is someone who has a deeper knowledge of it than you could dream of. Consequently, that person wins the utmost respect of people connected to the team. In the case of Notre Dame athletics, that person was Blue & Gold senior editor Lou Smogyi. Sadly, Smogyi died suddenly of an apparent heart attack Saturday at age 58.

The news was shocking to many in the Notre Dame athletics community, and Twitter tributes began to pour in. Among those expressing sadness were Brian Kelly, Mike Brey, Tommy Rees, Ryan Humphrey, Brian Polian, and Jack Nolan:

It never is easy to lose someone with encyclopedic knowledge about the thing they love. Those of us who write about Notre Dame know that we never will be able to duplicate what Somogyi contributed during his time covering the Irish. However, we can honor his legacy by striving for the excellence he did, and we owe at least that much to you readers.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.