Tag: South Bend Tribune

Shrewsberry, Brey meeting night before Notre Dame plays Georgia Tech

This should be cool.

After over two decades as Notre Dame’s coach, [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] is taking it easier these days. No, he hasn’t left basketball altogether. He’s on the coaching staff for the Atlanta Hawks. Coincidentally, the Irish are about to play Georgia Tech in the same city as the NBA’s Georgia-based franchise.

With the Irish’s past and present coming together in the same city, [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] intends to take advantage of that. Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune is reporting that Brew and Shrewsberry will be together at the Irish’s Atlanta hotel Monday:

Some of you might be thinking that Brey might try and spread his influence to the first-year Irish coach and thus corrupt him with old and tired ideas. If Shrewsberry really was worried about that though, do you really think he would have extended this invitation? I think he’s secure enough to know that won’t be possible.

No. This is a way for the two men to get to know each other. They might both even become better for it. That would be beneficial for their respective teams, which is good for everybody.

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Notre Dame forward Kebba Njie will miss opener with right hand injury

This isn’t ideal.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] followed [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] to Notre Dame, but he won’t officially start the new journey alongside him. The Penn State transfer forward injured his right hand in practice this past weekend and will not be available for the Irish’s season opener against Niagara.

Njie was expected to start against the Purple Eagles, but [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag], one of the few incumbents on the Irish’s roster, will do so instead. Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune was the first to report the news:

This is a tough break for the Irish as Njie is one of their more highly touted transfers. Ironically, Njie and Zona both accompanied Shrewsberry at the ACC Tipoff media session. Now, one of those players will have to step up for the other.

Zona’s only career start coming into Monday’s game was a January 2021 road win over Miami during his freshman year. He had two rebounds in the first four minutes. Interestingly, [autotag]Tony Sanders Jr.[/autotag], another Irish returnee, also started that game.

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What the experts are predicting: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State

Who do you have in this game?

Notre Dame is hosting Ohio State on Saturday. Does anything else need to be said? No? OK, let’s just see who the experts think will win:

Heather Dinich: Conference realignment means nothing for Notre Dame

Don’t worry, Irish fans.

To put it mildly, college football is in chaos. The Pac-12 is about to become extinct or is seriously threatened at the very least.

Oregon and Washington will join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten in 2024. Colorado is rejoining the Big 12 in 2024, and we now know Arizona, Arizona State, Utah also are heading there as well.

What does this mean for Notre Dame?

If college football insiders are to be believed, absolutely nothing. As part of a series of questions published on ESPN’s website, Heather Dinich was asked to tackle the evergreen issue of the Irish’s independence and how it applies to the changing college football climate. If you’re worried about the Irish giving into public pressure and joining a conference permanently, Dinich says don’t be:

“Notre Dame athletic director [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag] has long repeated the same three factors that could contribute to the university’s position as an independent becoming ‘unsustainable.’

Those include: the loss of a committed broadcast partner; the loss of a fair route into the postseason; or such an adverse financial consequence that would force it to reconsider.

In spite of all of the drama swirling around Notre Dame, nothing has impacted those particular factors. Notre Dame still has a strong partnership with NBC as its broadcast partner that runs through the 2025 season. It recently announced a renewed commitment to Under Armour. It also remains a partial member of the ACC in football and has a contract with the league stating that if the Irish were to relinquish their independence, it would be for the ACC.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said recently at the league’s media days that he knows how much the Irish value their independence. Notre Dame still remains the most valuable property remaining on the Monopoly board – and it’s still not for sale.”

Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune expressed similar thoughts earlier in the day. So sleep easy, Irish fans. The program is not changing its affiliation or lack thereof anytime soon. Besides, conferences need the Irish more than the Irish need them.

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Notre Dame loses forward Ven-Allen Lubin to transfer portal

That exit door has gotten quite a workout recently.

Already lacking size, Notre Dame has lost yet another forward. This time, the transfer portal is responsible, and it’s Ven-Allen Lubin who is taking his talents elsewhere. Lubin released the following statement on social media Monday:

The Irish now are down to [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag], [autotag]Tony Sanders[/autotag], [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag], and incoming freshman [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag]. That means [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] needs to be very aggressive in the transfer portal, even if the Irish’s current targets mainly consist of guards. At this point, it will be an accomplishment just to get a team together.

Lubin’s first collegiate season and his only season in South Bend saw him average 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds a game. Despite preseason indications from [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] that Lubin would start, facial injuries during fall camp contributed to that not happening until February. So did an ankle injury that he suffered during a game and bother him over the course of a month. Ultimately, he started seven of the 28 games he played.

We respect Lubin’s decision and wish him well in his future endeavors, but it would be a lie to say that he’s leaving the Irish in a tougher spot than they already were. After this past season, we warned you of dark days ahead for the program. This latest news makes you wonder just how low things can go.

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Photos of Notre Dame’s regular-season game against Miami

You probably watched the Gator Bowl instead of this.

Chances are you missed Notre Dame’s 76-65 loss to Miami during the regular season. That’s because it was happening at the same time the football team was playing in the Gator Bowl. Only the diehard fans of the basketball program and friends and family of players likely were in Purcell Pavilion that afternoon. The media interest was low, too, as evidenced by this tweet from Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune:

All of that said, it simply was another forgettable game in a forgettable season for the Irish. The only reason it’s being brought back into the limelight is because the Hurricanes are in their first Final Four. The Irish should be honored they had a chance to play one of the remaining national championship contenders in South Bend. If the Hurricanes win it all, that honor will be even greater.

[autotag]Trey Wertz[/autotag] led the Irish with 15 points. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] scored 14, and [autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag] had 12 off the bench. [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] came very close to a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] also grabbed nine boards and had five assists.

Here are the images of a game that would have been more forgettable had the Hurricanes been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament sooner:

Micah Shrewsberry introduced as Notre Dame coach

The next era of Irish basketball has begun.

On a celebratory day at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame officially introduced [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] as its next men’s basketball coach. Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune wrote an awesome column about the day, and you surely will have some hope for the program’s future after you’re finished reading it. That hope was lacking desperately this past season as [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s tenure ended with as big of a whimper as you can imagine.

Shrewsberry has his work cut out for him as he has to fill half of the Irish’s roster before the 2023-24 season tips off, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For now, he has a little bit of time to soak this moment in. It’s the beginning of a new life for him and his family, and he gets to live it in his native state. Here’s are some of the images that surely will play over and over in his head for a long time, if not the rest of his life:

Niele Ivey, Maddy Westbeld, Lauren Ebo speak after NCAA Tournament win

What are your thoughts after this win?

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame has to be feeling confident after knocking Southern Utah out of the NCAA Tournament, 82-56, in the first round. The Irish let the Thunderbirds know early and often that this game that was being played in their house would be played on their terms.

Whenever the Thunderbirds showed the slightest chance of coming back – and it was very slight – the Irish doubled down on both ends of the floor. It was such a blowout that little-used [autotag]Sarah Cernugel[/autotag] entered the game near its conclusion. The Purcell Pavilion definitely would have exploded had she made either of her two field-goal attempts, one which came from 3-point range. Alas, she remains scoreless for the season except for her lone basket Dec. 10 against Merrimack.

Cernguel was one of several people [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] talked about in her postgame news conference. She was joined by top scorer [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] (20 points) and dominant veteran big [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] (14 points, 10 rebounds). Here’s what they had to say:

Noie: Starling, Campbell and Carmody enter transfer portal

The situation with the basketball program is going from bad to worse.

Less than 24 hours ago, we made a damning prediction about Notre Dame’s future. Specifically, we expressed doubts whether the 2023-24 Irish will make a run with the few returning rotational players, a couple of guys who have yet to see the court for the Irish and a new coach. It turns out even having those guys might have been an overly optimistic outlook.

Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune is reporting the Irish stand to lose two freshmen, including the player who would be their highest returning scorer, and an oft-injured veteran to the transfer portal. That might just be the tip of the iceberg, too:

So again, we can’t emphasize enough just how much of a missed opportunity this past season was. Now, with the uncertainty of who will coach the program going forward, a bad situation is becoming worse fast. Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for all of your roster changes, of which there appears will be many.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89