Tag: Ven-Allen Lubin

Micah Shrewsberry selected as assistant for U.S. junior national team

Congrats, Coach!

[autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] is trying to remake Notre Dame into a winner, and he’s going through a tough road in doing so. But don’t think his coaching abilities haven’t gone unnoticed, specifically by USA Basketball. His reputation is solid, and it likely was among the many reasons he has been picked as an assistant coach for this year’s U.S. men’s junior national team.

Shrewsberry will be part of the staff to lead the U.S. during this year’s FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup, the date and location of which have yet to be determined. Leading the staff will be Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, and Shrewsberry’s fellow assistant is Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland.

This is Shrewsberry’s first experience as a coach for a U.S. national team. He was a court coach with the U19 team a year ago. That team included Vanderbilt forward Ven-Allen Lubin, who transferred from Notre Dame after one season.

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Notre Dame shuts Bowling Green down in second half for win

Another nonconference game, another win.

Don’t be fooled by this final. It looked for a while like Notre Dame was going to let another inferior opponent hang around until the end. While Mid-American Conference member Bowling Green comes from a league slightly better than the Irish’s other nonconference opponents to this point, a loss to this program at Purcell Pavilion still would have been embarrassing. Fortunately, the Irish only have to think about an 82-66 win.

Although the Irish (5-0) led for most of the game, they couldn’t seem to shake the Falcons (2-3) completely. A [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer gave the Irish a two-point lead, but the Falcons’ persistence continued into the second half, and they went in front, 61-59 near the frame’s halfway point. That’s when the Irish completely took over, outscoring the Falcons, 23-5, the rest of the way. They scored their final 17 points unanswered with the Falcons not scoring again until their final possession with seconds to play.

[autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] had the best game of his young career with 23 points, six rebounds and three steals. Laszewski was just behind with 22 points, including four 3s. [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] scored 12 off the bench, and [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] added 11. [autotag]Trey Wertz[/autotag] dished out a game-high six assists.

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Notre Dame lands 2023 forward recruit Carey Booth

Finally, some size.

Notre Dame desperately has been searching for size with very little of it returning in 2023-24. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag], son of coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag], committed to the Irish, but he merely was the latest entry on a long list of guards they’ve had lately. Finally, the program has a new forward in [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag], who announced his own commitment to the Irish less than 24 hours after Shrewsberry.

Booth is a four-star recruit and fourth on the list of 2023 recruits in New Hampshire. At 6-foot-10, he fills the height left by [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] and likely the young forward role left by the transferred Ven-Allen Lubin. Depending on how the rest of the roster shapes up, he could be thrust into the spotlight immediately.

Like Braeden Shrewsberry, Booth appeared headed to Penn State. Instead, he also is taking his talents to South Bend so that he’ll play for Micah Shrewsberry after all. He also previously visited Marquette and California and received offers from 13 other Division I schools.

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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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Thirteen Notre Dame players make ACC All-Academic Team

These players knew to hit the books before they hit the court.

Generally speaking, Notre Dame basketball is a very mixed bag right now. The women are coming off their second straight Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. After a historically bad season, the men have a new coach and need to somehow figure out how to fill up a roster with many gaps. The one thing both programs have in common is they have some very intelligent players.

As a reflection of Notre Dame’s high classroom standards, 13 basketball players have made their respective ACC All-Academic Teams. Specifically, seven women and six men were so honored. It’s the latest example of the university refusing to compromise its values if it means accepting student-athletes who won’t take their studies seriously. With this latest news, that stubbornness won’t change anytime soon.

Take a look at the players who are as good in the classroom as they are on the court. Maybe this can serve as an inspiration to a young person who is struggling with grades. If you are one of them, don’t give up because these men and women sure don’t. It’s the first ACC All-Academic selection for all players unless noted:

Opinion: Dark days ahead for Notre Dame men’s basketball

Don’t expect any winning for the Irish in the near future.

It’s no stretch to say this past season was the worst for Notre Dame in recent memory. Its 3-17 conference record was the worst in program history, and its 21 losses tied the 1965-66 Irish for the most in program history. The Irish’s 11 wins kept them far away from the program’s worst winning percentage, but that’s little consolation to the fans who had to watch this team.

With only [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] and [autotag]Paul Atkinson Jr.[/autotag] as key departures from last season’s team that won two NCAA Tournament games, the veteran core appeared perfectly positioned to at least duplicate that success. Instead, everything that could go wrong did, and [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s mantra of getting old and staying old proved nothing more than hot air. As a result, the Irish will be shut out on Selection Sunday for the fourth time in five tournaments.

But missing out on March Madness yet again isn’t the worst part. That distinction goes to the fact the Irish will be very inexperienced next season and probably beyond. With almost every rotation player having exhausted their NCAA eligibility this season, this was the season to make one more run. That goal came up woefully short. Now, the Irish will be reliant on younger players and guys who didn’t crack the departing Brey’s eight-man rotation.

[autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag], [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag], [autotag]Dom Campbell[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] hardly seem like a core that will put much fear into anybody. It’s not like much known help is coming either with [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] the only one of three committed freshmen not to decommit from the Irish after Brey announced his departure. And who really expects [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] to step in as an impact player right away? Plus, if you’re counting on much help coming from the transfer portal, your optimism is admirable.

It’s hard to be envious of whoever takes over Brey’s job. That person will have to work with a group that has little collective game action, and that inexperience will show when those games are played. No one can look at next year’s Irish and convincingly say there is one trusted veteran leader. Starling hasn’t proven himself a leader despite having NBA aspirations, and if Zona is supposed to be one, well, the Irish will need all the luck they can get.

With a new core and a new coach, it will be some time before the Irish are worthy of attention again. No one likes to think of a program rebuilding, but that’s the reality. When a bunch of veterans lose and don’t leave much of a foundation behind, a lot more losing is in the future. The only hope is that Brey was sitting the players who could have made this past season a better one.

It goes without saying that the next Irish coach needs to be a strong recruiter because that’s the only way this program will return to respectability. There is nowhere to go but up after a season like this past one. Well, actually, the depths might sink further over the next year or two while the new group tries to figure things out. Either way, time to embrace the suck.

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Notre Dame nearly pulls off shocker at Duke

Can’t say the Irish didn’t care about this game.

No one is going to give Notre Dame any moral victories this season, especially when the season has been such a disaster. But all things considered, its game against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium is as close as they’ll get to one this season.

With Mike Krzyzewski on hand to watch former assistant [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s final game in Durham, the Irish put up way more of a fight than anyone expected. Still, the result was the same as the Blue Devils won, 68-64.

The Irish (10-16, 2-13) fell behind by as much as 14 in the second half, but the Blue Devils (18-8, 9-6) let them hang around. They cut the deficit to four a couple of times before [autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] hit some big shots to get the team even closer. A 3-pointer with 1:27 left got them within two, and he put them within one on a layup with 35.5 seconds to go. That was as good as it got as Mark Mitchell subsequently hit a corner 3 with 10.8 seconds left to put the Blue Devils up four and essentially ice the contest.

While the Irish did still have a chance, it was a slim, and it quickly became nonexistent. [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] converted a layup with 3.9 seconds left to bring the deficit back to two. Forced to foul, [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] sent Tyrese Proctor to the free-throw line. Proctor sank both free throws to erase any remaining doubt.

A surprising theme to this game was only a few double-digit scorers. Future NBA player Kyle Filipowski was the lone such player for the Blue Devils with 22 points. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag], coming off the bench for the first time this season, had a season-high 25 points on an astounding 11-of-13 shooting. Lubin’s layup in the final seconds brought his scoring total to 10.

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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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Mike Brey, Nate Laszewski and Cormac Ryan speak after loss

The Irish seem almost speechless about this season.

SOUTH BEND – Wake Forest took Notre Dame by surprise in the second half, and you could see that after the Irish’s 81-64 loss. Sometimes, even after a tough defeat, you’ll hear plenty of words from Mike Brey and whichever players are selected to take part in the postgame news conference. This time, nobody seemed to be in a good mood. While Brey still has his usual bright and chipper moments, [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] and [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] looked completely at a loss as to what had just happened.

When a team already is at 10 conference losses and still has a month of games to go, it has to be deflating. That many defeats in league play will get to anybody, even a veteran-laden team like the Irish. The feeling in that locker room is obvious, and there’s no sign that anything on the court will change that feeling anytime soon.

Here is some of what was said after the loss:

 

Notre Dame’s Dom Campbell has inflamed Achilles, being shut down

A short rotation seemingly gets even shorter.

SOUTH BEND – [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag]’s bad tendon in his ankle appeared to open up more playing time for fellow freshman [autotag]Dom Campbell[/autotag]. Instead, Campbell’s season appears to be over. Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune is reporting that an inflamed Achilles is bothering Campbell, and it will keep him out long enough that we probably won’t see him again this season:

If this is how Campbell’s first season in South Bend ends, he will end it averaging 0.7 points and 1.1 rebounds on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line over nine games. Campbell never played more than seven minutes in any game, and the recent win over Louisville was his first time seeing action in five games. While he found more playing time than most players not in [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s rotation, it still hardly was enough to make a significant impact.

Now, with his two freshman forwards unavailable, it will be interesting to see what Brey does as far as giving his starters rest for the time being. He can’t play all five of them 40 minutes as he practically is prone to do. Now is the time for him to dig deep into his bench, whether he wants to or not.

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