Notre Dame Men's Basketball Looks To Continue Recent Prosperity
Football practice at Notre Dame is slated to begin the weekend of Aug. 6, but the attention on Tuesday afternoon (July 19) was an open practice session with the Notre Dame’s men’s basketball program.
Members of the media were invited to attend the hour-long practice session in “The Pit” of the Joyce Center and hold interviews with the players and coaches afterwards.
Now embarking on his 17th season as the Fighting Irish basketball coach, Mike Brey remains highly invigorated after back-to-back appearances in the Elite 8 — the lone men’s program to advance that far the past two years in the NCAA Tournament — and the hiring of three former players on his staff: Ryan Humphrey and Ryan Ayers as on-court assistants, and Eric Atkins as video coordinator.
Just like last year, Brey must replace two stalwarts in the lineup. It was the dynamic tandem of first-round pick Jerian Grant and second-round choice Pat Connaughton last year at this time. This season it’s point guard Demetrius Jackson, a second-team All-ACC pick and second-round NBA choice, and center Zach Auguste, whose 22 double-doubles in points and rebounds last season were tied for ninth-most nationally and trailed only the 23 by North Carolina’s Brice Johnson and LSU’s Ben Simmons (the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft) among Power 5 Conference teams.
The nucleus of the 2016-17 team begins with the trio of senior wings Steve Vasturia and V.J. Beachem, and junior forward Bonzie Colson.
Beachem averaged 12.0 points per game as a junior and was lights out in the four NCAA Tournament games with a 17.5 average while converting 12 three-pointers, mostly in clutch moments. Vasturia played a team high 36.1 minutes per game while averaging 11.4 points, while Colson’s 11.1 scoring average was complemented by 6.7 rebounds per contest.
Rounding out the starting White team for now is junior point guard Matt Farrell, who became a pivotal figure in the NCAA Tournament while allowing Jackson to play the off-guard role, and junior forward Martinas Geben.
The 6-10, 255-pound Geben was cited by Brey as the most improved figure after playing only mop-up duty last season while not fitting into the smaller lineup. However, Brey noted that Geben’s progress in the final six weeks of practice against Auguste was a significant upgrade. Brey has had many a player who didn’t begin to blossom until his junior year — including Auguste, Beachem and Jack Cooley — and he believes Geben can make appreciable inroads as well.
“I think it’s going to be by community,” said Brey of also auditioning senior Austin Torres, sophomore Elijah Burns and freshman John Mooney up front. “I’ve been very pleased with Martin Geben
“I think he’s one of those guys we’ve had here where the junior year, it’s time. … I told him, ‘When we come down here, you better not have a blue shirt on! You better walk into the gym with a white (starter’s) shirt on and think of yourself as a starter.’ ”
Brey noted that his role for Geben is clearly defined: get Beachem and Vasturia open with screens, defend and rebound.
“Martin is really sharp to know that will keep me on the floor,” Brey said. “He gets it and embraces the role. I think he’s very ready to be a starter for us, and that’s the plan.”
Sophomores Matt Ryan and Rex Pflueger also will vie for significant minutes. Ryan put on a shooting clinic during the scrimmage work, draining four straight threes over a five-minute sequence, while the versatile Pflueger, primarily a defensive stopper last season, has expanded his repertoire and even saw a little work at point guard.
Among the three freshmen, Brey expects point guard T.J. Gibbs to have the top impact his first year. Mooney had a bit of a setback this summer with a virus, while wing Nikola Djogo may have to wait his turn because of the depth at the wing positions with Vasturia, Beachem, Ryan and Pflueger.
“T.J. Gibbs is going to be in the rotation, no question about it,” Brey said.
Look for individual player features in the coming week.
Here are the current heights and weights among the scholarship players, by class:
Seniors
Forward V.J. Beachem 6-8, 201
Guard Steve Vasturia 6-6, 212
Forward Austin Torres 6-7, 241
Juniors
Forward Bonzie Colson 6-5, 225
Guard Matt Farrell 6-1, 178
Forward Martinas Geben 6-10, 255
Sophomores
Forward Matt Ryan 6-7, 228
Guard Rex Pflueger 6-6, 202
Forward Elijah Burns 6-8, 235
Freshmen
Guard Temple “T.J.” Gibbs 6-3, 200
Forward John Mooney 6-9, 245
Guard Nikola Djogo 6-7, 203
Walk-ons are 6-10, 255-pound Patrick Mazza, a graduate student, 6-8, 201-pound junior Matt Gregory.
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