Trey Wertz and Mike Brey had a mutual understanding and agreement that Wertz would sit out this basketball season, as required by NCAA transfer rules. It’s best for him. Best for the team. Desired by both.
Wertz, a transfer guard from Santa Clara, committed to Brey and Notre Dame in April with a willingness to sit this year and begin his two remaining years of eligibility starting in 2021-22. Get stronger. Get acclimated. Start on the track toward earning an MBA. Notre Dame had a fine backcourt infrastructure as it stood.
Then COVID-19 continued its grasp on the world and college athletics, throwing nails on the road to starting and completing a successful basketball season. In turn, team need dictated it’s best for Notre Dame to have Wertz available this year. Notre Dame needed a case to submit to the NCAA for a waiver to play immediately. Brey, with the help of Notre Dame compliance director Brent Moberg, devised a pitch.
The crux of it: teams should have all the help they can get this year to combat inevitable player absences due to COVID-19. All hands on deck, as Brey put it. Not just for Notre Dame, but for every team. All 340-plus teams playing Division I basketball are going to need the help.
“I don’t know why anyone on my roster would be ineligible in a COVID season,” Brey said earlier this month. “Trey Wertz could be my seventh man one night if we’re going to play NC State and we wouldn’t have to cancel the game. If he’s ineligible under the residency rules, I might have to cancel a game if I have guys who test positive or are in quarantine.”
There’s no minimum number of players needed to play, but Brey thinks he needs seven. There is not a national rule that states a minimum number of healthy players required to hold a game.
Without Wertz, Notre Dame will start the season with eight healthy scholarship players. There’s not much room for additional absences.
All told, the Irish have 11 scholarship players, two below the maximum of 13. Junior guard Robby Carmody had September surgery to repair a broken kneecap fracture and is targeting a return to practice around Christmas. Freshman forward Elijah Taylor will have season-ending ankle surgery in December. The Irish have one walk-on, sophomore guard Elijah Morgan.
A source told BlueandGold.com Notre Dame isn’t sure if a potential waiver approval will come before the start of the season, which begins Nov. 28 at Michigan State. The proposal was submitted in mid-October. Per Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, who has tracked waiver decisions across college basketball all offseason, there are about 60 pending cases.
Only seven waivers have been denied, and one was overturned upon appeal. The overwhelming majority of waiver requests are being approved, which makes sense for a couple reasons Brey pointed out. One-time immediate eligibility for transfers is likely to become an official rule change in January, and the NCAA gave all winter athletes an extra year this fall due to the COVID-19 uncertainty.
“Let’s look at Trey’s case,” Brey said. “He still has his two full years of eligibility he was expecting when he came here, even if he plays half the games this year. I would hope, and I think there’s some momentum picking up on this. It’s just logical. You look at football games that have been canceled because there aren’t enough guys.
“We’re going to continue to campaign and lobby the NCAA,” Brey added. “Some other leagues have picked up on this.”
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.
