Men’s Hoops: Summer Schedule Of Events
Over the next few days, Blue & Gold Illustrated will be rolling out multiple basketball stories to prepare Irish fans for what will be a more eventful summer for the Notre Dame men’s program with a foreign tour on the horizon.
Today, we start with a quick rundown of important dates for fans to know and a look at what is returning for the Irish from last year’s team.
Be sure to check back over the next couple of days for features on potential lineups Mike Brey and his staff could roll out this season, storylines heading into the 2018-2019 campaign and potential X-factors to a successful rebound in 2018.
DATES TO KNOW
The Irish staff hit the ground running during the 2018 cycle landing four Rivals150 prospects — guards Prentiss Hubb, Robby Carmody and Dane Goodwin and forward Nate Laszewski — and three-star forward Chris Doherty. Hubb and Carmody were early top targets for Notre Dame while Laszewski's development and Goodwin's de-commitment from Ohio State made them no-brainers for the Irish to pursue.
For more breakdowns on the group, CLICK HERE and HERE. Hubb is expected on campus this weekend.
The Irish's five-man class is set to arrive next weekend (June 16-17) for summer sessions and practices. The group will enter with an opportunity to impress and push for playing time with just six eligible players from last year's team returning.
Timing is everything and this summer will be an example of that for Brey and company.
The Irish will participate in a foreign tour this summer heading to the Bahamas August 7th-13th. Three games (dates TBD) will be played during the week with practice preparations beginning August 1st.
Most importantly, Brey and his staff will get 10 extra practices to work with the incoming freshmen and big man Juwan Durham, who sat out last season after transferring in from Connecticut.
Developing the incoming six players — including Durham — will be vital for the Irish going into the 2018-2019 season and the additional practices will put the group ahead of schedule in comparison.
Though just a short window, the 10 practices and three games in August will allow the team to build chemistry before the fall and allow the freshmen more time to acclimate to the Notre Dame system.
RETURNING ROSTER
GUARDS/WINGS
The perimeter is where much of Notre Dame’s returning pieces roam. Junior TJ Gibbs is the top scorer at 15.3 points while adding 2.4 rebounds and 2.97 assists. He is joined by the only other returning starter for Brey and company: senior guard Rex Pflueger. The Californian had an up-and-down junior campaign while doing a little bit of everything for the Irish at averaging 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.06 steals.
Sophomore wing DJ Harvey showed promise as a freshman including a 17-point performance against NC State, the first without star Bonzie Colson. But, a knee injury cut his season short to 19 games and 5.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest. Brey has remained optimistic that Harvey will be ready to roll by the start of fall practices.
Guard Nikola Djogo rounds out the perimeter group after averaging 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds during his sophomore year.
FRONTCOURT
Notre Dame will have to replace 33.2 points and 20.4 rebounds in the post with the graduation of Colson (19.7 PPG, 10.1 RPG) and fellow big men Martinas Geben (11.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG) and Austin Torres (2.4 PPG, 2.3 RPG).
Junior forward John Mooney will be one of the players tasked to take his game to another level during the 2018-2019 season after putting up 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. Senior Elijah Burns (2.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG) will see more minutes in his fourth year and could be used as the ‘five’ or ‘four’ in Brey’s system in various lineup combinations.
Durham technically falls into this category, but given he sat out last season where his game currently stands remains unknown. The former top-50 recruit will be a name Irish fans keep a close eye on throughout the summer and foreign tour.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD,
@BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook.