The 2018-2019 college basketball season is just over a month away, and Notre Dame announced on Monday its captains for the upcoming campaign.
Senior forward Elijah Burns, senior guard Rex Pflueger and junior guard T.J. Gibbs were selected by their teammates to serve in the leadership roles.
Pflueger was named a captain last season following the losses of both Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell to injury. He averaged 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists as a junior.
“Rex is a winner, plain and simple,” Mike Brey said of Pflueger. "He is our only fourth-year senior and he knows how our system works and what our program’s expectations are both on and off the court. With our mix of young and veteran talent, Rex’s role as an example to our freshman class will be invaluable this season.”
Once Colson and Farrell went down, Gibbs became the go-to scorer for the Irish in several games and responded well. For the season, Gibbs averaged 15.3 points and 3.0 assists.
“T.J. proved his mettle last year when we lost some key veteran players to injury,” Brey noted. “He embraced his unexpected leadership role and turned in an all-league type of performance. T.J. is ready to take his game and his role as a leader on our team to an even higher levels this season.”
Burns is the lone scholarship senior along with Pflueger, but is set for just his third year of playing after missing his freshman season due to injury (2015-2016). Losing Colson along with Martinas Geben and Austin Torres in the frontcourt moves Burns into an opportunity for a major role inside for the Irish.
“Elijah is a great example of the development model that our program prides itself on,” Brey began. “He is ready for a breakout season on the court and his leadership in the locker room carries over to his work as a part of the ACC Student-Athlete Advisory Council and in our own Student-Athlete Welfare and Development Office.”
The first practice for Notre Dame is today with their first regular season game set for Nov. 6 against the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
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