Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 JANUARY 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED MEN'S BASKETBALL BY COREY BODDEN T here were no shortage of ques- tion marks with the Notre Dame men's basketball program enter- ing the 2018-19 season. None, however, may have been bigger than replacing the frontcourt talent that de- parted. Double-double machine and All- American Bonzie Colson, Martinas Geben and Austin Torres all exited the Irish program, taking their combined 33.2 points and 20.5 rebounds per game with them. The Irish brought back junior for- ward John Mooney, who averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in just more than 15 minutes per game last year, and senior forward and team captain Elijah Burns (2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game) to provide the experience and leadership. An influx of talent — though inexpe- rienced — was added with freshmen Nate Laszewski and Chris Doherty. In addition, junior Juwan Durham be- came eligible after transferring from Connecticut during the summer of 2017. With the overall lack of experience, there were plenty of unknowns, but the Irish staff expected Mooney and Burns to hold down the fort while the others gained valuable reps on the court in game action. However, Burns decided to transfer from Notre Dame to Siena just four games into the season because the youth movement with six new faces kept his minutes lower than expected. Mooney immediately became the de facto leader of the frontcourt, and Dur- ham earned more minutes. Both have taken advantage of the opportunity. In the five games following a 73-64 win over William & Mary (Burns' last contest), Mooney averaged 10.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while shooting 51.4 percent from the field. Durham notched 7.6 points and 2.8 re- bounds per contest during that span, and had a team-high 22 blocks in eight games played. The duo's impact was felt the most in a two-game stretch against Illinois Nov. 27 and Oklahoma Dec. 4, which the Irish split. Mooney struggled with foul trouble in the 76-74 win over the Il- lini, which paved the way for Durham to take over. The 6-11 junior scored 10 points in the second half of the victory while blocking five shots to keep the Irish ahead. Durham recorded key blocks during the final minutes while adding a thunderous dunk in transition to put the Irish up five. Durham followed it with 15 points in 15 minutes in a close loss to the Sooners (85-80) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. "That's just repetition, trying to stay consistent working out, putting in extra work and having confidence in myself having that ability," Durham said of his play. "My confidence is pretty high. "It's going to get higher if I continue to stay consistent with my workouts and getting in the gym with coach Ryan Humphrey." Since he suffered two knee injuries in high school, it has been a tough road for Durham back to the court. He played 28 games at Connecticut as a freshman before transferring to South Bend, but did not see extended minutes. The year off was another bump in the road, but it allowed more time to heal and get comfortable to the college game. "It really was," Durham said when asked if it was difficult to have confi- dence during the injuries and his expe- rience in Storrs. "I felt I went five steps forward then 10 steps back. I try to stay focused on the task at hand and what's going to come next instead of dwelling on the past." So what's next for the athletic big man? He's not sure, but he looks for- ward to the process. ASCENDING John Mooney and Juwan Durham are growing into bigger roles in the Irish frontcourt Durham, a junior forward who transferred from Connecticut, is showing glimpses of the talent that made him a top-50 recruit in the 2016 class. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA