Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2019 45 The decision by sophomore forward D.J. Harvey to enter the transfer portal did not leave the Notre Dame coaching staff opting to stand pat with 10 scholarship players in 2019-20. During the Blue-Gold Game weekend April 12-14, head coach Mike Brey and his staff hosted two other players who are in the NCAA transfer portal. The most immediate need would be William & Mary graduate transfer Justin Pierce, who at 6-7 and 202 pounds would be eligible right away to replace Harvey this coming season. The two-time All-Colonial Athletic As- sociation selection is not necessarily going to be viewed as a game changer, but more of a fit and understanding of style. Pierce averaged 4.1 assists as a junior last season for the Tribe, while also posting 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest. However, his three-point shooting percent- age took a dip from his sophomore to junior season, going from a 41.6 percent to 32.4 percent. "I really liked it," Pierce texted to Blue & Gold Illustrated following the visit. "The coaches and players are great — [there's] opportunity to start and make a major impact. "And I can earn my MBA in just one year, which is crazy." Pierce also told Blue & Gold Illustrated April 15 that he will take an official visit to Michigan April 20 and "make a decision in the next three weeks." Notre Dame also hosted 6-0, 180-pound point guard Braden Norris from Hilliard, Ohio. Norris played his true freshman season for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, and averaged 8.4 points and 5.2 assists per game while ap- pearing in 33 games (30 starts) as a rookie. Butler, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Wright State all got in touch with Norris early on. Versus Final Four team Michigan State Dec. 21, Norris scored 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field (6 of 7 from behind the three- point arc), while also chipping in three assists, three rebounds, and three steals. "I've been very good friends with [Notre Dame fresh- man guard] Dane Goodwin; I grew up with him," Norris told Blue & Gold Illustrated. Notre Dame didn't offer Norris during the visit, but the staff will be in contact with him soon. "What they basically said is that they're very interested and they will be back in touch during the week," Norris explained. "I think they're interested, and I'm also inter- ested in Notre Dame." As a transfer, Norris would have to sit out the 2019-20 season due to NCAA rules for non-graduates. — Lou Somogyi ered perhaps the best athlete on the team in some circles because of his individual one-on-one skills, head coach Mike Brey's system is built specifically on possessing high bas- ketball IQ — which is why "staying old" is such a crucial element on his roster — and collective team buy-in. Harvey's 19 assists in 718 minutes this year were just a small part of why this was easily Brey's worst team on offense in his 19 seasons with the Fighting Irish. It would be ludicrous to pin the lack of ball movement, passing and finding the open back cuts, etc., on any single individual because there was plenty of blame to share, including the infu- sion of a youth movement. There are still 10 scholarship play- ers remaining on the 2019-20 roster, and Brey's best teams usually func- tion with seven (sometimes eight) working in symmetry. When the ball doesn't move well and the offense doesn't flow, it's not about one-on- one skills. The sport is not about who has the five best individuals on the floor, but how those five work as one. Back in 2009-10, Fighting Irish se- nior All-American Luke Harangody was injured at a time when Notre Dame's team play was poor. Minus Harangody, the Irish remarkably found a better team system and rhythm to win six games in a row and make the NCAA Tournament. It reached the point where when Harangody did return afterwards, it became an awkward fit when he came off the bench, and the flow then didn't return. We also need to be mindful that when guard Jerian Grant — a De- Matha High product like Harvey — was ruled academically ineligible in the second half of 2013-14, Notre Dame was not the better for it and finished 6-12 in the ACC. When he returned the next sea- son, Grant's star power aided Notre Dame's run to the ACC champion- ship and advancement to the Elite Eight. The difference was Grant was a phenomenal facilitator with 253 as- sists (6.7 per game) that aided the team's on-court chemistry and flow. The season-ending injury Dec. 15 to senior Rex Pflueger, who spear- headed the win over Purdue — which came within a whisker of advancing to this year 's Final Four when eventual national champ Vir- ginia hit a buzzer beater in regulation — with 10 assists, led to a re-defini- tion of the team that never material- ized. DEALING WITH THE NUMBERS In fairness to Harvey, the micro- fracture surgery that he underwent in the winter of 2018 was a huge setback for his conditioning work through the spring, summer and much of autumn, which is why the door remained open for a medical redshirt at the start of practice. More than a decade earlier it had an effect on Notre Dame guard Chris Thomas' career as well, although medical technology has improved since then. Still, Harvey's mesh with Brey's offense never quite found the right harmony, and it's not like he was able to excel in other areas to compensate. The one element we wondered about last preseason was how Brey would adjust to not only six new faces (five freshmen and UConn transfer Juwan Durham) on the ros- ter, but dealing with 10 or 11 options while trying to mix and match. Hav- ing so many people that are looking to play but having to accept their roles is one of the toughest jobs of a head coach. It showed when senior captain and forward Elijah Burns left four games into the season (and transferred to Siena) because of the growing youth movement on the ros- ter. Using the full 13 scholarships available has never been Brey's style. A strong nucleus of seven, with three or four more buying into their roles in the developmental process, has been the formula. This past year it did not function well. Answers will have to be found in 2019-20 to make it work again. ✦ Notre Dame Hosts Potential Transfer Prospects Justin Pierce, a 6-7, 202-pound graduate transfer from William & Mary, visited Notre Dame the weekend of April 12-14. PHOTO COURTESY TRIBEATHLETICS.COM