Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1302940
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 31, 2020 49 MEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI W hatever schedule limitations are going to be imposed dur- ing the 2020-21 college basketball season because of the coronavi- rus, there is one game Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey is deter- mined to play: at Howard Univer- sity, a historically black university, on Martin Luther King Day Jan. 18, 2021. Howard is located in Washing- ton, D.C., which has been the most fertile area of the country in pro- ducing prominent African-Amer- ican basketball student-athletes at Notre Dame. That prompted us to research whether any other state can match the D.C. area in starters and depth. GOLD MEDAL: WASHINGTON, D.C./MARYLAND Starting Lineup: Austin Carr (1968- 71), Jerian Grant (2011-15), Adrian Dantley (1973-76), Collis Jones (1968- 71) and Bob Whitmore (1966-69) The No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, Carr is the greatest player in school history and his 34.6 career scoring average is second in NCAA annals, behind LSU's Pete Maravich. Grant can play the point, was a con- sensus All-American on the Elite Eight team in 2015 and is the lone first-round pick from Notre Dame since 2003. The front line features double-dou- ble machines at Notre Dame in scoring and rebounding. Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Dantley is gen- erally considered the second-greatest player at Notre Dame, while Jones — though overshadowed by classmate Carr — was the No. 17 overall selection in the 1971 NBA Draft and averaged 21 points and 13 rebounds per game his last two seasons with the Irish. The late Whitmore started it all when he enrolled in 1965 from DeMatha and was inducted into the school's Ring of Honor in 2019, joining Carr and Dant- ley. Bench: Don "Duck" Williams (1974-78), Eric Atkins (2010-14), Tracy Jackson (1977-81), Monty Williams (1989-94) and Sid Catlett (1968-71) Guard Duck Williams and small for- ward Jackson were phenomenal pure shooters who helped Notre Dame to its lone Final Four in 1978. Atkins was a three-year captain who is one of five players at the school to record at least 1,000 points (1,421) and 500 assists (589). First-round pick and forward Monty Williams played on undermanned teams at Notre Dame but lasted 10 years in the NBA and is currently the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. In the post, Catlett arrived the same year as Carr and Jones (both on the first team) and was the No. 55 pick in the 1971 NBA Draft after nearly aver- aging a double-double as a senior with 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds. Not to be omitted are 1980-84 for- ward Tom Sluby, who averaged 18.7 points as a senior, and current junior point guard Prentiss Hubb, who could be the centerpiece of the attack the next two years. SILVER MEDAL: NEW JERSEY Starting Lineup: John Shumate (1972-74), Troy Murphy (1998-2001), Kelly Tripucka (1977-81), David Rivers (1984-88) and Gary Brokaw (1972-74) All five were first-round selections (Brokaw as a junior), and each fits his position ideally. Murphy, Tripucka and Rivers are all in the Ring of Honor, joining D.C. for most representation. Shumate and Brokaw, with help from freshman Dantley, spearheaded perhaps the best Notre Dame team ever assembled, the 1973-74 squad that went 24-2 in the regular season before being upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Bench: Matt Farrell (2014-18), Russell Carter (2003-07) and Bill Paterno (1973-77) Point guard Farrell and small forward Paterno both were 1,000-point scorers with the Irish, while swingman Carter barely missed at 983 but was first-team All-Big East as a senior when Notre Dame finished fourth (24-8 overall and 11-5 in league play) in the powerful 16-team league. BRONZE MEDAL: ILLINOIS Starting Lineup: Ed "Moose" Krause (1930-34), LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92), Tom Hawkins (1956- 59), Colin Falls (2003-07) and Jack Stephens (1951-55) Three-time All-American and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Krause helped revolution- ize the game because his size helped implement the three-second violation in the lane. Ellis and Hawkins were both top- five NBA picks who played in the league for a decade. Falls converted the most three-point- ers in school history, 331 at an impres- sive 40.1-percent clip, while Stephens helped lead back-to-back Elite Eight berths in 1953 and 1954, earning All- America notice and becoming the No. 7 pick in the 1955 NBA Draft. Bench: John Smythe (1954-57), John McCarthy (1955-58), Joe Bertrand (1951-54), Jack Cooley (2009-13), Ryan Hoover (1992-96) and Gary Novak (1971-74) HONORABLE MENTION: INDIANA Starting Lineup: Chris Thomas (2001-05), Luke Harangody (2006-10), Paul Nowak (1935-38), Walt Sahm (1962-65) and Ron Reed (1962-65) Thomas and Harangody rank among the top four scorers in school history. Nowak was a three-time All-Amer- ican who helped Notre Dame achieve the 1936 Helms Foundation national title. Sahm and Reed — who pitched 19 years in Major League Baseball — made Notre Dame's 25-man All-Cen- tury team in 2003. Former high school and college teammates Ken Barlow (1982-86), a first-round pick, and Scott Hicks (1983- 87) also deserve mention. ✦ Austin Carr — a Washington, D.C., native along with Collis Jones (42) — is acknowledged as the greatest player in Notre Dame basketball history. PHOTO COURTESY NCAA.COM Fertile Grounds: Notre Dame's Top Talent-Producing Areas