Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2021 9 UNDER THE DOME "I'm extremely thankful to be able to play for two amazing programs now in Wisconsin and Notre Dame," Coan said. "Not many people get to say that. It just opens up doors for new opportunities." OTHER ATHLETIC PROGRAMS The transfer portal is used to vary- ing degrees in other sports. When it comes to basketball, where top players expect to see game action early and often, it's easy to alienate inexperienced but talented prospects. That's what the Notre Dame wom- en's basketball program is currently experiencing, with three freshmen — point guard Alasia Hayes, guard Alli Campbell and forward Amirah Abdur-Rahim — entering the transfer portal at the end of the 2020-21 season. For other Fighting Irish programs, the transfer portal bolstered 2021 ros- ters. Graduate Nikola Djogo left the men's basketball program after the season for Northeastern, but the Irish picked up Yale graduate transfer for- ward Paul Atkinson, the former Co- Ivy League Player of the Year. The Notre Dame baseball program is in the midst of a resurgence after scooping up seven transfers in the off- season, five of whom are graduate stu- dents. The other two were added from Iowa Western Community College. A few of these new additions have been vital to the baseball program. Graduate transfers John Michael Ber- trand and Joe Sheridan, plus junior college transfer Tanner Kohlhepp, are among the top four Irish pitchers in terms of innings thrown. Each car- ries a sub-4.00 ERA. As it pertains to the graduate stu- dents, all five were available because the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2020 college baseball season short, and the NCAA ruled that all spring ath- letes retained a year of eligibility. Ad- ditionally, the pandemic forced the MLB to shrink its planned 40-round 2020 draft to five rounds. Head coach Link Jarrett has seen the impact graduate transfers can have on his program. "That's a good niche for us, and we're going to continue to try to find them," he said. "They have to be guys you feel can come in and help you in that year. If they're coming for a year, and they're not really able to help you, does your roster really upgrade itself? "You hope the answer is yes. It's a niche we have to continue to push." Junior college transfers are com- mon in college baseball, but not at Notre Dame, where the admissions process is rigorous. To be eligible, Jarrett says each JC player must bring with him a certain percentage of course credits based on each aca- demic year. But Kohlhepp and outfielder Nick Juaire had the benefit of attending Ten- nessee and TCU prior to Iowa Western. "It boils down to academics," Jar- rett said. "Kohlhepp and Juaire were both at good four-year schools, so most of those courses transfer. If you get past a semester at a junior college, then it can become a little tricky for [enough] courses to be accepted here. "That's what you run into because of the magnitude of the Notre Dame degree." In theory, the one-time transfer rule should make adding undergradu- ate transfers easier for the baseball program. ✦ Our life plan community for those over the age of 62, provides residents with exceptional personalized services, a secure atmosphere and carefree luxury lifestyle – while making it possible to ease into further healthcare levels as needs change throughout retirement years.