Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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50 AUGUST 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED running away with the regular-sea- son ACC title. The Irish were at one point ranked No. 2 in the country. Notre Dame reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, it hosted a regional for the first time since 2004, won the regional and advanced to its first Super Regional since 2002 where it was eliminated by eventual national champion Mis- sissippi State two games to one in a tight three-game series. Second-year Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett earned ACC Coach of the Year honors and senior Irish slugger Niko Kavadas earned mul- tiple All-American honors after set- ting the single-season school record with 22 home runs. FORGETTABLE SEASONS About the only positive to come out of the 2020-21 Notre Dame men's and women's basketball seasons was that freshman forward Maddy Westbeld earned ACC Rookie of the Year hon- ors after leading the Irish with 15.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Under first-year head coach Niele Ivey, the Notre Dame women fin- ished the season 10-10 and failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 24 seasons, technically, 1. Yared Nuguse (track and field) — One of the most decorated athletes in any sport at Notre Dame, Nuguse is a two-time NCAA champion, claiming gold in the 1,500 meters and anchoring the Irish men's distance medley relay in 2019. In cross country, Nuguse led Notre Dame to the 2020 ACC Men's Championship and a runner-up fin- ish in the NCAA Championships this season to earn USTFCCCA National Male Athlete of the Year honors. More recently, Nuguse struck gold in the 1,500 at the ACC Championships. His time of 3:34.68 during the preliminary race at the event set an all-time col- legiate record and earned Nuguse a spot in the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he cashed in with a third-place finish to earn a spot on the U.S. Tokyo Olympic Team. 2. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (football) — A unani- mous All-American selection, Owusu-Koramoah par- layed his ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors into a second-round draft selection of the Cleveland Browns. He finished second on the Irish last season with 62 tackles and led the team with 11.0 tackles for loss. Owusu-Koramoah also added one interception and two fumble recoveries, one of which he re- turned 23 yards for a touchdown in the epic upset last November of top-ranked Clemson. 3. Niko Kavadas (baseball) — During a season where Notre Dame came just one win short of making its first College World Series appearance since 2002, this Irish slugger earned first-team All-America honors after breaking the 30-year-old single-season program record with 22 home runs. Kavadas is also tied for second at Notre Dame with 46 career home runs. Kavadas was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft, but has a year of eligibility remaining and could return to Notre Dame in 2022. 4. Ian Book (football) — Often maligned but never deterred, this fifth-year senior became the win- ningest starting Irish quarterback all time with 30 victories. Book made two College Football Playoff appearances in three seasons and became arguably the most productive quarterback in Irish history. For his career, Book finished with 8,948 passing yards (second only to Brady Quinn) and 1,518 rush- ing yards (second only to Tony Rice among Irish quarterbacks). 5. Pat Kavanagh (lacrosse) — This gifted Irish sophomore finished second in the ACC last season with 5.9 points per game and set an Irish program record for assists in a season (36) and points in a game (10) to become one of five finalists for the 2021 Tewaaraton Award, the most prestigious honor in collegiate lacrosse. Kavanagh, a standout attackman, was the first sophomore in four years to become a Tewaaraton finalist and the fourth-ever Irish player to earn that distinction. — Todd D. Burlage 2020-21 Male Athletes of the Year Senior Niko Kavadas earned multiple All-America honors after setting the single-season school record with 22 home runs and helping lead the Irish baseball team to the NCAA Super Regionals. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Senior Yared Nuguse led Notre Dame to the 2020 ACC men's cross country title and a runner-up finish in the NCAA Championships this season en route to earning USTFCCCA National Male Athlete of the Year honors. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS