Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT 2, 2021 47 MEN'S BASKETBALL BY PATRICK ENGEL N o t re Da m e re l ea s e d i ts 2020‑21 schedule less than three weeks from its season opener amid a cloud of uncer‑ tainty. The Irish understood the slate they hoped in early No‑ vember they could play would differ from the one they com‑ pleted in March. There would be COVID‑19 cancellations, postponed games and new op‑ ponents added with a couple days' notice. All of that played out. Eight games were affected due to opponent COVID issues. Two n o n ‑ co n fe re n ce o p p o n e n ts were added at the last minute. It was a constant wait for in‑ evitable bad news. This year's release of the 2021‑22 schedule, though, came with a hopeful feeling of finality. The Irish open their 31‑game regular‑season slate Nov. 13 at home against Cal State Northridge. That's the same day as Notre Dame's football game at Virginia. Tip time for the basketball game will be determined once football learns of its start time two weeks in advance. Notre Dame then hosts High Point Nov. 16. It has six days off before the Maui Invitational, which begins Nov. 22 versus Saint Mary's. The Irish will play the next two days against to‑be‑deter‑ mined opponents. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge game is Nov. 29 at Illinois. That's followed by the ACC opener, a Dec. 3 trip to Boston College. Notre Dame breaks for final exams and returns Dec. 11 to host Ken‑ tucky. It is off for another week before playing Indiana Dec. 18 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the final year of the Crossroads Classic. The home non‑conference portion ends with tilts against Western Michi‑ gan (Dec. 20) and Texas A&M‑Corpus Christi (Dec. 22). ACC games resume Dec. 28 at Pitts‑ burgh, followed by a visit from Duke on New Year's Day. The latter will be outgoing Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski's final game at Purcell Pa‑ vilion. Notre Dame then hosts North Carolina Jan. 5, its first meeting with the Tar Heels since Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams' retirement last spring. The Irish travel to Georgia Tech Jan. 8, return home to play Clemson Jan. 12 and go on the road to meet Virginia Tech Jan. 15. They wrap up non‑conference play at Howard Jan. 17 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — in a game that was originally set for last year but canceled due to CO‑ VID‑19 issues. It will take place this year, presumably with full capacity al‑ lowed at Howard's Burr Gymnasium. The Bison are led by third‑year head coach Kenny Blakeney, who played for Mike Brey at Duke in the 1990s. Rod Balanis, an Irish assistant since Brey's hiring in 2000, joined Blakeney's staff as the associate head coach this August. Balanis held that same role at Notre Dame from 2016‑21, but was moved into an operations role this offseason. Notre Dame resumes ACC play Jan. 22 at Louisville. NC State (Jan. 26) and Vir‑ ginia (Jan. 29) visit Purcell Pavilion to close out January. The February portion opens at Miami (Feb. 2) and NC State (Feb. 5). That's fol‑ lowed by a home game versus Louisville (Feb. 9), Clemson (road, Feb. 12), Boston College (home, Feb. 16), Wake Forest (road, Feb. 19), Syracuse (home, Feb. 22) and Georgia Tech (home, Feb. 26). Notre Dame plays two March regular‑season games: Florida State (road, March 2) and Pittsburgh (home, March 5). The ACC Tournament begins March 8 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. ✦ Notre Dame Faces Challenging Home Slate 2021-22 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE As of Sept. 23 Date Opponent Time (ET) Oct. 29 Nazareth College^ 7 p.m. Nov. 5 St. Norbert College^ 7 p.m. Nov. 13 Cal State Northridge TBA Nov. 16 High Point 7 p.m. Nov. 22 vs. Saint Mary's# 11:30 p.m. Nov. 23 vs. Oregon or Chaminade# TBA Nov. 24 vs. Butler, Houston, Texas A&M or Wisconsin# TBA Nov. 29 at Illinois TBA Dec. 3 at Boston College* 6 p.m. Dec. 11 Kentucky TBA Dec. 18 vs. Indiana% TBA Dec. 20 Western Michigan 7 p.m. Dec. 22 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi TBA Dec. 28 at Pittsburgh* TBA Jan. 1 Duke* 6 p.m. Jan. 5 North Carolina* 9 p.m. Jan. 8 at Georgia Tech* 6 p.m. Jan. 12 Clemson* 9 p.m. Jan. 15 at Virginia Tech* 6 p.m. Jan. 17 at Howard TBA Jan. 22 at Louisville* TBA Jan. 26 NC State* 9 p.m. Jan. 29 Virginia* 4 p.m. Feb. 2 at Miami* 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at NC State* 3 p.m. Feb. 9 Louisville* TBA Feb. 12 at Clemson* 7 p.m. Feb. 16 Boston College* 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at Wake Forest* 1 p.m. Feb. 22 Syracuse* TBA Feb. 26 Georgia Tech* 5 p.m. Mar. 2 at Florida State* 7 p.m. Mar. 5 Pittsburgh* 8 p.m. Mar. 8-12 ACC Tournament$ TBA ^ Exhibition; # Maui Invitational at Lahaina, Maui; % Crossroads Classic at Indianapolis; * ACC game; $ at Brooklyn, N.Y. Head coach Mike Brey and Notre Dame have home games scheduled against Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Virginia. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS