Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2022 55 MEN'S BASKETBALL ton College. Wesley responded with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting, with four turnovers, in a 73-57 loss. Yet Brey kept him in the starting five. More importantly, he was in the finish- ing five. Hubb, a starter since his fresh- man year and an offensive focal point, did not play the final 7:22 after another rough outing. It was Wesley's show. Perhaps, even a passing of the torch. "When we get to the end of the clock, it's, 'Get it to Blake and let him go make a play,'" Brey said. "He will find people, too. He just has the ability to do that, better than anyone our team. "He's wired like that. And he has great teammates. Those old guys have em- braced him and know that we need him." Wesley's heroics not only won the game but rescued a dead possession. Notre Dame inbounded the ball with 28 seconds left, the scored tied 62-62, and dialed up a middle ball screen with senior guard Trey Wertz as the handler and graduate student forward Paul At- kinson Jr. as the roller. It was the same action they needled Kentucky with all half. The Wildcats, though, were ready. Wertz saw no good options, picked up his dribble and passed back to Goodwin at the top of the key for a reset. Wesley caught Goodwin's pass on the wing and found Kentucky guard Da- vion Mintz breathing on him. He took off, dribbling with his left hand as his long strides chewed up the real es- tate between the wing and the basket. He pulled up at the ACC logo. Mintz, meanwhile, slid backward. Bang. "Got to my spot, that's my mid- range," Wesley said. It can make a broken play look inten- tional. Didn't hurt he took time to work on it the last two days of practice either. "I trust Blake to make a lot of shots," Atkinson said. "He's a guy who can go make a tough shot over a defender." With each instance of it or every sound decision he makes, it's easy to forget Wesley was playing in the North- ern Indiana Conference a year ago. He's a freshman with an increasingly heavy load placed on his shoulders. Forgive him if at times it feels a bit burdensome, even if those moments have been inter- mittent and not frequent so far. "There's a special uniqueness about him and he has allowed us to really coach him and coach him hard," Brey said. "I've been hard on him. [Associate head coach Anthony] Solomon has been hard on him. His body language and maturity was better tonight. He ran our team. I thought his shot selection was better." Wesley readiness for this amount of work doesn't happen without his will- ingness to be coached and the seniors' embrace of him. They could have seen him as a threat. Instead, they've allowed him to lift the whole team up. And after his shot, they lifted him. A few teammates hoisted Wesley on their shoulders amid the mass of humanity on the court for all the hometown crowd to see. He'd better get used to the lights. "You know what was really cool? When they did the starting lineups and it says, 'From South Bend,'" Brey said. "When I was recruiting him, I used to tease him about that. Maybe we get to the point where we just say, 'The Bend.'" That point doesn't feel far away. ✦ 2021-22 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 13 Cal State Northridge W, 68-52 Nov. 16 High Point W, 70-61 Nov. 22 vs. Saint Mary's# L, 62-59 Nov. 23 vs. Chaminade# W, 90-64 Nov. 24 vs. Texas A&M# L, 73-67 Nov. 29 at Illinois L, 82-72 Dec. 3 at Boston College* L, 73-57 Dec. 11 Kentucky W, 66-62 Dec. 18 vs. Indiana% (FOX) 2:30 p.m. Dec. 20 Western Michigan (ACCN) 8 p.m. Dec. 22 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (ACCNX) 1 p.m. Dec. 28 at Pittsburgh* (ACCN) 8 p.m. Jan. 1 Duke* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 5 North Carolina* (ESPN2) 9 p.m. Jan. 8 at Georgia Tech* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 12 Clemson* (RSN) 7 p.m. Jan. 15 at Virginia Tech* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 17 at Howard (FOX) 2:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at Louisville* (ESPN/2/U) 4 p.m. Jan. 26 NC State* (RSN) TBA Jan. 29 Virginia* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 2 at Miami* (RSN) 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at NC State* (ACCN) 3 p.m. Feb. 9 Louisville* (ESPN2/U) TBA Feb. 12 at Clemson* (ACCN) 7 p.m. Feb. 16 Boston College* (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at Wake Forest* (RSN) 1 p.m. Feb. 22 Syracuse* (ESPN/2) 9 p.m. Feb. 26 Georgia Tech* (ACCN) 5 p.m. Mar. 2 at Florida State* (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Mar. 5 Pittsburgh* (ESPN2/U/ACCN) TBA Mar. 8-12 ACC Tournament$ TBA # Maui Invitational at Mandalay Bat Resort and Casino in Las Vegas; % Crossroads Classic at Gain bridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis; * ACC game; $ at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.; ACCN — ACC Net work; ACCNX — ACC Network Extra; RSN — Regional Sports Networks LaPhonso Ellis Inducted Into Ring Of Honor One of the most popular and accomplished players in Notre Dame basketball's history now has his name hanging in the Purcell Pavilion rafters. Former Irish star forward LaPhonso Ellis became the ninth player inducted into the program's Ring of Honor during a Dec. 11 ceremony at halftime of the win over Kentucky. Ellis spoke for about two minutes on the court, posed for pictures with a framed No. 20 banner and watched as another banner with his name and number was unfurled above. "The outpouring of love and support from my family of origin, friends, people in the community, my teammates, all sacrificing a day or two from their lives to come support me on this day, it's hard to put it all into words," Ellis said. "I have a tremendous sense of gratitude for all that love and support." Ellis played for the Irish from 1988-92 and ended his career as the program's all-time leading shot blocker and one of four play - ers to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds (1,505 and 1,075, respectively). (Jordan Cornette later broke his blocks re- cord). He averaged 20.6 points and 11.0 rebounds as a senior. He remains second in program history in career blocks (200), blocks per game (2.1), double-doubles (54) and blocks in a season (86). The Denver Nuggets drafted Ellis fifth overall in 1992. He played 11 seasons in the NBA. Ellis, 51, currently works for ESPN as a college basketball ana - lyst, a role he has held since 2009. — Patrick Engel Ellis graduated as Notre Dame's all-time leading shot blocker (200, since surpassed) and had 1,505 career points and 1,075 rebounds. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS