Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503982
UNDER THE DOME 12 AUGUST 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ✦ NUMBERS & QUOTES PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS PHOTO COURTESY CANADA BASKETBALL 96 Fighting Irish hockey play- e r s h a v e been selected i n t h e N H L Draft since its in- ception, with the three most recent additions to that list being incoming freshmen Danny Nelson, Cole Knuble and Paul Fischer on June 29. The trio of draftees was the most for Notre Dame in a single draft class since 2020 and marked the 15th time at least three Irish icers were selected in the NHL Draft. Nelson, a forward, was taken No. 49 overall in the second round by the New York Islanders — the highest an Irish player was taken since Cam Morrison went No. 40 overall to the Colorado Avalanche in 2016. Knuble, a for- ward, went No. 103 overall in the fourth round to the Philadelphia Flyers. Fischer, a defenseman, was taken No. 138 over- all in fifth round by the St. Louis Blues. Nelson, Knuble and Fischer will make their debut in a Notre Dame sweater this fall. My staff always cautions people in the suite, 'Don't try to talk to him [when he watches Notre Dame football]. Pete is the same way. He watches with unbe- lievable intensity. He's not inter- ested in chitchatting. That cre- ated an immediate kinship." — Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick on his successor Pete Bevacqua 46th Was where ESPN ranked Notre Dame's BRADY QUINN on its list of college football's top 75 quarterbacks of the 2000s. Quinn, who threw for 11,762 yards and 95 from 2003-06, was the lone Fighting Irish signal-caller to make the list. "We all thought Charlie Weis was a genius when he showed up in South Bend and Notre Dame imme- diately charged to its first top-10 finish in 12 years," ESPN noted. "Weis' reputation fell apart pretty quickly, however, when Quinn ran out of eligibility." 2 Notre Dame women made their respec- tive national teams for major tourna- ments this summer: CASSANDRE PROSPER played basketball for Canada in the FIBA AmeriCup July 1-9 in Mexico, while Kiki Van Zanten is representing Jamaica in the World Cup July 20-Aug. 20 in Australia and New Zealand. Van Zanten, a graduate student midfielder, scored 7 goals and dished out 11 assists this past season for the Irish soccer team. In 2022, she scored the game- winning goal for Team Jamaica in the CONCACAF bronze medal game. Prosper, who is from Mon- treal, averaged 5.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for Notre Dame this past season. She helped Canada win the bronze medal in Mexico by averaging 7.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per contest. Next up for Canada was the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup July 15-23 in Madrid, Spain. Notre Dame ultimately must deliver on the field, and the 2023 schedule isn't easy with matchups against Ohio State and USC, and a tricky ACC slate (Clemson, NC State, Duke, Pitt, Wake Forest, Louisville). But the personnel picture is brightening under Marcus Free- man, especially at positions of need such as wide receiver, where Notre Dame signed an ESPN top-60 recruit in Braylon James and is set to add another in 2024 prospect Cam Williams. "If the Irish can build spots like receiver and cornerback, where Benjamin Morrison returns after a breakout freshman season, they should become an annual contender for the 12-team playoff. Despite [Tyler] Bu- chner's post-spring exit to Alabama, Notre Dame should have enough at quarterback with record-setting Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman for 2023, and then Steve Angeli, Kenny Minchey and CJ Carr, ESPN's No. 29 overall recruit, for 2024." — Adam Rittenberg on Notre Dame coming in at No. 14 in ESPN's Future Power Rankings 1 College had both its men's and women's lacrosse teams advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Cham- pionship: Notre Dame. The Irish women fell 20-6 to eventual national run- ner-up Boston College, but the Irish men went on to win the first national championship in program history. Did last year motivate us and galvanize this team? Absolutely. Re- venge is not the right word, though. We're not going to blame other people. We're go- ing to say from this moment forward, let's do what we can do to make sure this doesn't hap- pen to us again next year. I don't think that's revenge. That's ac- countability and owning up to what you had control of, and that's what our guys did. That's why I'm so proud of them." — Notre Dame men's lacrosse head coach Kevin Corrigan on last year's NCAA Tournament snub being the driving force for this year's national title (USA Lacrosse Magazine)