Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM AUGUST 2023 9 Sam Hartman Is The Clear Choice By Todd D. Burlage With important voids to fill along both lines, tight end, running back and several other positions, there are plenty of candidates to choose from for this debate. But given the myriad challenges that graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman still faces at the most important position on the field, it's hard to find a player who needs to have a better camp than the new face of the Fighting Irish program. Topping Hartman's to-do list this fall will be learning and fine-tuning the new offense installed by first-year Irish offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. After all, Hart- man spent the last five seasons piling up big numbers at Wake Forest before transferring to Notre Dame in January. So, learning all things Fighting Irish football remains a crash course for him. Once Hartman masters the finer points to the offense, familiarization will be- come the top priority. He got to know his offensive teammates, and perhaps some strengths and shortcomings of his receivers during spring ball. But spring ball is barely even a dress rehearsal compared to fall camp, so building more trust and knowledge with the guys around him will be tantamount over the coming weeks. Hartman came a long way in the spring, but he still has a lot to learn and a lot to do when camp opens on July 26. And given the demands, expectations and hopes the Irish coaches, teammates and fans will place on his shoulders this season, his evolution and improvement during fall camp becomes much more important than any other player on the team. Chris Tyree Provides Something No One Else Does By Jack Soble Yes, obviously, Sam Hartman is the guy here. If he's not who Notre Dame thinks he is, nothing else matters. However, Tyree is the piece that could take the Fighting Irish offense from good to great. Notre Dame has size on the outside in Tobias Merri- weather and Deion Colzie, both listed at 6-foot-4. A strong bet to lead the Irish in receiving is Jayden Thomas, who can play inside and outside, run routes effectively and be a reliable possession receiver. True freshmen Jaden Greathouse, Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James should all contribute, with Greathouse being closest to a Thomas type and James bringing the highest athletic upside. None of them have Tyree's speed — he ran a 4.37 40-yard dash in high school — quickness and explosive- ness. Those traits have been so tantalizing for three years. Fans have seen flashes, like his kick return for a touchdown against Wisconsin in 2021, but he hasn't been able to put it all together yet. This spring, Tyree moved to receiver. Fall camp will reveal how ready he is to make an impact at the position. If he's ready, Notre Dame can attack de- fenses in every possible way. The other team is built to defend size? Tyree is there. The other team is built to defend speed? Colzie and/or Merriweather are there. All while Thomas is an all-around, versatile weapon, and the fresh- men provide depth and upside to the whole operation. If Tyree isn't ready, however, Notre Dame doesn't have enough speed at receiver, and that could be a problem. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH NOTRE DAME PLAYER NEEDS A GOOD FALL CAMP THE MOST? Be it to find more playing time, or to move closer to home, or for just a simple change of scenery, the rea- sons for student-athlete transfers are many. But for incoming Notre Dame softball graduate transfer Alexis Laudenslager, her recent relocation from Princeton this summer came with no choice. Laudenslager, the two- time reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, is one of many student-athletes from that conference who had eligibility remaining because of COVID-19 but was unable to use it at their school because the league doesn't allow graduates to compete athletically. And the Notre Dame softball program couldn't be happier about that Ivy League restriction. What the Fighting Irish program gets with Laudenslager is a committed student and a talented pitcher with 30 career wins, a 2.29 career ERA and 352 strikeouts in 287⅔ innings pitched who still has two seasons of eligibility remaining. In 2023, Laudenslager became the first pitcher in Princeton history to throw three no-hitters in a single season. She finished her career there with a pro- gram-record five no-hitters. Blue & Gold Illustrated caught up with Laudenslager to discuss her reasons for choosing Notre Dame, her time at Princeton and the transition to her new school. B G I : Yo u h a d m a ny schools to choose from — why Notre Dame? Laudenslager: " To be honest, Notre Dame kind of came out of nowhere, and I'm really glad it did. The second the coaches reached out I immediately realized that they were people who were always going to care more about the person than the player, which is the same approach as the pro- gram that I came from." BGI: How is your acclimation moving along? Laudenslager: "The transition is feeling very natural. There are a lot of similarities between my experiences at Princeton and what I'm expecting at Notre Dame. "As far as integrating with the team, there is already such a family culture that the girls have made it really easy for me to feel comfortable and I'm super excited to spend more time with them." BGI: How was your time at Princeton? Laudenslager: "My time at Princeton, I loved every second of it. It was very rewarding and it made me the player that I am today and the person that I am today. "I played with a lot of great girls, and I loved that everyone was so focused on academics as well as athletics, and I'm excited to bring that to Notre Dame and have Notre Dame shape me at the same time." BGI: Are there any other factors that brought you here? Laudenslager: "The fact that Notre Dame has never been to a Super Regional appealed to me be- cause it's a place where everything is in place to get there. I think at Notre Dame there are boxes that are still unchecked, and I think everybody there wants to be the team that gets to check those boxes. "Every team wants to be the first to do some- thing." BGI: What can Notre Dame softball fans and followers expect from their new addition? Laudenslager: "I'm super competitive. I love winning. Losing, that irks me. I never want to let it happen again when it does. And I also always want to be the first one to do things. "At Princeton, we did some things that hadn't really happened before in the program. Wanting to drive the program forward was huge for me." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … NOTRE DAME SOFTBALL PITCHER ALEXIS LAUDENSLAGER HARTMAN TYREE Laudenslager, who boasts 30 career wins with a 2.29 ERA, was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year each of the past two years. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS