Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BASKETBALL RECRUITING BY ANDREW OWENS A fter doctors placed a cast on Martin Geben's broken left wrist Feb. 28, the future Irish power forward etched a shamrock and interlocking 'ND' on it as motivation for what's ahead of him. The 6-9, 230-pound Lithuania na- tive underwent surgery on his non- shooting wrist Feb. 18 after the injury cut short his senior season at St. Maria Goretti High School in Hagerstown, Md., and right now he is focused on a rapid recovery ahead of his enrollment at Notre Dame this summer. "No athlete wants to be injured. It's always hard, especially getting injured midseason and being sidelined and watching the team play," said Geben, whose cast was scheduled to be re- moved March 28. "You just want to go out and play. It makes you value your playing days that much more. That's definitely a motivation to come back and start the new chapter of my basketball career." Notre Dame will benefit from the addition of Geben, the No. 137 over- all player in the country according to 247Sports, to a frontcourt lacking ex- perience and consistent production. Fifth-year seniors Garrick Sherman and Tom Knight graduate this spring, so Geben will join sophomores Zach Auguste and Austin Burgett plus freshman Austin Torres in a competi- tion for minutes next year. "That's pretty big," Geben said of the opportunity to play immediately. "Two guys graduate, and it gives me a big opportunity to showcase myself and help the team. That's a pretty big motivation, especially coming off of an injury. I just want to play and help the team win." Geben is aware of stereotypes sur- rounding American and European basketball players. He, too, subscribes to the theory that those developed in the United States are stronger, while those hailing from Europe are often more skilled. With rebounding rep- resenting a critical area for the Irish Irish Could Add To 2014 Class Martin Geben, a 2014 Irish signee, was averag- ing 14.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game through 24 contests before his senior season was cut short when he broke his left (non- shooting) wrist Feb. 18. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS