Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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rebounds to lead the Irish to a 122-67 triumph over the Opitergium Gladiators Aug. 11. Connaughton added 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Freshman forward Martin Geben — an important newcomer for the Irish frontcourt this season — scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Jack- son contributed 17 points, four assists and four steals. On Aug. 12, Notre Dame downed the Vicenza All-Stars 95-57 to conclude its tour with a 4-0 record. Auguste achieved a double-double for the third straight game, tallying 17 points and 13 re- bounds, while Connaughton added 10 points and 10 rebounds. While the same five players — Jack- son, Grant, Vasturia, Connaughton and Auguste — started each of the four games, Brey used a number of different combinations with his eye on this fall. Outside of basketball, the Notre Dame traveling party received a rare oppor- tunity to experience Italy and its many landmarks. The squad toured the Colos- seum on its first day in the country and the Vatican on day two. In the middle of the trip, junior forward Austin Burgett's 21st birthday was spent at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello. He, along with Brey, test drove a Ferrari on the public streets of the city. "I like how our older guys have helped our younger players get better on this trip," Brey told UND.com. "This has been a great four games for us and a good start to the season. "We've got some game film to watch to evaluate our team from here once we get back to campus and school starts. I'll certainly use all of these games as teach- ing points throughout our preseason." Neither Brey nor the players were made available to the media prior to the printing of this issue. SEVERAL PROSPECTS SET OFFICIAL VISIT DATES Notre Dame picked up some steam on the recruiting trail in July when it landed commitments from Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., four-star small forward Matt Ryan and Blairstown, N.J., power forward Eli- jah Burns. Both committed prospects have set an official visit to campus for the weekend of the Sept. 6 Michigan football game. The duo will have a bit of recruiting to do themselves. La Porte, Ind., four-star combo guard Jalen Coleman, the program's top re- maining target, will join Ryan and Burns on campus for the official visit. The fourth campus visitor that weekend will be Haverford, Pa., three-star shoot- ing guard Levan Alston, who recently included the Irish in his list of six con- tenders. Notre Dame feels strongly that it can secure a commitment from one of those two guards or Santa Ana, Calif., three- star shooting guard Rex Pflueger. The Mater Dei High School senior included the Irish when he trimmed his list to five in late July and has expressed his desire to visit campus. The coaching staff felt confident enough that it would land one of the three that it stopped recruiting Kansas transfer Andrew White, a former four- star guard. White visited campus in early July. Notre Dame will also welcome Cy- press, Texas, three-star center Samir Sehic to campus Sept. 29 during a non-