Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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A DEVASTATING LOSS Torn ACL ends Tim Abromaitis' career BY WES MORGAN n already rebuilding Notre Dame men's basketball pro- gram had a cornerstone re- moved during its practice on the Friday after Thanksgiving. All-America candidate and fifth- A year senior Tim Abromaitis suffered a torn ACL that ended his Notre Dame basketball career. That left fifth-year swingman Scott Martin as the lone starter remaining from last year's stellar 27-7 unit. A preseason All-Big East selec- tion, Abromaitis graduated from Notre Dame in May 2010 with a degree in finance and received an MBA from the Mendoza College of Business in May 2011. He was a member of the 2011 USA Men's Basketball World University Games Team in August. "Tim Abromaitis is one of the great stories in college athletics and represents everything that is good about college basketball," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. "We are all disappointed for Tim because of all that he has meant to our program. He has been such a big part of our success over the past three seasons. Tim is such a special young man and an unbelievable representative of Notre Dame both on and off the basketball court." Minus Abromaitis, Notre Dame's 11-year school record under Brey of making the postseason — the NCAA Tournament or NIT — is in jeopardy. On Nov. 21-22, the Irish arrived in the "Show-Me" state for two games at the CBE Classic hoping to show it was hitting a growth spurt. The Irish left Missouri realizing that there are going to be ample pains. Brey and Co. dropped both con- tests in Kansas City — an 87-58 loss to then-No. 24 Missouri on Nov. 21 that exposed all of Notre Dame's weak- nesses, and a 61-57 defeat against Georgia the following night that un- derscored the team's resolve when its veterans struggled mightily. The Irish were finally at full strength personnel-wise against the Tigers with Abromaitis' return to the lineup after serving a four-game NCAA suspension. The co-captain and 2010-11 Big East Conference sec- ond-team selection was the victim of a misinterpretation of an eligibility rule concerning his sophomore year, when he was redshirted after appear- ing in two exhibition contests. Jerian Grant Gaining Steam The son of 11-year NBA veteran Harvey Grant and nephew of Horace Grant, who played a major role in four championship seasons with the Chicago Bulls, Jerian Grant didn't waste much time filling a big void for the Fighting Irish, which lost three starters from last year's 27-7 team. Against Sam Houston State and Delaware State, when sophomore point guard Eric Atkins was scratched due to tonsillitis, sophomore Alex Dragicevich was technically the stand-in floor general. But it was Grant, a 6-5 guard out of DeMatha High in Hyattsville, Md., that truly facilitated, registering a team-best seven assists to go along with 17 points against SHSU and six assists on top of a 17-point effort versus DSU. Through six games, Grant was averaging 13.7 points and 4.5 assists per night. "I believe [his performance in those two contests] will help us down the road," Irish head coach Mike Brey said. "I was really impressed with how we handled the ball as a team even though we didn't have Eric [Atkins] out there. … I got a better feel for [Grant] as a backup [point guard], not that Alex [Dragicevich] did a bad job. [Grant] has had great assists in the last couple games. "He loves finding people. I'd like him to catch and be the receiver and shoot it some, but what he's doing is he's getting in there and finding people as good or maybe better as anybody." Grant's athleticism is something the Irish needed after losing forward Carleton Scott, who left for the NBA Draft with a year of eligibility remaining. "I've definitely learned that you have to play all 40 minutes," Grant said. "The first half you may not score, you may not get a lot of rebounds or assists, but there is a second half. You go play the second half as hard as you can. Both halves are very important. "Every game I get more and more confident knowing I'm going to be out there, knowing I'm going to be part of this team." — Wes Morgan 40 DECEMBER 2011 Abromaitis, a fifth-year senior forward who aver- aged 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in the two games he played in this year, suffered his sea- son-ending knee injury during practice Nov. 25. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND The 6-8 forward netted a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds, but a lightning-quick Missouri outfit ran circles around the confused Irish. "That was men amongst boys," Brey told UND.com following the game. "Their defense really made it hard for us to get into any kind of semblance of our offense. ... That's a thorough beating by a better, older, tougher group." Martin was the only other Irish player to reach double figures (12 points). A concern was junior big man Jack Cooley's ineffectiveness against a smaller, faster opponent. Cooley did not score and played just 18 minutes. The Irish had a more competitive fire the next night against Georgia, but Abromaitis, Martin and Cooley were less than dialed in offensively. The trio combined for just 14 points. Abromaitis finished 1 of 12 from the field, and Cooley's layup represented his lone bucket of the trip. Sopho- BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED