Blue and Gold Illustrated

Sporting News forecasted the Irish to finish seventh in the conference, with Miami, North Carolina State and Florida State jumping ahead of Notre Dame — although they dropped Lou- isville behind Notre Dame at eighth. "It's tempting to look at the Irish and figure they will struggle because they lost senior stars Pat Connaugh- ton and Jerian Grant," the magazine wrote. "Mike Brey sees a rotation los- ing only two players from a team that earned the Fighting Irish's first conference tournament title and ad- vanced to the Midwest Regional fi- nal. "… the Irish might not have a player capable of taking over games like Grant (though Jackson is the best candidate to do so). And it might not have as versatile a player as Con- naughton. But there are still high hopes in South Bend this team can match its immediate predecessor." The magazine ranks both Jackson and Auguste among their top 10 players in the conference, with Au- guste checking in at No. 9 and Jack- son at No. 4. Lindy's pegged Notre Dame to fin- ish ninth out of 15 teams, slotting them behind all the aforementioned foes plus Syracuse. "The Irish will again be productive, but a repeat of last year 's success de- pends on the developments of Jack- son and Beachem, and the continued growth of Auguste," the magazine noted. "Expect ND to be more dan- gerous inside, but still able to bomb away, especially if Beachem becomes more of a weapon. "It's tough to predict another Elite Eight appearance, but Notre Dame will once again be heard from." Lindy's is high on the trio of Au- guste, Jackson and Vasturia, rank- ing each among the top 25 players nationally at their position. Auguste was the highest of the three as the No. 7 center nationally, Jackson checked in as the No. 18 point guard and Vasturia narrowly made the cut as the No. 23 shooting guard in the land. The publication also included Auguste as a third-team All-ACC se- lection. Additionally, it tabbed freshman guard Rex Pflueger as "Will Take You By Surprise" among the conference's recruiting notes. In addition to Pflueger 's praise, Lindy's was high on Notre Dame's entire 2015 recruiting class — a group that also included forwards Matt Ryan and Elijah Burns — ranking it No. 20 nationally, which made it the fourth-best group in the ACC behind Duke, Syracuse and Florida State. "There might not be a 2015-16 starter in the group for Mike Brey, but each of the three will provide prime depth and will ultimately be a very good player — maybe sooner than later," the magazine noted. "Pflueger 's ability to rebound and dunk well above traffic is likely to draw a lot of comparison to former Irish standout — and now Portland Trail Blazer — Pat Connaughton." Notre Dame opens the season with home exhibitions against St. Fran- cis (Ill.) Oct. 30 and Caldwell Nov. 5, before beginning its regular season by hosting St. Francis (Pa.) Nov. 13. ✦

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