Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ing. "I haven't had to do anything moti‑ vationally, which is great. This group tasted some amazing new territory last year, they've been unbelievably focused. You know what's great about kids — as much as they love Grant and Con‑ naughton, or whoever the seniors are after they left, they want to show they're kind of pretty good even though every‑ one talks about how it might be impos‑ sible to replace Grant and Connaughton. "So I think there's been a great fo‑ cus set by Jackson, Auguste, Vasturia, Beachem, [Austin] Burgett and [Austin] Torres — those guys would like to do that March thing again, so they've been very prepared." The road to a repeat in the ACC starts with junior point guard Demetrius Jackson, who notched averages of 12.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season. Jackson is on the pre‑ season watch list for the 2016 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award and is currently being projected as a lottery pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by DraftEx‑ press.com. "He's taken it to a whole other level, and I couldn't be prouder," Brey said. "I was so proud of the growth he made from freshman to sophomore year. And what he's done through the offseason, really being the main voice, setting the tone and running things — I believe he's taken yet another step, which I fully expected. But he feels it's his time, it wasn't me anointing him. He just un‑ derstood that, 'It's me now.' So I've been really pleased with that. "No question, it's Demetrius Jackson's team. It's his voice — he loves it, and welcomes it, and I'm thrilled that he's so confident in that position." Another vital cog will be senior forward Zach Auguste. The 6‑10, 240‑pound big man averaged 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for the team last year, and with the squad's previous leading rebounder (Connaughton, 7.4 boards per contest) off to the NBA, it's up to Auguste to fill part of that void on the glass. "Can Zach be a double‑double guy for us?" Brey said. "I think with what he did not only in the Kentucky game but in March, there's no reason why he can't do that. Brey believes that senior forward Zach Auguste, who averaged 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last year, can be a double-double performer for the Irish this season. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND