Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/605097
MEN'S BASKETBALL for us. He missed a couple and forced a couple, but I think we have to live with that, because under this new rule we're going to get some fouls on that. So we want him to drive it. But abso‑ lutely rock solid." Brey goes as far as to tab Vasturia one of the most underrated players in the country, because there are no statistics readily available for say, shooting percentage of opponent guarded, which would help rate players defensively. In Notre Dame's 81‑70 win over Wichita State last season in the Sweet 16, Vasturia held Ron Baker — the Shockers' leading scorer — to just nine points on 2‑of‑10 shooting, while scoring 15 points on 5‑of‑12 shooting on the of‑ fensive end. For those who would put stock into a hypothetical plus/minus statistic evaluating how many points a player is responsible for and how many they take away from the other team, Vas‑ turia could rank right at the top of the list for Notre Dame. "It's hard to figure out his person‑ ality because he's not a vocal guy, but when he talks he has really good things to say," Brey said. "And he could be the calming voice at times. We have some high‑strung guys, and I love it, but sometimes you need that steady guy to kind of cool things. "If you watch a good offensive play, he's probably done a lot of things on a possession to get us a good shot. And if it was a great defensive possession, he's probably done two or three things on that end of the floor to help us. Just unbelievably smart basketball‑wise." Jackson echoes his coach's assess‑ ment. The junior point guard led the team with 23.5 points per game through the first two con‑ tests, shooting a stagger‑ ing 18 of 29 (62.1 percent) from the field — but he attributes some of that success to the consistent presence of Vasturia. "He does so much stuff that you don't see on stat sheets, and then he even does do the stuff you see on stat sheets," Jackson said. "He makes big‑time shots, and he defends everybody. "It's nice having another guard like that in the backcourt; it makes me con‑ fident in myself and in the team." Vasturia said the lack of accolades from media or fans doesn't trouble him. He pivots back to the number of tallies in the Irish win column — and as long as those keep growing, that's his lone criterion. "It doesn't really bother me," Vas‑ turia said. "I don't really notice, to be honest. I kind of try to just do what‑ ever to help the team win. Last year, that was doing whatever was needed defensively, making shots, and this year I'm taking that to the next level. "As long as this team is winning games, that's all that matters to any of us." ✦ VASTURIA