Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/750885
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 21, 2016 49 MEN'S BASKETBALL as they'll be the first real tests for the Irish after three early tune-up games. Road contests against Miami, Vir- ginia Tech, Florida State and Geor- gia Tech will help determine Notre Dame's NCAA Tournament fate. The Hurricanes are highest rated by Ken- Pom.com among those teams, com- ing in at No. 24 nationally. The Irish do get Syracuse — a Final Four team in 2015-16 — as well as Louisville at home this year, games Notre Dame should have a good chance of winning on its own floor. STEALS These are the games Notre Dame will have to win if it wants to break into that top tier of the conference finish order. Winning any of these games would also carry heavy weight with the NCAA selection committee and help overcome any slipups in other games. Non-conference (two): Villanova (35-5 last season) and Purdue (26-9). ACC (five): Virginia (29-8), Duke (25-11), at North Carolina (33-7), at North Carolina State (16-17) and at Louisville (23-8). The Irish will be underdogs in each of these games, particularly against the top-flight schools in the ACC. Though Notre Dame will face Duke and Virginia at the Joyce Center, those teams are ranked first and sev- enth, respectively, by KenPom.com. North Carolina, North Carolina State and Louisville on the road are treks in which Notre Dame will have the odds stacked against them — though it's not impossible to pull an upset. Last year, Blue & Gold Illustrated projected a road game at Duke as a "steal," and the Irish pulled out a 95-91 win. Early-season contests against de- fending national champion Villanova (in Newark, N.J.) and KenPom.com's preseason No. 15 team Purdue in the Crossroads Classic will also be tough for the Irish. Wins in either would bolster Notre Dame's NCAA résumé. SEASON PREDICTION The major storyline this season is how Notre Dame replaces the pro- duction lost by point guard Deme- trius Jackson (now with the Boston Celtics) and forward Zach Auguste. Though the top-end talent doesn't appear to be on the roster — no Notre Dame player was selected to the ACC's first or second preseason all- league teams — Brey has found suc- cess in the past. Beachem, Vasturia and Colson are expected to handle most of the scoring load, while Farrell — along with sophomore wings Matt Ryan and Rex Pflueger off the bench — can also provide a scoring punch. Competing against the blue bloods of the ACC will be a challenge, especially against the teams with dominant big men. Should Brey go small like last year and rely on a perimeter-oriented at- tack, Notre Dame will sacrifice de- fense but be a threat from the outside. We predict Notre Dame to finish 14-1 in "Must Haves," 6-3 in "Bubble Games" and 2-5 in its "Steals." That leaves the Irish at 22-9 entering the postseason, a fitting record for a team that will almost certainly be on the bubble as March begins. ✦ Four-Star D.J. Harvey Inks With Irish Notre Dame's lone 2017 men's basketball commit became an official member of the program Nov. 9, when Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic forward D.J. Harvey signed and faxed his Na- tional Letter of Intent to head coach Mike Brey and company. With seniors Steve Vasturia and V.J. Beachem set to gradu- ate and move on at the end of the 2016-17 campaign, landing Harvey was vital for the Irish. "He fills a need … he's a kid we'll count on as a young guy," Brey said. "We'll still have good perimeter guys coming back behind Steve and V.J., [but] D.J. will need to play as a freshman like T.J. Gibbs. "I love the fact he has a great stroke. He can really shoot the ball. Obviously, we've had good success with guys who have a stroke like that. Then you add his athletic ability and how athletic he's become. I think he's become a better passer." The 6-7, 180-pound Harvey — the nation's No. 51 overall prospect according to Rivals — verbally committed to Notre Dame in September over Duke, Arizona, Villanova, Texas, Connecticut and UCLA, among others. Brey believes the four-star compares favorably to one of the two players he will be expected to re- place when the 2017 season begins. "V.J. and Ryan Ayers are kind of similar body types [to Harvey]," Brey said. "[Harvey] is a little more explosive. He can go off the dribble, too, and he can really finish. V.J. and him are similar in that sense. He's a little more physically ready as freshman than V.J. was. "His frame and body type are pretty solid. What I love about him is he is always in the gym. … That's kind of been our culture, [having] guys just want to work on their game." Harvey averaged 15.4 points, seven rebounds and four assists as a junior last season at DeMatha. He was the first DeMatha player since former Irish All-American Adrian Dantley to start his first game as a freshman. Brey and his staff hope to bring in another wing player for next season, either from the 2017 class or via the transfer market. — Corey Bodden IRISH CRUISE TO 89-64 VICTORY OVER BRYANT IN SEASON OPENER After a slow start on both ends of the court, Notre Dame steadily pulled away and defeated Bryant 89-64 Nov. 12 to open the 2016-17 season. The Irish shot 49.2 percent from the field (30 of 61) and assisted on 15 of their 30 baskets. Most impressively, they had only three turnovers while forcing 13. Notre Dame jumped out to a 9-0 advantage, but Bryant chipped away and eventually took a 19-15 lead. The Irish went back in front with a personal 7-0 run by senior forward V.J. Beachem. Bryant pulled to within 57-49 with 12:21 remaining before Notre Dame went on a 13-4 run over the next four minutes to put the Bulldogs away. Junior forward Bonzie Colson (23), Beachem (22) and senior guard Steve Vasturia (16) scored 61 of Notre Dame's 89 points. No other Irish players scored more than six points. Colson added nine rebounds to go with his team-high point total. Junior Matt Farrell, the starting point guard, scored four points, dished out six assists and made three steals. Starting junior center Martinas Geben scored four points and grabbed seven rebounds in 12 minutes of action. Sophomore Rex Pflueger led the Irish bench players with six points while adding three rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard T.J. Gibbs and sophomore forward Elijah Burns both contributed five points. — Corey Bodden Harvey signed his National Letter of Intent to Notre Dame Nov. 9, the first day of the early signing period. PHOTO COURTESY NIKE/JON LOPEZ