Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Top Of The Class Greg Andrews ✦ Jr., Men’s Tennis Notre Dame’s top singles player, Andrews will start the fall season ranked 24th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Andrews, the reigning Big East Player of the Year, is ranked 14 spots higher than anyone in the league. He finished last season with a 26-4 record while playing in the No. 2 singles role for the Irish. His ranking this fall earned him an invite to the ITA All-American Championships in October. Britney Sanders ✦ Jr., Women’s Tennis Sanders enters the season ranked as the nation’s No. 98 women’s singles player. She won more matches (28) than anyone on the Irish roster a year ago, and she was named to the All-Big East team. This season, she will team up with classmate Julie Sabacinski for a doubles team that was ranked 36th by the ITA earlier this month. They finished 13-4 in doubles last season after pairing up midway through the spring. Eddie Smith ✦ ’06, Baseball The former Irish infielder is back in South Bend to complete the Notre Dame coaching staff this fall. Smith won two Big East championships while playing with the Irish after walking on to the team in 2005. He has since coached at Santa Clara and Virginia, where he made trips to the College World Series in 2009 and 2011. Smith will be primarily working with Notre Dame’s outfielders. Leon Brown ✦ Jr., Men’s Soccer One of four players from Notre Dame to make the all-tournament team following the Mike Berticelli Memorial, Brown scored Notre Dame’s first goal in a 3‑1 victory over No. 4 Akron Sept. 9. He has seen his role expand during the first month of the season after the Irish lost two starters for the season with knee injuries. He plays both forward and midfield, adding speed and scoring potential to the Irish lineup. They Said It “It’s loud. It’s crazy. I love it. Being in an environment where everybody hates you, I don’t think it get any better than that.” Fifth-year senior center Braxston Cave on playing in Spartan Stadium “It’s an awful lot of attention for a school that’s not relevant anymore.” —Athletic director Jack Swarbrick on the media reaction to Notre Dame’s move to the ACC “Don’t believe the public relations spin of joining an elite academic conference as a high priority. If academics were No. 1, the Big Ten was the place to be. Don’t believe the public relations spin of joining a competitive conference that can help the Irish build on its century of tradition. If competition was the goal, the Big 12 was the place to be. This, more than anything, is Notre Dame trying to return to the college football elite by traveling the road of least resistance.” — Matt Hayes, Sporting News “The realignment of college athletics has taught us a variety of lessons. Chief among them: Never play poker with ACC commissioner John Swofford. He’ll lull you into a false sense of security with that folksy, aw-shucks aura, and then BAM! Next thing you know, you have no money, no watch and you’re standing outside the saloon wearing a rain barrel. Every time the ACC has appeared weak or vulnerable, Swofford has moved to make it stronger.” — Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated “If I can go back home I’m happy. ACC, what comes to mind is going to Miami or Florida State. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I would love to go home to be honest. My family would get to come see me a little bit more than they can right now.” — Notre Dame nose guard Louis Nix on the new affiliation with the ACC “I don’t think there’s an intention in any way, shape or form for us to give up our independent status. I think if we wanted to give up our independent status, we would have probably already done that.” — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on SI.com “When Notre Dame joins Pitt and Syracuse in the bagel-for-BBQ exchange program, the ACC will once again be able to claim it stands among the best basketball leagues in the country — almost certainly the best. Only this time, the claim will have merit.” — Dana O’Neil, ESPN.com “I don’t think Notre Dame can make a BCS bowl this season with Joe Montana in his prime behind center. The Navy win seemed to get folks fired up at what the Irish could do this season, but remember, they have a brutal schedule no matter the personnel.” — Bryan Fischer, CBSSports.com