Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 20, 2017 49 MEN'S BASKETBALL Notre Dame's roster next season will have only one senior, guard Rex Pflueger. That will be somewhat new territory for Brey at Notre Dame. "I'm excited about it," Brey said. "It's a new thing with young guys. Thank God these young guys are re- ally good players and really smart. "They're going to have to get older and stronger, but I'm looking at all of them contributing as freshman." NATE LASZEWSKI Forward • Northfield (Mass.) Mt. Hermon Rivals Rankings: No. 70 overall player nationally. Stats: Averaged 8.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a junior. Though several other major programs were vy- ing for Laszewski, Brey feels the senior's familiarity with Notre Dame helped the Irish in the long run. The Irish beat out the likes of North Carolina and Arizona to land the Rivals100 prospect. "The great thing about Nate's recruitment was they reached out to us a bunch when he was younger," Brey explained. " They knew style of play, kid's a great student and he'd be a great fit. They had been on our campus twice unofficially. "We always felt there was an interest because the kid watched us and his family gets us. "We felt once we offered him we'd have a great shot. You talk about where the program is in recruit- ing — North Carolina and Arizona — for us to beat them for a guy like Nate is a real feather in our cap." PRENTISS HUBB Point Guard • Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga Rivals Rankings: No. 84 overall player nationally. Stats: Averaged 13.9 points per game as a junior. In the 2017 class, Notre Dame had its eye on Gonzaga point guard Chris Lykes, who later signed with Miami. But it was another guard on the team that caught Brey's attention. "The first time I saw Prentiss play was at the ACC Tournament in D.C. and we had the bye," Brey said. "Coach [Anthony] Solomon and I went over and watched Chris Lykes … and I couldn't keep my eyes off Prentiss Hubb, who was a 10th grader at the time. I told Anthony let's make a run at Lykes, but if we miss on him let's crank it up on this guy. "Fortunately, we were able to start on him early — he was our guy. That really helped us. And Matty Farrell is leaving. He's seeing there's a lot of room there for a ball handler as a freshman." Hubb suffered a setback recently after undergo- ing ACL surgery that will force him to miss his se- nior season, but Brey is confident he will be ready to roll by next fall. ROBBY CARMODY Shooting Guard • Mars (Pa.) High Rivals Rankings: No. 87 overall player nationally. Stats: Averaged 26.2 points and 12.0 rebounds per game as a junior. DANE GOODWIN Shooting Guard • Upper Arlington (Ohio) High Rivals Rankings: No. 106 overall player nation- ally. Stats: Averaged 25.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game as a junior. Notre Dame's two shooting guard signees share a common connection as the sons of coaches, with Carmody's father coaching the Mars High team while Goodwin's father heads Division III Capital University. "That's an endorsement of your program when you have two very good coaches, veteran guys, send you their sons," Brey said. "I'm flattered and I'm honored that with the Goodwin and Carmody situation that these dads felt trusted enough to hand their sons over to me." Brey is a fan of the toughness each will bring to his program. "I love Robby's strength and the edge that he plays with," Brey said per Notre Dame's press re- lease. "He has a great toughness like a lot of guys out of Western Pennsylvania. He's a son of a coach with a high basketball IQ and great feel for the game. "Dane is a big-time shooter, but also has an ex- cellent feel for the game. He's sneaky, also has a great toughness and edge, and is a winner and a son of a coach." WHAT'S NEXT Notre Dame is still in the market to add to the 2018 class after offer- ing power forward Chris Doherty of Marlborough (Mass.) High the week- end of Nov. 4 during an official visit. Brey still has two scholarships to play with and will keep his options open over the next few months. "We're still involved with one se- nior," Brey stated. "We'll see how that goes. We'll continue to dig at the transfer market at the semester break and then certainly in the spring. If another high school senior emerges … I found myself a lot of times at this point saying well I don't think we'll deal with a senior. "Now, when head coaches leave programs, you have guys available all of a sudden in the spring. You keep an open mind to see what gets thrown back to that pool of players. And given the state of college basket- ball, maybe there will be more free agents in April." The FBI investigation into college basketball recruiting could put sev- eral high-level players on the mar- ket, which could be an interesting scenario for the Irish if Brey finds a fit. ✦ Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga point guard Prentiss Hubb, whom Rivals ranks No. 84 nationally, was the first member of Notre Dame's 2018 class after picking the Irish over Maryland, Villanova and Virginia. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Second-Half Surge Propels Irish In Opener It was a struggle offensively in the first half, but Notre Dame found its rhythm in the final 20 minutes to pull away and earn a 72-58 win at DePaul in its season opener Nov. 11. In the opening stanza, the Irish shot 11 of 28 (39.3 percent) from the field and made just 3 of 15 (20.0 percent) from three-point range. However, they held the Blue Demons to a 9-of-32 (28.1 percent) clip to take a 29-25 lead into the break. Notre Dame heated up in the second half, knocking down 14 of 25 (56.0 percent) shots overall and 9 of 12 (75.0 percent) from behind the arc to close the game strong. Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs scored 12 points in the second half and finished with a team-high 21 on 7-of-11 shooting (4 of 7 from three-point territory). Senior forward Bonzie Colson contributed a double- double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and added a game-high five assists. Senior point guard Matt Farrell rounded out the Irish double-figure scorers with 15 points. It was the first road season opener for the Irish under head coach Mike Brey, and Notre Dame is now 18-0 in debut games during his tenure. — Corey Bodden