Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2018 53 MEN'S BASKETBALL star guard Joseph Girard, the nation's No. 79 overall player per Rivals, picked up an offer from Notre Dame March 25, but Brey's comment about not being sure if the staff will take a guard raises some questions there moving forward. Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha prod- uct Justin Moore, Rivals' No. 57 over- all player in the country, is another guard option in the 2019 class if Brey decides to add a perimeter player. 2018 CLASS RACKS UP AWARDS With Hubb suffering an ACL injury that forced him to miss his senior sea- son, only four of the five Irish signees were in action this winter. • Carmody averaged 31.1 points, 14.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.7 steals per game this season, while leading Mars to the Class 5A state c h a m p i o n s h i p g a m e . H e w a s awarded Pennsylvania's 2017-18 Ga- torade Boys Basketball Player of the Year honor before the playoff run, and also was named to the 2017-18 American Family Insurance All-USA Ohio Boys Basketball first team by USA Today. • Doherty, who averaged 19.4 points per contest during his senior season, was selected to the All-USA Massachusetts Boys Basketball first team after helping lead his squad to the Massachusetts Division II Central championship game. • Goodwin, who averaged 24.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game during his senior campaign, was named his state's Gatorade Boys Bas- ketball Player of the Year, while also earning Ohio Division I Player of the Year honors. Goodwin was well represented on the All-USA teams. The senior was se- lected to Ohio's first team while cap- turing the Player of the Year award. In addition, he was one of 15 players se- lected to the national All-USA squad, receiving third-team accolades. • Known for his three-point shoot- ing ability, Laszewski knocked down 132 triples on 327 attempts (40.4 per- cent) while averaging 19.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. At San An- tonio the week of the Final Four, he won the U.S. Marines High School Men's Three-Point Championship over seven other participants. In the final edition of the 2018 Ri- vals150, Laszewski jumped up 13 spots to finish as the highest-ranked Irish recruit at No. 53 nationally. Car- mody and Hubb came in at No. 88 and No. 96, respectively. Goodwin was ranked No. 107, while Doherty remained a three-star prospect. ✦ IRISH BOUNCED FROM THE NIT ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY When Notre Dame's Fighting Irish lose on St. Patrick's Day — at home, no less — you know it's a season that just wasn't meant to be. After defeating Hampton 84-63 at home March 13 in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament, the Fighting Irish fell 73-63 to Penn State four days later to finish the season 21-15. The Nittany Lions proceeded to win three more games to capture the 32-team NIT. Notre Dame came out lethargic, trailed 21-10 after the first 10-minute quarter, never led in the contest and fell behind as much as 50-36. Sopho- more point guard T.J. Gibbs led the Irish with 17 points, while forward Bonzie Colson — in his final college game — collected 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. However, midway through the second half, Colson broke his left foot — the same injury that sidelined him two months at the turn of the new year. A week following the loss to Penn State, he had surgery in which a thicker screw was inserted. The rehabilitation time was expected to be approximately six to 10 weeks. Colson, who finished his Irish career with 1,632 points and 900 rebounds in 125 games played, still hopes to hear his named called in the NBA Draft June 21. If not, he said he would put in the work to earn a roster spot somewhere in the league. "No matter what's going on, I'm still going to grind and get better," he told The South Bend Tribune. "Knowing my work ethic and how I got through it the first time will help." AWARDS SHOW PRESENTATIONS The "An Evening With Notre Dame Basketball" awards banquet was held April 9. Below are the awards that were handed out: Monogram Most Valuable Player: Senior Class Captains Award: Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell Most Improved Player: Martinas Geben Defensive Player of the Year: Rex Pflueger Empty The Tank Award: T.J. Gibbs Knute Rockne Scholar Athlete: Matt Gregory Team Irish Award: Austin Torres The senior quintet of Colson, Farrell, Geben, Torres (fifth-year senior) and Gregory were part of the most wins at Notre Dame (103) over a four-year period. Pflueger became the third player — joining Pat Connaughton (2013-14) and Steve Vasturia (2015-16) — to claim two Defensive Player of the Year awards after winning in 2017 as well. Gibbs was the inaugural winner of the Empty The Tank Award, which honors effort during the course of the season. CONTRACT EXTENSION FOR BREY Notre Dame announced April 10 the extension of men's basketball coach Mike Brey's contract through the 2024-25 season, or an additional three years from the most recent renewal. If completed, Brey will have served 25 years, which would make him the longest-tenured coach in program history, with both Digger Phelps (1971-91) and George E. Keogan (1923-43) having served 20 years at the helm. "I'm 59 and I've got good energy," Brey said. "You feel maybe it would be time to do something else, but who knows? Maybe I'll be crazy and try to be like [Jim] Boeheim and [Mike] Krzyzewski and go until I'm 70. "[I'm] not interested in coaching at another college. This has been it. I love where we are. I love the young players coming in. The practice facility has me excited. … I'm thrilled with where we are at. I love where my staff is now." — Corey Bodden Forward Bonzie Colson's college career ended with another broken left foot in the second-round NIT loss to Penn State March 17. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN