Earlier tonight it was announced that the Notre Dame men's basketball team will not take part in the Legends Classic which was originally scheduled to be played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on the weekend of November 23rd and 24th. Since then the event has obviously undergone changes as an effect of the coronavirus pandemic, if the event is played it will be a part of a large bubble at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. The Irish deciding not to play in the weekend event has seemed imminent after another member of the field (USC) decided to put a pause on all athletics that were scheduled to be played in 2020 .
It is unclear whether the Irish will end up playing in another event like the Legends Classic but if they choose not to it will take a big chance to get a resume win off of the schedule. Along with the Irish, UConn, USC, and Vanderbilt were scheduled to participate in the event and potentially face the Irish which would have provided a winnable game that could have boosted Notre Dame's tournament chances and taken some pressure off of them in ACC play.
Maybe the biggest storyline for Mike Brey's team going into the event was the potential face-off against former Notre Dame forward and top 50 recruit DJ Harvey who recently transferred out of the program. Obviously things didn't work out with Harvey at Notre Dame but he is set to be a big part of Vanderbilt's offense this season and is a guy that could've given the Irish trouble as their perimeter defense is a potential weak spot outside of guards Cormac Ryan and Tony Sanders JR. The Irish facing Harvey would have made for a great storyline and matchup but unfortunately it will have to wait another year if it is going to happen.
For now, Notre Dame still has a huge chance to secure a big non-conference win even if they decide not to play in an event like the Legends Classic as they still have games scheduled against Purdue, Kentucky, a revamped Howard team, and a team in the Big Ten/ ACC challenge. Notre Dame has not released a non-conference schedule yet so there is still time to add more games if Brey and the staff choose to. Even with games being cut Notre Dame still has one of their hardest non-conference schedules in recent memory which reflects the confidence Mike Brey has in this unit.
We will keep you updated if any games are added to the schedule for the Irish, follow us on twitter @NDBballanalysis for more Notre Dame basketball news, analysis, articles, and podcasts.
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