This summer has been anything but ideal for Mike Brey and the Notre Dame men's basketball program. After losing John Mooney, T.J .Gibbs, and Rex Pfluger when the season abruptly ended, this summer was supposed to be the time when Prentiss Hubb and the group of rising juniors took control of this team. This was the summer where we finally found out what we have in Cormac Ryan, Matt Zona, Elijah Taylor, and Tony Sanders. But in the last week of July all we have is, well, nothing. Now the team meets once a week via Zoom, where Brey outlines plans that he can't confirm, while players ask questions nobody has a firm answer to.
All that is rough, but now there is a glimmer of hope. Players are set to return to campus Saturday August 1st and we could not be more excited. Although their return is anything but normal, it's something. Each player and member of the staff has to get a negative COVID test before entering campus, and the latest is that they may not be practicing as a team until Labor Day. When these practices start, things will be very, very quiet. Outside of the occasional press conference over zoom with Coach Brey, or maybe even a player if we get lucky, it seems there will be little to no media coverage. As a result of this, we may not know the answer to any of these questions until opening night which is also in question. But here are the 5 biggest questions that will be answered at these fall practices whether we find out or not.
Who will earn the last Few spots in the Rotation?
At this point the starting 5 of Prentiss Hubb, Cormac Ryan, Dane Goodwin, Nate Laszewski, and Juwan Durham is all but set. The bench however is a completely different story. The expectation is that Brey will start with around an 8 man rotation this season. Last season, the Irish dropped game after game because of their lack of depth, which resulted in starters losing their legs late in games and blowing leads. So depth is one of, if the not the key, to this season.
The only virtual lock to be in the rotation outside of the starting 5 is rising Junior, guard Robby Carmody who is coming off of an ACL tear and may not even be ready for the start of the season. Other candidates to make the rotation are 5th year forward Nikola Djogo, Freshmen Elijah Taylor, Matt Zona, and Tony Sanders, along with walk on Elijah Morgan. This is not a group that has shown they can be relied upon. Djogo is the most experienced one by far and of the more likely guys to earn a spot in the rotation. But, to this point he hasn't had a big role at all. Last season he averaged just 5.7 minutes per game, while averaging less than a point per game, which is not encouraging even though he will have a bigger role this season. As for the freshmen, they are going to be very interesting to watch over the next few months because of how different their skillsets are. Taylor can bring a ton of athleticism, rebounding, and energy anytime this season but he may not be able to stretch the floor the way Matt Zona can. Then there is swingman Tony Sanders who can bring versatility to the team offensively and defensively but he may not have the scoring ability that Taylor or Zona have. The last guy who could potentially crack the rotation is walk-on Elijah Morgan who is probably somewhat of a long shot but a guy who I wouldn't count out because of his ability to score off the dribble.
The bench competition is wide open right now, and should be a really interesting storyline and competition throughout the fall. There will likely be 8 spots in the rotation, and as of now there are 11 players on the active roster so that leaves three guys without playing time. Over the next few months we will see who makes the rotation, along with if any guys who don't end up in the rotation end up redshirting.
Is Notre Dame behind other ACC schools?
A few weeks ago ACC teams were officially allowed to go back to campus and begin voluntary workouts. Some of the schools that opted to go back include Louisville, Georgia Tech, NC State, and Boston College among a few others. Most of these programs have already begun voluntary workouts and will begin full team practices soon. Naturally this begs the question, "Is Notre Dame behind the curve?". When it was announced that the players would not be returning to campus, Mike Brey and the staff received heavy criticism because people assumed they would be behind other programs. But, I wouldn't say I'm as concerned as those people because everyone that we've talked to who is involved in the program has said they aren't concerned about it because of the chemistry the team has along with the amount of time until the season starts. Whether you're concerned about it or not it is something worth considering as we approach the season.
Who will step up as a vocal leader when the team gets back on campus?
When talking about how missing the summer would effect the team, Coach Brey immediately talked about how not being on campus could effect the guys who were going to emerge as leaders. Although three of the main leaders from 2019-2020 are now gone, Brey said it was Prentiss Hubbs' team now. He did add that he thinks it would have been a useful summer for him, in terms of stepping up as a leader.
In addition to Hubb, there are a few guys who could emerge as leaders over the next few weeks. Brey brought up names such as Nik Djogo, Cormac Ryan, along with Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin as guys who could be potential leaders. I think the guy who will step up the most as a leader is Cormac Ryan. The transfer was already a big voice in the locker room last season, even when he wasn't able to play, so there is reason to believe that he will be a vocal leader in the locker room this year. In our interview with Notre Dame alumni Rex Pflueger, he talked about how he thinks Cormac will be a big vocal leader again.
This storyline probably won't be a huge thing in the media, or even something we notice, but it will be a huge factor in the team's success.
Which Freshmen are the most ready?
I touched on the freshman a little bit during the bench section above, but if we're talking about questions going into the fall, this is as good as it gets. The competition among the freshmen for playing time will probably be the most interesting battle during the fall because of how different all of them are, and how they can all bring completely different things to the table. Assuming Brey goes with an 8 man rotation and Carmody is healthy, one or two of the freshmen will probably go without playing time and could possibly redshirt.
Assuming one or two of them play, Elijah Taylor is the most likely to have a role in my opinion, as kind of a spark off the bench who comes in and gets rebounds and dunks. But I expect him to improve offensively as his career goes on. As for Sanders and Zona, that's where it gets really interesting, Zona can buy himself playing time with his shooting ability, but I don't know if his athleticism is good enough yet to defend in the ACC. I also think he may have trouble being a low post guy early in his career, but I think he has a real chance at cracking the rotation if he has a few good weeks of practice. Tony Sanders is also a candidate to get playing time as a freshman. His main appeal is his versatility. The freshman can guard 1-3 and maybe even 4 in a small ball lineup, and he can effectively play 2-4 offensively, which could be huge considering all of the different lineups Brey may want to run. The only downside to Sanders is that he may not be fully developed offensively and he will have to compete with Robby Carmody and Nik Djogo for playing time whereas Taylor and Zona are just against each other for the moment.
Although we won't really get to see it play out, I am really looking forward to seeing which freshman stands out. They all seem like they will end up being big contributors on contending teams because of how unique they all are on the court and how they can all effect the game without scoring.
How will Trey Wertz adjust to high major basketball?
Outside of a few non-conference games, Trey Wertz has not had much experience playing high major basketball. Although the transfer has proved himself at the mid major level and looks to be one of the best players on the team once eligible, this will be one of the first times Wertz will be able to consistently face ACC level competition. In his last season at Santa Clara, Wertz averaged 11.9 Points Per Game and 3.9 Assists per game. Obviously It will be harder to put up stats like that at Notre Dame, but the guard seems to have a skillset that will translate well to Notre Dame's offense. Regardless of your opinion on Wertz, these next few weeks will be huge to start his year of development.
By the way these are not the top 5 storylines going into the season, just questions that will be answered during the fall. But these will all be things to follow over the next few weeks assuming we will be able to.
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