Take 5: Biggest Takeaways From The Notre Dame Basketball Scrimmage
My five biggest takeaways from the open Notre Dame basketball scrimmage.
1. There’s a good “vibe” as Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey would say, around the program going into the 2021-2022 season. The energy level around Purcell Pavilion was amplified on Tuesday when JJ Starling, a consensus top 40 recruit from La Lumiere College Prep in LaPorte, committed to play for the Irish after a torturous Instagram press conference. The sound went out on Starling’s feed, and it took several attempts for it to get reconnected. It’s emblematic of recruiting for Brey.
It’s never easy for him to get good players so expect the press conference to be hard. Starling, a 6 foot 3 combo guard, is the highest-ranked player to come to Notre Dame since Demetrius Jackson signed in 2013. Jackson’s ranking fell between 24 and 38 among ESPN, 247Sports, and Rivals.com. These kinds of pickups are sporadic for Brey, which means this isn’t necessarily a trend until he does it again and again. But after two years of finishing under .500, and some spotty recruiting since the team finished in the Elite Eight in 2015, this is welcome news.
2. Furthermore, the vibe is good because Brey has an “old” team. The Irish have six healthy seniors with significant experience and a freshman, Blake Wesley, who’ll play significant minutes. Their top three scorers, Prentiss Hubb (14.6 ppg.), Nate Laszewski (13.3 ppg), and Dane Goodwin (11.8 ppg). Tony Sanders, a 6-7 sophomore guard, looked good in the scrimmage —better than Trey Wertz, who is part of that six-player senior group. Sanders could be in a position to steal some minutes. Wesley will definitely be part of the rotation.
3. If someone said I had to pick a starting lineup today, it would be Hubb, Laszewski, Goodwin, Paul Atkinson Jr., and Cormac Ryan. The Irish are still pretty good with Wesley, Sanders and Wertz coming off the bench. It’s definitely a rotation with eight quality players. Brey doesn’t give up minutes to his Nos. 6 and 7 players easily. For him, offensive continuity is more important than spreading minutes around fairly. It can be frustrating to see good players have to wait their turn to play but it’s how Brey rolls. It has worked for him so that’s all that matters. The one unusual caveat with this starting lineup is how much he’ll be able to play Laszewski and Atkinson Jr., two bigs, together. It looks like Laszewski, who is 6-10, and Atkinson Jr. at 6-9, could be a great combination but it’ll always depend on defensive matchups.
4. The local connection of J.R. Konieczny (South Bend St. Joseph High School) and Wesley (South Bend Riley) could give this team a hometown feel over time. It’s clear that Wesley is going to play. Brey was enthusiastic about Konieczny being good enough to get some minutes. Brey said Konieczny, a 6-6 freshman, “reminds me of a young colt. He’s learning to pass and cut. I think all he ever did was score over there. And he was pretty good at that. Now he has to learn to play with some other guys and pass it. And he has to learn a defensive stance.”
5. Finally, leaving the Ivy League and coming to Notre Dame, where Atkinson Jr. has access to a full-time strength trainer, a nutrition program, and upgraded practice facilities, has made life better and easier for him. Atkinson didn’t play last year because of Covid 19, and he had to go to a local gym to practice. It’ll be interesting to see how Atkinson, who has all the tools to average in double figures in rebounds and points this season, develops.
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