JotCast | May hoops chat

Thomas Noie

3:55

That will just about do it for today. Think seven-plus hours is plenty for May. We'll circle back around maybe next month or July if we can see a summer workout or two. That will give us a better idea of where this is all headed. If you have a question or comment that cannot wait, drop me a note at tnoie@sbtinfo.com. Have a great summer!

3:45

Just rolled back to our previous chat in January to see the results of our poll question - who should be next Notre Dame coach? It was Chris Quinn at 16.4 percent, Pat Kelsey at 14.8, Martin Ingelsby at 11.5, Darian DeVries and Micah Shrewsberry at 8.2 percent. The landslide winner at 34.4 percent of the vote? Somebody else. Shows you what we knew....

3:38

He was a runaway freight train in a lot of ways. But he also was a bucket.

joe from the south side

3:37

Tom, FWIW, the first time I saw Harangody play I thought he would hurt himself AND an opponent. Shows you what I know.

Thomas Noie

3:34

Amen my man!

joe from the south side

3:34

Tom, Sgt. Joe Friday, "Just the facts".

Thomas Noie

3:31

Not exactly a ringing endorsement there my man! Not even an endorsement.

joe from the south side

3:30

Tom, Njie...think Juwan Durham lite. Shot block a little, rebound, no offensive skills.

Thomas Noie

3:30

Absolutely - they'd be J.J. Starling, Cormac Ryan and Ven-Allen Lubin. Ducking the question? No, it's because I'm familiar with their games and how they might fit. There are over 1,600 players in the portal. Pinpointing three is like throwing darts at a board. Nobody knows who would fit or if they'd fit. At Notre Dame, it has to be all about fit. And, oh, yeah, by the way, you've got to go to class, which isn't always an easy proposition. How does the portal work? A coach knows a coach who knows a coach who knows a relative who knows that Johnny would be the perfect fit for Notre Dame. Then a few calls are made. Some film is analyzed. Before you know it, you have a fit. Just get two veteran guards, and Micah Shrewsberry and his staff might be smart enough to figure out the rest.

San Mike Diego

3:27

Okay Noie.. can you give us 3 guys you would want ND to pick up currently in the Portal? We've been throwing you names but now we want to hear from you

Thomas Noie

3:22

Kurt: Very little. Even when you're watching, you're not really watching. Or understanding the roster. Or potential. Even then, Micah Shrewsberry was going to be the guy - or maybe be the guy. From what I remember in seeing him at La Lumiere (I was often there, but to watch J.J. Starling), Njie is more a 4/5 kind of guy. Or maybe, 3.5/4.5. Not a traditional big and not a traditional stretch 4. Kind of a hybrid. Athleticism? Enough to compete in the ACC.

Kurt from Eire

3:20

Follow up. Did you watch Penn State at all last year? Do you think Njie will be mainly a 3/4 or 4/5? Does he have good athleticism?

Thomas Noie

3:09

Kurt: Zionsville is close to three hours away from South Bend, so I never saw Logan Imes play, but when you have only nine scholarship guys, everyone has a chance to have a role. But this can't be emphasized and re-emphasized enough - the jump from high school basketball to elite Atlantic Coast Conference level basketball is massive. Can't compete with men if you're a boy. Not in that league. Freshmen want to play? Better bring it in the weight room, the practice floor, everywhere.

Kurt from Eire

3:07

Tom. Curious about your read on Imes. You probably saw him a bunch in high school ball. Do you think he might have a role?

Thomas Noie

3:07

Mike: It was obvious in 2021-22 and even more so early in 2022-23 when Notre Dame had about 150 students in the stands for Marquette that they didn't like the product on the floor. It wasn't just students. It was casual fans. It was long-time season ticket holders. It was even the media (seriously). It was just time for a change.

San Mike Diego

3:06

Why do you say Mike Brey turned the students off? Just curious if you know something deeper. Been an ND fan all of my life and absoluely love MB. So bummed it ended the way it did but gave us so many great memories / quotes. If it wasnt winning games then what turned the students off w/ MB?

Thomas Noie

2:58

Bob: The reason - the stated reason from the students - about why they didn't attend games is gone. It wasn't that they weren't good - even when they good, the attendance wasn't all that great. They went 15-5 in the ACC and nearly made the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2021-22 with a future first-round NBA draft pick and local guy in Blake Wesley and they had only one sellout that season. It's not been the product, but the guy in charge of the product that turned the student body off. Now Mike Brey is gone and Micah Shrewsberry is here. Student body's out of excuses not to go to games. Time to deliver.

Bob from chicago

2:57

Tom, if ND is a 500 team, do you expect an uptick in attendance especially from the students. ?

Thomas Noie

2:56

Mike: He didn't know what to do with himself. Probably still doesn't. For so many years, his profession kept him married to the calendar. After a college basketball season ended, he did this and this and this until a few weeks off, and then, the start of another school year and season. Not having anything to do next after the season - his last season - ended scared the hell out of him. Probably still does. That's why he chased a USF job he had no business chasing. Working with the Atlanta Hawks and good friend Quin Snyder offers a soft landing. He can get back in the basketball coaching game without going all in. He may decide after six months its not for him. That he has to be a head coach. Or he may realize, yeah, it's time to retire to Florida and be a former coach and a grandfather. It's hard.

Mike, IL

2:54

Tom, any thoughts on why the NBA intrigued Brey?

Thomas Noie

2:44

Matt: Everyone wants to know why the big, bad SBT guy was so mean to the program last year. Great that you mentioned Final Four. That didn't come from us know-nothing writers. It came from the players (specifically Cormac Ryan). Same with winning an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship. That was stuff they talked about, not us. So when it collapses as epically as it collapses, well, it has to be more than just the lazy coach at fault, right? If Brey is at fault for anything in regard to a recruiting class that was ranked among the top 15 in the country, it would be this - he put way too much faith and trust and belief in a group that also would come to include Ryan and Trey Wertz that did absolutely nothing to reciprocate it. Part of the reason Brey didn't recruit as hard as he maybe should've recruited was that he wanted to give those guys every shot at success. How did they thank him? With one good year spearheaded by a freshman (Blake Wesley) and a graduate transfer (Paul Atkinson).

Matt from LIC

2:39

Hi Tom, In defense of Brey (I've read a lot of how he got "lazy" in recent years) nobody, and I mean nobody, saw this past season coming. Many were thinking final four. Plus, he had a top recruiting class coming in, and a good class this past season. The class from 5 years ago was top 10. Fair?

Thomas Noie

2:39

Linas: Matt Zona may be a little more happy-go-lucky than Bill Laimbeer who was known to not like just about everybody. But the comparison fits. Zona can be a big body/bruiser who gets in everyone's way and makes the occasional shot. Maybe there's a spot for him. Maybe he was a one-game wonder. Will be nice to find out, right?

Linas from OC

2:37

Hey Tom! Glad to have the chat back. Now, as a fan of a certain age, I saw a lot of Bill Laimbeer in Matt Zona at the end of the season. Not afraid to mix it up, plays with some swagger and a bit of an edge. Thoughts? (Yes, Laimbeer is from So Cal:)

Thomas Noie

2:37

You just mentioned four shooting guards. Three of whom are Shrewsberry guys and a fourth (JRK) who might be pretty good. That's a lot of shots/basketballs to go around to get to a fifth. Don't think DerMarr Langford was the reason Notre Dame lost to Boston College. His brother was better. So were about three other guys.

San Mike Diego

2:35

Does ND have a lot of SG / Swingmen tho? (Sanders - barely played in 3 season, JR - hopefully steps up; Roper - best proven swingman (saying that with a lot of regret); 2 Freshman in Cormac Jr and Micah Jr). Doesnt scream deep to me and ND has 4 open scholarships and only have to give him 1 year. Yes, Langford isnt great at all but athletic and an extra body for minutes, yes. Also, once he came toBC they started beating ND pretty regularly.. just sayin..

Thomas Noie

2:16

Joe: All true, and Certa's fine, but don't know what the competition was for him so early in the process. As we've said, it's a hard job. It was for Mike Brey. It will be for Micah Shrewsberry. Brey won, often when he had no business winning. Will Shrewsberry?

joe from the south side

2:15

Tom, In defense of Shrew, he did get Cole Certa. That said, getting a Catholic kid out of Bloomington, IL is not exactly a stretch. I'll say this, part of the litmus test will be the 2025 kids. IND has a couple of big time guys, which includes Sisley and Haralson. Throw in western OH and you really up the ante. That is why the game is so fickle. You are trying to beat ACC BBL blue bloods, really good programs like UVA and MIA, in your own state you have to out recruit Woodson, Matta and Painter, you have the toughest academic standrads imposed on you and all of this rests on you evaluating the talent level of 15-16-17 year old kids. Sounds like a crap shoot to me.

Thomas Noie

2:14

MIke: Pass. DeMarr Langford is a shooting guard/swingman and Notre Dame has plenty of those. He played a lot and did a little last season at Boston College - 7.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 28.3 minutes. Shot .442 percent from field, .263 percent from 3, .714 from foul line. Just kind of there. His brother was better.

San Mike Diego

2:13

Have you heard anything on Demarr Langford from BC? I think I saw we were in on him early

Thomas Noie

2:04

Mongolian Mike? What gives you the idea he'd entertain transferring to Notre Dame? Dayton was the perfect spot for him (seriously), but in his view, perfect in that it would get him to the NBA quicker. It's the old Fran Fraschilla adage - he's two years away from being two years away. He wanted to get to the NBA quickly while at UD. That doesn't scream ND fit in any way, shape or form.

San Mike Diego

2:02

Have you heard anything on Mike Sharavjamts (freshman transfer from Dayton)? Feel like he has ND written all over him

Thomas Noie

2:02

Jim: Honestly, I don't believe so. I believe that Jack Swarbrick and his staff (I see you Aaron Horvath) did their due diligence in terms of vetting candidates and building a tier system of possible coaches but at the end of the day, this list began with and ended with and included Shrewsberry. It was a relatively easy process. And, despite what others at Notre Dame have said, relatively quick. He was the guy. If Notre Dame could match what Penn State would offer financially, it was a done deal. The deal got done.\

Jim Tal Valley Center, CA

2:00

Tom, given the testing circumstances that he inherited, I think that Micah S. has done a most commendable job of trying to build back a scarily depleted roster. Kudos to him. But I was just wondering as it relates to his hiring, was anyone else really given super serious consideration? Swarbrick says so but I'm skeptical about his claim. From the outside, it seems like Micah was the go-to guy from the start and that nobody else was really a bona fide and legitimate candidate to land the coaching gig. I don't believe any others stood a ghost of a chance as long as Micah wanted the job. So, the talk of this being a legitimately open competition seems bogus. In your opinion, was anyone else truly in the running to be the next ND coach?

Thomas Noie

1:59

Kyle: Think Mike Brey just gave up trying to overcome all the recruiting obstacles. Take the top 100 kids every years by whatever ranking you follow. Of those 100, maybe 10 - maybe - have the grades to get into Notre Dame. Of those 10, maybe two are really interested in getting a Notre Dame education. So that pool is already severely limited. You gotta grind to find guys like Bonzie Colson and Pat Connaughton and Matt Farrell. Brey didn't want to grind. Micah Shrewsberry has shown he's willing to grind, but now you've got to get guys - get guys that weren't first committed to you at Penn State. That's next for Shrewsberry. As for J.R. Konieczny, he wasn't good enough/ready enough to play as a freshman and decided to redshirt last year because of so many older guys in front of him. He knew then that this could/should be his year. Time to get after it.

Kyle Thibideau

1:56

Why was recruiting such a problem for Brey and how did Shrews flip that narrative? And another question why did Jr Koniezny get no playing time as he enters his junior year?

Thomas Noie

1:56

Joe: Rule No. 1 if you want to make it in this business - never, ever bury the lead. You buried the lead. Kyle Getter is a Dayton guy! A Dayton graduate school guy, but UD is UD. I'm intrigued to watch Shrewsberry's staff work. The interaction. The knowledge. The dynamic. Who's the heavy? Who's the sounding board? Again, that new car smell to everything, staff included.

joe from the south side

1:54

Tom, I think it would be foolish not to mention the importance of Kyle Getter. He was UVA's Recruiting Director, and Bennett never lacked talent at a program that, from all appearances, was pretty clean. SO, hopefully, that translates to ND. Won a Natty there. Was successful at every stop along the way to here, and is a Dayton Flyer alum (opportunity for our host to offer a shameless plug).

Thomas Noie

1:54

Mark: Absolutely. I can see Notre Dame playing Butler and Purdue and Indiana - maybe not all in the same season. But Micah Shrewsberry is open to anything and everything in due time. In other words, when he gets this thing going and there's a foundation in place, Notre Dame will play those kind of road games. He gets the state, so he knows what it means to play those schools. Not to say Mike Brey didn't, but he didn't want to be tied in too deeply to the Midwest. Shrewsberry won't either. He wants the Irish to be able to do what the women's program is doing this season - playing South Carolina in Paris. Shrewsberry's like, we're Notre Dame. We can do that. They can. They will.

Mark Kruz from Mishawaka

1:52

Tom once Coach Shrewsberry has the program back on solid ground could you see a possible home and home series with Purdue since coach had ties with the Purdue program? I know your disdain for the Crossroads Classic in Indy the past few seasons. Good luck to Coach Brey next season dealing with Dejountae Murray of the Hawks

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