JotCast | ND Hoops chat - 2024 wrap

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Thomas

1:31

Why is it so hard to actually care about the ACC/SEC challenge? I say that as someone from the SEC footprint. Over the years, we have seen the “elite” programs matchup and it just doesn’t have any juice to me.

Thomas Noie

1:30

Jim: Three guys come immediately to mind without doing a shred (kind of) research - Jack Cooley, who has achieved cult-hero status in Japan playing for Ryuku and averaging 14.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 27.0 minutes. John Mooney, also in Japan with Chiba, 18.6-11.6-2.2 in 31.6 minutes and Bonzie Colson for Maccabi Tel-Aviv, 13-2-5.6-0.6 in 28.7 minutes.

Jim Tal, Valley Center CA.

1:28

OK, Tom the Marathon Man, of all the former Golden Domers that are currently playing professionally overseas, based on the caliber of play and overall impact, who are the two or three that are truly standing out and making a name for themselves?

Thomas Noie

1:25

Brian: Don't think that's been on Stephen Curry's radar now .... maybe ever. There was a thing he used to do when Notre Dame moved to UA having a camp in the Bay Arena for college players whose schools were UA schools. I want to say Demetrius Jackson went one year and maybe Steve Vasturia, but other than Curry and Notre Dame being linked with UA, the relationship's never gone any further than that. Curry's focus has been winning NBA titles, not growing Notre Dame's hoops image.

Brian

1:23

Will the Irish and Steph Curry ever come together or find common ground on a true partnership that helps promote ND basketball at the grassroots AAU level or has NIL basically eliminated that?

Thomas Noie

1:23

Nate Laszewski and Prentiss Hubb are playing in Italy. Dane Goodwin has spent his rookie season in the G League with the Stockton Kings. I usually circle back in the spring and do a recap of the former Irish and what they're doing and where they're doing it in pro ball.

Matt from NWI

1:21

Havent checked in on the class that graduated last year. Goodwin, Laz, Hubb all overseas?

Thomas Noie

1:21

It's hard. We've seen what loading up on strictly five-star one-and-dones have done at Duke and at Kentucky. To localize it, it's similar to what Notre Dame did with its roster. Had three freshmen and two relatively unproven sophomores all playing main roles. You may compete and hold your own, but you're not going to consistently do what you need to do - win. Gotta find the right balance of young talent and proven guys.

Drew

1:19

One thing the transfer portal has done is put an end to the one and done era, it seems. Do you think a team bringing in a plethora of 5 stars, like Duke, can compete for a national title? Seems like having veterans has become more important than getting a class full of five stars.

Thomas Noie

12:41

So....over four hours after this went live, the question queue has been cleared. Who wants to go another four? Keep those questions coming...

12:40

Bobby: None. As someone once said, trust the process...

Bobby

12:39

Also, kinda came as a surprise to see Hampton's Jerry Deng basically announce ND and FSU as his top two options. Was wondering if you had any insight as to where we stand with him.

Thomas Noie

12:38

Mick: Maybe on Trent Perry. Maybe, too, Notre Dame feels good where it stands with the 2025 recruiting class and wants to keep that continuity where it is. Honestly, I would prefer a veteran guard who's seen and done a lot in college. We saw the inexperience stuff last season. Time to get old my man!

Mick

12:37

I would hope that Shrews and Company reached out to Trent Perry after he reopened his recruitment. I would take him over a transfer, and this would fit with Shrews' spoken philosophy about developing players over four years.

Thomas Noie

12:37

Mick: No shots at my guy Brian Snow. After all, it sounded good at the time, right?

Mick

12:36

Not a shot at him, but Brian Snow's comment about watching where the sons of NBA guys go to college hasn't aged well. Should temper some of the hyperbole.

Thomas Noie

12:36

Jim: Cormac Ryan, and it's not even close. J.J. Starling was better as a sophomore than he was a freshman, but still far from his recruiting hype. Dom Campbell had his moments at Howard (except for that intentional foul in the First Four) and Ven-Allen Lubin was just kind of there at Vanderbilt. Robby Carmody had a solid season at Mercer, but if he was ever going to play again, it was going to be at level lower than the ACC.

Jim Tal, Valley Center CA.

12:33

Hey Tom, thanks for coming to my defense as it relates to any further beatdown. Ouch. In your opinion, which of the ND players that transferred out after last season out had the best showing for his new school?

Thomas Noie

12:33

Bobby: I usually hold off predicting what freshman can do what until they actually get on campus and get around other college players, but I'd be surprised (stunned even) if Sir Mohammed didn't carve out an important role. Of the three incoming freshmen, he's a DUDE, and this program needs more dudes.

Bobby

12:32

Hi Tom, in looking ahead to the 2024-25 roster, Sir Mohamed is a guy who catches my eye. 6-6 guard who can pass and shoot. Also posts up a bit from what I saw, which reminded me of Jalen Pickett. Was that part of the pitch to get him to ND, and what are the general expectations for him as a freshman?

Thomas Noie

12:30

Mike: Not done yet! Circle back around...we'll still be here!

Mike

12:30

Been watching chat since you started hours ago, but have to split. Four hour plus offseason stream ! Will catch up when transcript is posted. Just wanted to say thank you for the good thoughtful coverage. And looking forward to your post next year on X and elsewhere stating "back for season 27 !" Looking forward to Shrews Part II

Thomas Noie

12:29

Blake: How did I catch the stray meant for Rebecca Lobo? My disdain for Albany is simply this - who in the NCAA thought it was a good idea to go from having FOUR regional sites to having TWO regional sites, with those sites being Albany and Portland? It didn't work last year when the regional sites were Greenville, South Carolina and Spokane, and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Greenville. Would retire there tomorrow if I needed to retire. The CLOSEST of the eight schools sent to Albany was Notre Dame, which is ... 729 miles away. That's just freaking wrong, as it is to have to weigh paying nearly $2,000 for a plane ticket to get there. There's no beef with Albany. The beef's with the NCAA. They have to do better than they've done.

Blake in Albany

12:26

Tom - why do you and Rebecca Lobo hate Albany so much as an ncaa tourney venue? Just hop down I90 about 100 miles west and get your dinosaur bbq fix in Syracuse while you are there. Dawn Staley of South Carolina thought the city ran a fine regional.

Thomas Noie

12:26

Wade: Push-back time. I take exception to any notion that Micah Shrewsberry was left a Dumpster fire. Now, the 2022-23 season, total Dumpster/tire fire for different reasons. But look around. DePaul made a coaching change. Every player went to the portal. Louisville made a coaching change. Every player went to the portal. Notre Dame made a coaching change and had only three scholarship players remaining for Shrewsberry. That's not a creation of Mike Brey. That's a creation of college basketball. What do fans want? Keep the coach that they don't want to keep so they keep the roster intact? Or change the coach and start from scratch. This is the college basketball world in which we live - if you're going to go get a new coach, you're probably going to go get a new roster. Own it.

Wadelite

12:23

In fairness to Johnny Mac, he was left (outside of the Phonz senior class) a much bigger dumpster fire than Micah. A roster tied up with 9 guys who were at best MAC caliber with no transfer portal option and being in the college basketball abyss as an independent. If not for Monty coming back those were at best 5 win teams in his second and third seasons.

Thomas Noie

12:23

Tim: Trust me - social media is quite the handful as it is. Message boards? Hard pass. At one time in my younger years, they were a necessary evil. Now, not so much. I feel like I've got a good pulse of the program without worrying/wondering what others say.

Tim from Chicago

12:21

Hi Tom, thanks again for enhancing the journey this season with your articles, tweets, chats, etc. Nobody knows the program as well as you do and you really make it a richer experience for us fans. I've always been curious if you read (and maybe secretly post?) on the ND message boards, and what you think of the level of conversation on those forums. You must ready NdNation the Pit, right (what's your handle)? How far off are the fans on some of their rants on there? Are ND fans as crazy as other programs?

Thomas Noie

12:20

I'll do a little more work on this one for you my man! Are we referring to Chol Marial, who decided Wednesday to go portalling? That would be 7-foot-2, 235-pound Chol Marial, a senior and native of Sudan who averaged 2.3 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.7 minutes. If that's "the kid from Oregon State" my response would be .... why? Again, Notre Dame needs an experienced, proven big man for 2024-25. He doesn't check any of the necessary boxes.

Bseaver

12:17

Hey Tom any chance with the kid from Oregon St? Any names out there as possibilities?

Thomas Noie

12:17

Jim: Nobody has ANY idea about anything NIL in any sport. You hear numbers, but can you believe those numbers? Can you verify the numbers that we hear not only for men's basketball but football? Not happening.

Jim, Yorktown

12:16

From speaking to people do you have an idea what type of annual NIL budget a program needs to have if they want to be one that is consistently contending for Final Four appearances?

Thomas Noie

12:16

No use piling on on my man Jim. I get the frustration, as misplaced as it may be.

Wadelite

12:15

Fyi for Jim noting ND's ncaa tournament wins the last 7 seasons, here's some context: in the last 5 seasons ND has twice as many as ncaa tournament wins as Kentucky. Now that's a program drop off.

Thomas Noie

12:15

Joe: Nobody had more class than John MacLeod. People forget his parting gift to Notre Dame was Tory Murphy, David Graves, Harold Swanagan and Matt Carroll.

joe from the south side

12:14

Tom, No offense to Jim Tal but he obviously doesn't remember the John MacLeod era. That didn't test your love of ND BBL, it tested your will to live. Nothing, nothing, nothing compares to that. If Brey left a dumpster fire, MacLeod was Chicago with Mrs. O'Leary's cow.

Thomas Noie

12:14

Stay tuned...

Wadelite

12:13

Tom, not mentioned is Tae Davis has an older brother with one year eligibility left who you'd think will have graduated by this spring. He'd look really good as a scoring wing at ND. I believe his season concludes tonight.

Thomas Noie

12:13

Jim: Sorry, but I can't disagree more, and decline to jump into the whys and what fors and just say look at the history of some other "programs." Have heard time and again through emails and DMs how 2015 and 2016 seem like a lifetime ago. It's been eight years since Notre Dame was in the Elite Eight. So.... Take Illinois and Marquette, two really good men's programs with arguably equal/better history as Notre Dame. When Illinois played in the Elite Eight last weekend, it marked the first time since 2004 that it advanced that far. Last weekend was Marquette's first Sweet 16 since 2013. Totally unacceptable??? Outside of a handful of blueblood/fringe blueblood programs, it's always going to seem unacceptable. Nothing about the NCAA tournament - getting there, winning there - should be taken for granted. Ever.

Jim Tal, Valley Center CA.

12:05

Hi Tom, no matter the possible excuses and extenuating circumstances, the fact remains that over the last seven seasons, Notre Dame has suffered through four losing seasons and won a measly two NCAA tournament games, one of which was a play-in contest. Sorry but by almost any standards, particularly at a place like ND with such a proud hoop heritage, that is totally unacceptable and borders on the unforgiveable. In your opinion, what were the prime reasons that such a dramatic drop-off took place? What might have been done to prevent such a bad stretch that would have to be considered one of the worst in school history?

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