JotCast | Notre Dame men's basketball season wrap chat

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Thomas Noie

2:38

That will do it for today. Many thanks for everyone who participated. We'll circle back next month and see where everything with the roster, the transfer portal and the offseason stands. Have a question or comments that can't wait, drop me a note at tnoie@sbtinfo.com. Take care and have a great rest of the week.

2:36

None....Mike Brey likes where it's at right now. No reason for it to change.

Tim

2:36

I know I'm late here and didn't have a chance to read everything yet, but any changes expected on the staff?

Thomas Noie

2:29

Sure, it can always be better. But the first guy off the bus types are always going to be at Duke and at North Carolina and Louisville and Virginia. That issue runs deeper than just the strength and conditioning program. Notre Dame basketball isn't Notre Dame football. Never claimed to be. Once you get that, you get that.

Mike, Rochester, NY

2:28

One more: do you see the need for more investment in the S&C program for hoops? We rarely have many of the "first guy off the bus" types. Thanks for doing this, Tom.

Thomas Noie

2:27

It's what you get when you get Sean Miller. It just is. There's a history there. Not all of it necessarily good. Win at all costs? At X? We'll see.

joe from the south side

2:27

Tom, I get that with Barnes at TENN, with Pearl at AUB. I guess I was dumb enough to believe Xavier was a little better than that.

Thomas Noie

2:27

Mike: Awesome, though I liked the way the exterior of the building looked before the remodel. The true sense of the arena having wings has been dulled a bit with some of the extensions on the exterior. But a great place with so many great memories.

Mike, Rochester, NY

2:26

Thoughts on the remodeled UD Arena as an alum? I went to the game and loved it, except for the small seats. Great venue, great game.

Thomas Noie

2:23

Compliance office going to have a few sleepless nights, that's for sure. Tell me that's wrong...

joe from the south side

2:23

Tom, Any thoughts on Sean Miller at Xavier?

Thomas Noie

2:23

Mike: Always, but it's up to them. You want more minutes? Fine, prove it.

Mike, Rochester, NY

2:22

Any chance that one of the sophomores will make a big jump next year?

Thomas Noie

2:22

Truth!

joe from the south side

2:22

Tom, The difference being that if you recruit Holmgren or Banchero, you know it is one and done from Day One. You don't know that about the guys transferring out of the MAC or MEAC.

Thomas Noie

2:20

Ed, Greensboro

2:19

Right you are. Sorry I am not there to buy you some beers tonight. You more than earned them today my friend.

Thomas Noie

2:19

Joe: So true, but also so relative. The high-major guys worry about their elite talent jumping early to the NBA. The low-, mid-majors worry about their elite talent jumping early to high majors. Welcome to college athletics, 2022. Not going to change anytime soon.

joe from the south side

2:18

Tom, What the transfer portal has definitely done is create a tsunami effect for the lowest levels of D1 right to the top. Just go into the portal and you will see how the kid who averaged 16 pts for Stony Brook is going to move up to the next level and so on. As chaotic as it is at the top tier, the guys roster managing at the low and mid majors really have their hands full. They have become farm systems for the big boys.

Thomas Noie

2:18

Jim: At the LEAST it's B-plus, maybe at times, an A-minus. I've said it often over 22 years that there would be only a select few (maybe, maybe three or four) coaches who would've been able to do what he's done at Notre Dame in the manner in which he's been asked to do it. Playing in two different leagues, one of which, the Big East, kept changing from two divisions to one to expanded. All the while having no practice facility and a dump of a home arena, but no, you still have to go win. Recruiting limitations and still no practice facility to where you finally establish an identity in the Big East where you're respected and then, bang, go jump to the Atlantic Coast Conference and go against Duke and Carolina every year and then Virginia gets good. Do it all under the Notre Dame football shadows. Yeah, B-plus at worst. Remember where Notre Dame was for the 1990s. Irrelevant. Forgotten. Now back on the map.

Jim Tal, Valley Center, CA.

2:14

Tom, any plans for having additional hoop chats sometime in the near future or will this be it for awhile? Also, If you had to assign a letter grade as it relates to Brey's tenure at ND, what would it be? Given where the program was at when he took over and given the inherent challenges that he has faced throughout the years, I have to give him a strong B-plus. If he had made it to a Final Four or a couple more Sweet 16s, then I think he might have might have even made it into the A category. Your thoughts?

Thomas Noie

2:14

Pat: Thanks, and stay tuned. Notre Dame was penciled in for something at Barclays (Legends Classic maybe) but also has a non-conference set for UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. for the day after Thanksgiving against Saint Bonaventure and maybe one other team.

Pat H. Springfield Illinois

2:12

Great reporting and insight, as always, about an entertaining and special team. What will the non inference schedule look like next year? Is there another November tournament planned?

Thomas Noie

2:12

Ed: That's what you get when Notre Dame supposed to be playing in the Sweet 16 tonight. Can't convince me otherwise.

Ed, Greensboro

2:12

Tom, good enough to play in the ACC, but not win a championship, or play deep into the Tournament. ha ha-just feeling grouchy today.

Thomas Noie

2:11

Ton: Absolutely. Would you want a guy who's been around the college basketball block for a year or two or three or a kid who was in high school last year? It also is roster management. How you manage the portal in the offseason might dictate the success you have during the season.

Tom from Gary, Indiana

2:10

Do you think the transfer portal has changed high school recruiting? A school would rather get an older guy and not go through those freshman moments? Does it change the role of a college coach like Brey. Is he more of a manager than coach?

Thomas Noie

2:10

Troy Murphy....but the list begins and ends there because Notre Dame historically doesn't get guys who are NBA ready after one year. Or, let me say, NBA hopeful after one year. And he's not ready. It's not necessarily a Jaden Ivey comparison. It's a commentary on going back to school, working on your game, caring about your craft, understanding your weaknesses and doing what's needed to make them your strengths. Are we sure guys get "100 percent full-time development in the NBA?" Because I'm pretty sure if you're in the NBA, you're a pro and that development - or a big part of it - has to come from within. The NBA is a business, and if you don't want to treat it as such, there are a dozen other guys coming up in the next draft who will.

Pat, NJ

2:05

Tom, everyone keeps making the Wesley/Ivey comparison in terms of how they'd like to see his freshman to sophomore year jump. How about someone who's actually been in our program and made that jump? I just don't see how Blake looks at the history of players here and says I'll be better served playing another year for ND than getting 100% full-time development in the NBA without the pressures of ND academics. Sure we've had guys who have progressed nicely from freshman to senior year, but is there anyone who's been as good as Wesley was as a freshman who got that much better in year 2?

Thomas Noie

1:58

Good enough to win in the ACC. You also have to look at body types. Paul Atkinson was listed at 6-9 but maybe closer to 6-7. That body type won't hold up well against guys in the league (and outside of it) who are legit 6-8, 6-9, 6-10.

Ed, Greensboro

Tom , to change channels, sometimes it seems our big men are not very strong in the upper body compared to other teams. In your professional opinion , do we have a good strength program.?

1:56

Patton

Thomas Noie

1:52

Tom: The freshman picked the wrong time to play like a freshman, which is why he needs to be a sophomore

Tom from Gary, Indiana

1:52

I hope Wesley returns to school. His parents are well off and well known people in South Bend. Not like he's living in poverty now. Question: Why did he seem to play hero ball in the last few minutes against Texas Tech? Everybody knew he was taking it to the basket come hell or high water. Why not a pull up? Or a dump off to an open teammate?

Thomas Noie

1:51

Wish it was on as often as The Godfather. Or Die Hard. Or (pick your favorite Bravo rerun)

Ed, Greensboro

1:51

Tom, would like to see that movie more often.

Thomas Noie

1:51

Batman and Robin, duh....

Jimmy

1:51

Do you have any comparisons, either nba or former college, to the potential Blake Wesley JJ starling combo? Would we have the deadliest backcourt in the country with them plus Dane and Ryan?

Thomas Noie

1:36

Joe: Understanding that he can create havoc by getting to the rim and putting the defense on his heels. In high school, Wesley was fine with just chucking from deep, even if the shots weren't falling. He learned this year - don't settle. And trust your teammates. He'd try passes to guys as a high school senior that they couldn't handle. They handled them this year.

Joe, Chicago

1:34

What aspect of Wesley's game can the Irish staff take credit for developing throughout the year?

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