JotCast | Notre Dame men's basketball season wrap chat

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Thomas Noie

1:34

Ed: We've only seen that movie once.

Ed, Greensboro

1:34

Tom, problem is the run in 2015 is an exception , not the rule. It’s like watching the same movie and expecting a different ending.

Thomas Noie

1:34

Is this a trick question? You gotta know I don't/can't/won't play favorites.

Clare Wertz

1:33

Tom who is your favorite player?

Thomas Noie

1:33

Jack: Spring workouts will start next month for the returning guys. They'll get couple weeks at home after the semester ends before returning for summer school in June. Then, couple weeks home in August before start of another school year. Brey and the staff are recruiting in spring and summer.

Jack

1:32

What do the Irish do over the spring, summer, and fall? Are they on campus or do they go home? What about Brey where is he?

Thomas Noie

1:32

Joe: Think a lot of that depends on who's coming back. Duke and Carolina and to an extent Virginia will always be ahead of Notre Dame in the pecking order. But after that, Irish are must-see TV.

Joe, Chicago

1:31

Do you see ND's success this year resulting in a better TV schedule next year? More Big Mondays, less ACC Network games, Saturday afternoon games on ESPN with marquee crews - maybe Gameday for a big matchup?

Thomas Noie

1:30

Nope...

Jack

1:30

side note, want a rematch vs st Mary’s, we should’ve won that game. Gimme that game in February and it’s notre dame by ten.

Thomas Noie

1:30

Noted

Jack

1:30

I see next year being - JJS, Blake, Dane, cmac, and paul/lubin/transfer. Maybe JR off the bench or wertz, maybe another transfer. Know you’ve talked about it but this looks like a sweet sixteen starting five to me.

Thomas Noie

1:30

Joe: At some point, you have to get greedy. This was the year to get greedy. I was less than impressed by Texas Tech - it has guys who defend, sure, but guys who can't make baskets. Seriously offensively challenged. It's easy to dismiss the loss if that was like the 2011 Florida State tournament game or 2015 Iowa State or 2018 West Virginia game where Notre Dame was just smothered. But, man, that game was right there for the Irish. They had it. Fifteen league wins and two tournament wins aside, you gotta close that out. Then you at least get a chance at Duke. You might get boat-raced in Chase Center, but at least you're one of only 16 still playing. Forget the "wait 'til next year" motto.

joe from the south side

1:26

Tom, See, the TT loss didn't bother me. First, I said they looked like a Top 40 team so an 8-9 seed. If that were true, they would not have beaten a 1 seed. They are not that good. Next, they won 2 games in the tourney. If I said before the season, 15 conference wins and 2 NCAA tourney wins you would have said Brey rubbed the lamp and the genie granted him his wish. All in all, after what the last 3 years looked like, this was a huge turnaround for this program. And with the recruiting class coming in, things look very positive. I'll accept a tough loss to TT by a team that just this year "learned how to win." Now, let's keep the momentum.

Thomas Noie

1:26

Ed: You mean like every other team in the country except for a handful, right? Right? Get to the tournament, win a couple games every year. Yeah, sign me up as long as every few years we get a run like 2015 where Notre Dame is right there at a possible Final Four.

Ed, Greensboro

1:24

Tom, hope this finds you well. Allow me to be the cynic for a day. We made the tournament-yay! First time in five years. Everything is ok right? So now we settle back into the Irish basketball routine-have a decent season, make the tournament, win a couple of games, and go home. Seems like we will be having this same chat five years from now.I do not see how it ever changes. If you are ever back in Greensboro, BBQ is on me.Thank for all your coverage during the season. The Tribune is lucky to have you.

Thomas Noie

1:23

Bret: We'll see, but Prentiss Hubb and Nate Laszewski have been in the "extreme longshot" category for months from those I trust. Something may change, but it would be a surprise if it did.

Bret

1:22

Bret from Southern California. Lots of questions including one of mine on the potential seniors returning. Here is my best guess and I'm pretty confident I will miss no more than one of them. Atkinson- gone, Wesley- will return, Goodwin- will return, Laszewski- will return, Ryan- will return, Hubb-gone, Wertz-gone. If that happens and Brey can get one solid tough big from the portal we will have a Sweet 16 caliber team.

Thomas Noie

1:22

Uhhhhh....nothing against Elijah Morgan or Alex Wade, both walk-ons, but a college coach - any college coach - isn't about to give a walk-on any sort of meaningful chance. That means he's basically saying, yeah, I didn't recruit the right guys for scholarship slots, so I'm going to go with the guy who isn't on scholarship. Never going happen Ever.

The man

1:21

Do you think Elijah Morgan deserves a chance, sort of like djogo in his senior year? From what I’ve seen he is a smart guard with great impact in the team, I say why not give him a chance?

Thomas Noie

1:21

Joe: Notre Dame went 50 years without making a single change to the Joyce Center. Any conversations about any tweaks is still at least 35 years away. There's nothing left to do but implode it. They're out of options. Campus has changed a lot over the years, but the Joyce Center is so multi-functional, it will live forever.

Joe, Chicago

1:19

I know it's basketball so projects take forever, but are there any long-term conversations about tweaks or changes to Joyce? I believe it's been close to 15 years since the renovation

Thomas Noie

1:19

Joe: Easy. Ivey. And the next best ball handler/point guard at Notre Dame? J.J. Starling. Olivia Miles can't be next - she's right now...

joe from the south side

1:18

Tom, Most likely to reach the Final Four first, Brey or Ivey? Next, best ball handler / PG at ND? Hubb? Nope. Wesley? No. Ryan? Not. Olivia Miles. Shout out to the WBB team and Miles. A very exciting BBL player at ND.

Thomas Noie

1:06

Even now, it's hard to decompress. There are four games on tonight and the couch is just calling you to chill and watch both, but you see Duke play Texas Tech and can't help but think, that's where Notre Dame should be right now, so that's where you should be. Sometimes the ride is so wild and wacky and crazy that you don't ever want it to end. That's how those eight days were when you went from South Bend to Dayton to Chicago to Sand Diego to Minneapolis to South Bend. It all was a blur. And all so worthwhile. Like, can we just have another week? Please?

12:58

Joe: I never fill one out. Ever. That's what so few people understand about what we do and when we do it. You're so consumed with the team you follow and the work you need to do getting to San Diego on a few hours notice and the game that's next that you seldom have time to actually watch the tournament. The days are a blur. You don't know who's playing when or where or winning. Then the team you cover wins and Saturday-Sunday are like Thursday-Friday. I honestly didn't look at a bracket until I was at San Diego International Airport on Monday waiting to work my way back toward South Bend. Like, how did Miami (Fla.) win? What happened to Tennessee? I saw end of Arizona game in Viejas, but the rest of the tournament, outside of where you are, might as well be on the moon.

joe from the south side

12:55

Tom, BTW, how are your brackets holding up?

Thomas Noie

12:55

Joe: Fran's my guy, but no.

joe from the south side

12:55

Tom, ACC Big Ten Challenge. Should be Iowa every year. Let Fran come back to South Bend. No shot clock (not needed). No game clock. First team to 100 wins. Since neither team fouls that much, it will still fit in a 2 hour TV window.

Thomas Noie

12:55

Cormac Ryan is the only automatic. You can make a case for/against any of the others.

Clare Wertz

12:54

Which of the boys do you think are coming back next year?

Thomas Noie

12:54

Bret: Notre Dame beats Duke in the Sweet 16 and Mike Brey sends Mike K into retirement. Can't script that story any better, especially how the game in late January unfolded. Duke's the one team that Notre Dame wanted another crack at. The Irish should've gotten it tonight.

Bret

12:53

Bret from Southern California. Notre Dame should have beat Texas Tech. We just needed to make our free throws and not turn the ball over so much in the last 5 minutes. If we had won how do you think the Duke game would have turned out? Do the Irish get blown out again? Do we play them tough and lose in the last minute? Do we win? What's your opinion if the game did take place tonight. Duke would have been a 7 to 8 point favorite. Who covers?

Thomas Noie

12:53

Joe: uh-oh...wheelhouse question for a rant coming. Sorry, not sorry. Notre Dame will have been in the Atlantic Coast Conference 10 years this coming season in 2022-23. It has played in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge nine times (yeah, nine) against a whopping FIVE opponents - one-offs against Maryland and Ohio State and home-and-homes (and sometimes home again), against Michigan State, Iowa and Illinois. Not having the Crossroads opens the possibility of playing Purdue or Indiana, but the ACC/Big Ten will find a way to screw it up again and have a home game against Maryland. They've shown zero creativity when it comes to that matchup. My wish? Wisconsin for the first visit to Notre Dame since 1968.

Joe, Chicago

12:49

Early prediction for Big Ten-ACC opponent?

Thomas Noie

12:49

Steffie: Absolutely, but that's generally not the kind of information we have easy - OK, ANY - access to. Kind of like calling up Notre Dame and saying, yeah, can you let me see his transcript while we're at it?

Steffie

12:48

Wouldn't the easiest way of knowing if Wesley plans to return is by looking at his attendance in the classroom now? Just saying, that's a huge indicator. On Senior Day, Dane's speech implied he will be back. I also heard his girlfriend is entering ND for her masters.

Thomas Noie

12:48

Joe: Nope. Not happening anytime soon. Let the Crossroads rubble smolder for a few years while you explore some different scheduling opportunities, then maybe revisit something along those lines.

Joe, Chicago

12:47

Do you see ND participating in a similar regional round-robin like the Crossroads? Maybe Chi? Or are they avoiding that type of concept to get more freedom with non-conference scheduling

Thomas Noie

12:47

Joe: It's all about timing. Everything has to align. It did for Brian Kelly. It hasn't (yet) for Mike Brey.

Connecting…