Irish And Blue Devils Meet On Tuesday Afternoon

Notre Dame (7-10, 4-7) at Duke (7-7, 5-5) 

📍     Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina

📅     Tuesday, February 9, 2021

🕕     4:30 p.m. ET

📺     ACC Network with Rece Davis and Jon Crispin

📻     Notre Dame Radio Network with Jack Nolan

🗒. Notre Dame Game Notes at Duke

BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH at BLUE DEVILS

FEBRUARY = ACC SURGES FOR IRISH HOOPS

In three of the last four seasons, Notre Dame has entered the month of February on a downward trend, only to utlize the second month of the year as a springboard up the league standings. The Irish are 1-1 in February so far this season.

2016-17 – Notre Dame finished January 0-3, then dropped the first game of February before finishing the month with five straight victories. The Irish finished the season 12-6 in the ACC and advanced to the ACC Championship game and the second round of the NCAA tournament.

2017-18 – Knocked back by injuries, the Irish limped into February with six consecutive losses and again lost their first game of the month. Notre Dame persevered to finish 5-3 in February, win two games in the ACC tournament and were widely recognized as the final team left out of the NCAA tournament.

2019-20 – Losing four of six games entering February and saddled by a 2-6 conference record, Notre Dame finished 6-2 through an eight-game February ACC slate to eventually finish 10-10 in the league and win its first game in the ACC tournament before the post season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Irish are 27-21 in February as a member of the ACC. Remove the outlier February in 2018-19 (2-5) and Notre Dame is 25-16 in February (.609) and has failed to win at least four games only once (the aforementioned 2018-19 season).

HUBB’S ASSISTS/THREE POINT SHOOTING AMONG THE BEST IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Prentiss Hubb’s 254 career assists in league play are the most of any active ACC player. The Upper Marlboro, MD, native is up to 394 career assists as well (see sidebar, page 6).

Hubb also has connected at 161 career three-point field goals, giving him over 390+ assists and 160+ 3FGM.

He joins Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon – in his fifth season of action – as the only major conference players with 390+ assists and 160+ 3FGM.

Among all Division I players, Hubb is among 16 players who have posted 390+ assists and 160+ 3FGM. He and UConn’s R.J. Cole are the only players to reach those marks in their third season of action (all 16 others are either in their fourth or fifth season of eligibility).

CHARTING LASZEWSKI’S HOT SHOOTING

Junior Nate Laszewski has established himself as one of the best and most efficient shooters in college basketball this season.

A look at where Laszewski ranks among the NCAA, major conference and ACC leaders:

LASZEWSKI FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE ON PACE FOR A SPOT ON SINGLE-SEASON CHARTS

Junior Nate Laszewski is currently shooting 64% from the field (.643) – a mark that would rank fourth all-time and first in the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current). With 143 attempts this season, Laszewski is on pace to reach 150 attempts to qualify for the single-season lists.

NOTRE DAME SINGLE-SEASON FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Behind the three-point line, Laszewski is at .525 – which would rank first on the Irish single-season charts.

NOTRE DAME SINGLE SEASON THREE POINT PERCENTAGE

DURHAM CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE HIGH ON IRISH CAREER CHARTS

Graduate forward Juwan Durham boasts a .573 career field goal percentage at Notre Dame, a mark that would rank him third among Irish players with 200 or more FGM since 1996-97:

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTED BY 1,000 POINT SCORERS

Notre Dame has produced 64 1,000 point scorers throughout the history of the program with 23 of those players reaching that statistical milestone during the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current). Of the 85 players who have suited up for Notre Dame under Mike Brey, 36 of them were recruited by the staff and exhausted their eligibility with the Irish – 20 of those players have scored more than 1,000 points in a career.

Since 2000-01, Notre Dame leads all ACC teams in 1,000 point scorers (23) and is second in the country over that time frame to Villanova.

A DECADE OF ‘NO FOUL’ CONTINUES

One of the mantras of Notre Dame basketball under Mike Brey has been to keep the amount of opponent foul shots down. Defend without fouling is a way of life for Irish basketball and the statistics bear out that trend.

In the last 11 years, Notre Dame has failed to finish among the top 10 in least amount of personal fouls committed just twice. They have also led the country in least amount of personal fouls three times.

The NCAA has been tracking the least amount of fouls committed in a season since 1993. Notre Dame is the only team since 1993 to lead the country in least amount of fouls more than twice (four times) and could be on pace to make it six times this season.

NOTRE DAME FOULS PER GAME NATIONAL/CONFERENCE FINAL RANKING

FOUR VETERANS NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2020-21

Glenn and Stacey Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey has announced four student-athletes to serve as team captains for the University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team.

Graduate students Nikola Djogo and Juwan Durham, along with juniors Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan, will make up a four-player group of captains in 2020-21.

All four Irish players will be serving as team captains for the first time in their careers.

IRISH RECEIVE COMMITMENTS FROM TWO AREA PROSPECTS

Rising high school seniors J.R. Konieczny (Ko-nez-nee) and Blake Wesley, both from South Bend, Indiana, have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at the University of Notre Dame.

Rated among the top 150 high school players in the 2020-21 class, Konieczy (Kah-nez-nee) is a four-star recruit according to ESPN.com and earned third-team all-state honors as a junior in 2019-20. He averaged over 24 points a game last season, including a 42-point outburst in the 2020 sectional semifinal – a performance that earned him the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Week honors.

A consensus four-star recruit, Wesley is ranked 96th nationally by Rivals and 113th by 247Sports. An honorable mention all-state selection as a junior in 2019-20, Wesley led all local area players with a 26.0 points-per-game average last season.

2019-20 IVY LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR PAUL ATKINSON JR. TO JOIN IRISH IN 2021-22

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball program has announced the addition of Paul Atkinson Jr. as a graduate transfer from Yale who will join the Fighting Irish roster for the 2021-22 season. The 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year, Atkinson Jr. was unable to play his senior season at Yale due to the Ivy League’s shut down throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am excited to join the Notre Dame family and get to play alongside a group of really talented guys as well as being able to learn under a great coaching staff that will help me further my game,” Atkinson Jr. said.

Owning a career field goal percentage of .661 and 16 20-point scoring performances, Atkinson Jr. will step into a front court in transition next season due to the departure of fifth-year seniors Juwan Durham and Nikola Djogo at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. In a February 3, 2021, ranking from ESPN+, Atkinson Jr. was selected as the fourth-ranked transfer prospect in college basketball.

“Paul brings a great combination of academic and athletic ability to our basketball program and he will work toward an accelerated graduate degree next year,” Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey said.

“The timing with his arrival and our roster turnover for next season works out and we are excited to add his skill set and experience to our team.”

USA Basketball Selection

Before his arrival on campus, Atkinson Jr. will get to gather international basketball experience as a member of USA Basketball’s AmeriCup Qualifying Team in February of 2021. The lone college player selected for the team that will compete in the third and final window of FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying, the team will train in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and will play the Bahamas on Feb. 19 and Mexico on Feb. 20.

“It’s amazing to have been invited to play with USA Basketball this upcoming February and I can’t wait to learn from and practice with some really talented pro players,” Atkinson Jr. said.

The 2020-21 FIBA AmeriCup qualifiers feature 16 teams from the Americas zone divided into four groups of four teams. The top three finishing teams in each Group will earn a berth to the FIBA AmeriCup 2022, considered the FIBA Americas zone championship. The USA has a 4-0 record in previous qualifying windows and won the 2017 AmeriCup with a 5-0 record.

Joe Prunty will serve as the USA head coach, along with Othella Harrington and James Jones as assistants. Jones coached Atkinson Jr. in his time at Yale.

JACK NOLAN, VOICE OF IRISH ATHLETICS, ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT

Jack Nolan, a fixture of Notre Dame athletics broadcasts for 39 years, has announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2020-21 men’s basketball season.

“I have been truly blessed to have been associated with the Notre Dame Athletics Department for 39 seasons,” Nolan said.

“I will be forever grateful to all the athletes, coaches, colleagues and fans who have been so wonderful to me over the years. However, the time has come for my wife Rhonda (Brown) and I to live a more normal life.

“We want to get off the road and off the nights, weekends and holidays work schedule we have both navigated for so long. We hope to indulge our passion for travel, our desire to be warm during Michiana winters and be able to spend much more time with family and friends.”

A jack of all trades, Nolan has been a staple around Notre Dame football and men’s basketball games for close to 40 years. He’s taken home many awards as both a news and sports anchor, served as master of ceremonies for innumerable Irish special events and established himself as one of the most recognizable faces of Notre Dame athletics.

“Jack Nolan has been with us since I started at Notre Dame and it is hard to think about our broadcasts without him,” Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey said. “His professionalism has made my job easier and his broadcast calls are as much a part of our basketball legacy as ‘The Burn’ or the three-point shot. I will miss having him around the program, but if anyone deserves the ability to enjoy a long and happy retirement it is Jack and Rhonda.”

Nolan joined the South Bend community in 1982 after spending a year at upstart cable news network CNN after graduation from Missouri in 1981. The opportunity to call play-by-play of Notre Dame football games was the catalyst for him to take the job at WNDU, the local NBC affiliate.

At the time of his arrival at WNDU, the station was owned by the University and broadcast Irish football games that were not selected to be on national television. Nolan had an immediate award-winning impact on the football broadcast crew, taking home Associated Press play-by-play awards in 1983, 1987 and 1989.

Nolan also anchored the WNDU sports desk throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, while adding in weekend news anchor duties in 1993. He met his future wife, Rhonda Brown, while working together and the couple co-anchored WNDU’s NewsCenter 16 Sunday Morning from 1996 through 2002.

His long run with Notre Dame men’s basketball began in 1982 on both radio and television, eventually becoming the regular radio analyst with Jack Lorri and then assuming the play-by-play duties for Irish hoops after Lorri’s retirement in 2006.

Also in 2006, Nolan left WNDU to become a full-time employee on campus as part of Notre Dame Sports Properties, who handled the radio broadcasting rights for Irish athletics and helped lead Notre Dame through its first steps of online video productions. Nolan soon became synonymous with Irish athletics both over the air and online, hosting the Brian Kelly and Mike Brey television and radio shows, checking in from Irish football practices and calling numerous Notre Dame olympic sport events.

Nolan’s radio talents were not just limited to play-by-play or analyst duties. From 1982 through 1999 he co-hosted WNDU’s popular SportsTalk show with the late Jeff Jeffers and was the host of the Official Notre Dame Football Post Game Show for over 25 seasons.

In addition to Lorri and Jeffers as notable long-time colleagues of Nolan, Reggie Brooks and the late Mirko Jurkovic spent several seasons both on radio and und.com as part of his broadcast crew. It was also with Nolan on Notre Dame men’s basketball radio crew that ESPN’s LaPhonso Ellis and Jordan Cornette began their broadcast careers.

“The time Jack, Mirko and I spent on the air together was a great professional memory for me,” said Brooks, a former Notre Dame All-American and current Assistant Athletics Director at the University.  “Jack was a great guy to work with and we will all miss him being around campus.”

Nolan’s tireless work with Notre Dame Sports Properties and Fighting Irish Media was honored in November 2015 when he won the Outstanding Crafts Achievement Emmy for On-Camera Talent-Sports awarded by the Chicago Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

A native of Winchester, Massachusetts, Nolan was awarded an Honorary Monogram by the University in 2013.