Irish And Broncos Meet In Purcell Monday Night

Notre Dame Game Notes vs. WMU

2021-22 FIGHTING IRISH – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (4-5) for just the second time in 34 days for a two-game home stand before Christmas. The Irish will face Western Michigan (4-5) on Monday at 8 p.m. ET (ACC Network) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET. It is just the second time this year Notre Dame will have back-to-back home games.

Wednesday’s game marks the third time the Irish have attempted to play the Broncos over the last calendar year. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, two scheduled games between Notre Dame and Western Michigan were cancelled last season.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

#20 | PAUL ATKINSON JR. | Graduate Student | 6-9 | 230 | West Palm Beach, FL

Logged his second double-double at Notre Dame (and 11th of career) with 11 pts and 11 reb vs. Indiana on Saturday • 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year at Yale • did not participate in 2020-21, as the Ivy League cancelled all intercollegiate athletics • ranked by ESPN+ as the fourth-best transfer prospect in  2020-21 • boasts a .661 career field goal percentage – top for any returning NCAA Division I player this year – and led Ivy League in FG% all three seasons in which he competed.

#5 CORMAC RYAN | Senior | 6-5 | 195 | New York, NY

Filled up the stat line against No. 10/12 Kentucky with seven points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal • started 16 of 25 games in his first year with the Irish last season • scored 21 points in the first half in the victory at Duke last year, eventually scoring career-best 28 points • shot .344 from 3FG range last season.

#23 DANE GOODWIN | Senior | 6-4 | 202 | Upper Arlington, OH

Needs five points vs. WMU to reach 1,000 points in a career, becoming the 66th Irish player to reach that scoring plateau • has scored in double figures in all nine games (a career-best streak) this season and leads the team with 14.3 ppg • averaging 14.3 ppg and 5.6 rpg this season • one of the best free throw shooters on the team, boasting a .829 career average from the stripe (20-22 this season).

#14 NATE LASZEWSKI | Senior | 6-10 | 235 | Jupiter, FL

Scored 13 points with three three-point field goals at Illinois • leads the Irish in rebounding at 7.8 per game • improved FG% 19 percent, 3FG% 11% and RPG by 3.1 last season • scored over 20 points four times last season and has five 20-point games in his career.

#0 BLAKE WESLEY | Freshman | 6-5 | 185 | South Bend, IN

ACC Rookie of the Week (Dec. 13, 2021) • in first career start at home in Purcell Pavilion, hit the game-winning jumper with :12 seconds remaining to upset No. 10/12 Kentucky last weekend • second in the ACC in freshman scoring (13.1 ppg) and seventh among all major conference true freshmen in ppg • exploded for 24 points, 18 in the second half at Illinois in the first true road game of his career • logged his first career start at Boston College • has hit double figures in seven of his nine career games played • first Mike Brey freshman to score 20 points in a career debut (vs. CSUN) since Chris Thomas in 2001 • first South Bend, IN, public school MBB prospect to sign with Notre Dame since 1985.

OFF THE BENCH

#3 PRENTISS HUBB | Senior | 6-3 | 176 | Upper Marlboro, MD

Preseason All-ACC Second Team • led the team with 15 points against Boston College, coming off the bench for the first time since the victory at Miami last season • leads all active ACC players in career assists (468) • led the Irish in  scoring (14.6) and three-point field goals made (65) last season • one of five major conference players to reach 100 assists in league play last season.

#2 TREY WERTZ | Senior | 6-5 | 192 | Charlotte, NC

Hit double figures for the first time this season in the victory over No. 10/12 Kentucky with 12 points, two three-point field goals, two rebounds and two assists • planned to sit out 2020-21 season after transferring from Santa Clara until all underclassmen transfers were given immediate eligibility in December of 2020 • appeared in 21 games making 14 starts, shooting .429 from three-point range • hit the game-winning 3FG at the buzzer vs. WF in 2021 ACC tournament.

#22 ELIJAH TAYLOR | Sophomore | 6-8 | 242 | Philadelphia, PA

Has worked his way into Notre Dame’s eight-man rotation • earned earliest minutes of his career in the first half at Illinois, eventually scored four points in career-high seven minutes • made Irish debut vs. Chaminade and scored his first career field goal • missed CSUN game as a precaution due to minor lower leg injury, then the High Point game with the flu • missed 2020-21 while recovering from ankle surgery.

#1 J.R. KONIECZNY | Freshman | 6-6 | 195 | South Bend, IN

(pronounced Ko-NEZZ-knee) Saw action in first career game vs. CSUN, scored first career points vs. Chaminade • all-time leading scorer in St. Joseph County history (1,996) • joins classmate Blake Wesley as the first Northern Indiana Conference players to sign with Notre Dame since 2012 (D. Jackson, A. Torres).

IRISH ITEMS – BY THE NUMBERS

BLAKE WESLEY AMONG THE NATION’S TOP FRESHMAN

Freshman Blake Wesley, who was named ACC Rookie of the Week on Monday, Dec. 13 (he shared the award with NC State’s Terquavion Smith) is among the freshman leaders in scoring in the ACC and among major conference players.

ACC TRUE FRESHMAN SCORING

MAJOR CONFERENCE TRUE FRESHMAN SCORING

Expand to all true freshmen in the country and Wesley is tied for 21st in points per game.

WESLEY’S SOLID START AMONG THE BEST ROOKIES OF BREY ERA

Freshman Blake Wesley has started the last three games and has reached double figures in scoring after seven of his first nine career games. Those seven games already place him ninth among all true freshman of the Brey era in terms of double-digit scoring games and he could join Chris Thomas and Luke Harangody as the only freshman since 2000-01 to scored 10 or more points in the first 10 games of a Notre Dame career.

BREY ERA FRESHMAN DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORING GAMES

ATKINSON JR. LED ALL RETURNING NCAA PLAYERS IN CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr. not only brings over 1,000 career points and the 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year trophy to the Notre Dame roster, his amazing career field goal percentage ranks him at the top for all active NCAA players. Atkinson Jr. also is just the second active Division I player and only major conference player to average over .600 career field goal percentage entering the 2021-22 season.

Atkinson is shooting .619 (39-63) so far in 2021-22.

DIVISION I ACTIVE CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE LEADERS (heading into the season)

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTED BY 1,000 POINT SCORERS

Notre Dame has produced 65 1,000 point scorers throughout the history of the program with 23 of those players having been recruited by Mike Brey and exhausted their eligibility (or turned professional early).

Dane Goodwin is poised to become the 66th Irish player with 1,000 career points and is at 995 entering the Western Michigan game.

IRISH INK NATIONALLY-RANKED RECRUITING CLASS

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball program and Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey have announced that three prospective student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Notre Dame and compete for the Fighting Irish in 2022-23.

The three-member class is composed of forwards Dom Campbell and Ven-Allen Lubin, along with guard J.J. Starling. All three are consensus top-100 players and four-star prospects which provide the Irish the 15th-ranked recruiting class by 24/7 Sports (fifth-best in the ACC) and the 18th-rated (fourth-best in the ACC) group from Rivals.

“Our new staff started with a plan in June and I really like how we stayed focused and committed while being on the road in June and July, then followed through when the visits on campus took place,” Brey said.

“It was a fabulous team effort by our coaching staff to get a three man class that will be part of a bright future for Notre Dame basketball. Our fans will love to watch these guys play and grow as part of our program.”

Dom Campbell | Forward | 6-9, 265 | Phillips Exeter Academy (NH) | Scarborough, ME

“Dom is a gifted low post guy with great hands and footwork. He has the ability to carve out space and step out as well. He can make really good decisions with the ball in his hands.”

– Mike Brey

Rivals 4 Star – 96th overall, 11th power forward

24/7 4 star – 120th overall, 17th power forward, 2nd state

Ven-Allen Lubin | Forward | 6-8, 220 | Orlando Christian Prep | Orlando, FL

“Ven-Allen is a position less basketball player. He has the ability to post up, face up, run and change ends. He also brings great length on the defensive end.”

– Mike Brey

Rivals 4 Star – 63rd overall, 8th power forward

24/7 4 Star – 114th overall, 22nd power forward, 18th state

ESPN 4 star – 75th overall, 12th power forward, 14th state

J.J. Starling | Guard | 6-4, 195  | La Lumiere School (IN) | Baldwinsville, NY

“J.J. is an explosive guard. You can’t pigeonhole him as a point guard or a two man, he does a little bit of everything. The most infectious thing is his energy and charisma that he plays with. He really engages his teammates and leads on the floor.”

– Mike Brey

Rivals 4 Star – 40th overall, 8th point guard

24/7 – 33rd overall, 7th point guard, 1st state

ESPN – 27th overall, 6th point guard, 3rd state

NOTRE DAME WILL MAKE TRIP TO HOWARD ON MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team will travel to Washington, D.C., on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 17, 2022, to face Howard University. The trip will mark the first road game for Notre Dame men’s basketball against one of the countries Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The game was previously scheduled for January 18, 2021, but was postponed due to the health and safety regulations put in place for the coronavirus pandemic. The game will be played at Howard’s Burr Gymnasium and nationally broadcast on Fox at 2:30 p.m. ET.

“I am as excited about this trip than any game we have scheduled for next season,” Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey said.

“We were so disappointed that we had to cancel last season’s game due to the pandemic, but the delay gives us an opportunity to really do it right. This game deserves the kind of atmosphere that only a full house at Burr Gymnasium can deliver. Our program’s first trip to an HBCU on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is another step in our commitment to remaining active participants in the push for social change in this country. This event will provide an amazing educational experience for our student-athletes, coaches, support staff and University.”

Since 2019, Howard ​has honored Dr. King’s Celebration of Excellence by hosting non conference contests with iconic, historical institutions. In the past two seasons, HU has greeted Ivy League perennials Harvard (2019) and Yale (2020) to The Burr.

“Dr. King’s impact on our world is remarkable, and his influence continues to be both felt and needed,” Howard head coach Kenny Blakeney said.

“It gives me chills to think that only a few miles from where Dr. King shifted the country with his infamous speeches, marches and meetings, our basketball programs will have a historic first by hosting Notre Dame at Howard University. We are pressing forward toward the beloved community Dr. King sought to achieve and I am honored to lead this program and work with my lifelong friend, Coach Mike Brey, to deepen the call for social justice with our players.”

The connections between Notre Dame men’s basketball, the Howard coaching staff and the Washington, DC, area run deep. Mike Brey graduated from DeMatha High School. Kenny Blakeney also is a DeMatha graduate, played at Duke (1992-95) while Mike Brey was an assistant with the Blue Devils and was the head assistant coach under Brey at Delaware (2002-05).

The game also marks the return to the D.C. area for  Irish senior Prentiss Hubb (Upper Marlboro), who graduated from Gonzaga High School. Hubb is the latest Notre Dame standout to call the Washington, D.C., area home, as the ‘D.C. Pipeline’ has included Austin Carr, Adrian Dantley, Jerian Grant, Bob Whitmore, Don Williams, Monty Williams, Collis Jones, Tracy Jackson, Tom Sluby, Sid Catlett and Notre Dame President Emeritus Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C.

Notre Dame has welcomed 10 different HBCUs to campus for 12 men’s basketball games throughout the program’s history. The trip to Howard will be the first road trip for the Irish to an HBCU and the first for an Atlantic Coast Conference team since Miami (Florida) played at Savannah State on December 19, 2013.

The contest marks the first against a Power Five Conference team for Howard at home since Oregon State visited Burr Gymnasium on November 27, 2010.