Irish Off To Las Vegas For Maui Invitational

Notre Dame MBB Game Notes vs. St. Mary’s

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team is off to Las Vegas, Nevada to defend its 2017 Maui Jim Maui Invitational title at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The continuing COVID-19 pandemic forced the move of the Maui Invitational off the island for the second consecutive season. Notre Dame will face St. Mary’s (CA) in its first contest, followed by a matchup with either Chaminade or Oregon.   

• Notre Dame has claimed the title of the past four in-season tournament in which it has competed – 2016 Legends Classic, 2017 Maui Invitational, 2018 Gotham Classic and 2019 Men Against Breast Cancer Invitational. The Irish are 15-1 in those events.

• The Irish are 6-3 all-time in the Maui Invitational with two championship game appearances (2008, 2017) and an event title (2017).

• Notre Dame begins a five-game road trip in Las Vegas, the three games in the event, a flight to Illinois for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on November 29 and the ACC road opener at Boston College (Dec. 3).

• The next home game for the Irish will be against Kentucky (Dec. 11) when LaPhonso Ellis will be inducted into the Purcell Pavilion Ring of Honor.

• Notre Dame had three players – Paul Atkinson Jr., Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin – earn double-doubles in the same game for the first time since 2012 vs. High Point. It also marked the first time three Irish players reached double-digit rebounds in a game since 2010.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

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

Leads the Irish with 17.5 ppg, recorded double-double in victory over High Point with 19 pts, 11 reb • 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.

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

A team-high 11 assists through the first two games of the season • preseason All-ACC Second Team • leads all returning ACC players in career assists (451) • 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.

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

Has established himself as the team’s defensive stopper • 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

Averaging 15.0 ppg this season and shooting 7-14 from 3FG while averaging 7.5 rebounds per game • has seen action in 92 career games, making 31 starts • posted career highs of 11.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg in 2020-21 • one of the best free throw shooters on the team, boasting a .821 career average from the stripe.

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

Has pulled down 24 rebounds (including career-high 16 vs. High Point) in first two games of the year and is the early ACC leader in rebounding (12.0 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.

OFF THE BENCH

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

Provides instant offense off the bench, grabbed four rebounds with five points vs. CSUN • 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.

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

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 • consensus four-star prospect • athletic backcourt player expected to be an immediate key contributor.

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

(pronounced Ko-NEZZ-knee) Saw action in first career game vs. CSUN • 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).

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

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 • athletic front court player will provide depth on the Irish front line.

IRISH ITEMS – BY THE NUMBERS

NOTRE DAME – MAUI INVITATIONAL HISTORY

Notre Dame is making its fourth appearance in the Maui Invitational this season and boasts a 6-3 record in the event. The first trip to Maui occurred under John MacLeod in 1993, while Mike Brey led the Irish to the tournament championship game in 2008 and the Maui title in 2017. Notre Dame’s full Maui Invitational history:

WESLEY POSTS NOTEWORTHY NOTRE DAME DEBUT

Freshman Blake Wesley led all scorers with 21 points in the season-opening victory over CSUN last Saturday.

• It marks just the second time in the Mike Brey era that a freshman has scored 20-or-more point in his debut (24, Chris Thomas, 2001-02).
• He is the sixth freshman to reach double digit points in his career debut under Mike Brey – Chris Thomas, 2001-02, 24; Luke Harangody, 2006-07, 12; Nate Laszewski, 2018-19, 12; Robby Carmody, 2018-19, 11, Dane Goodwin, 2018-19, 10.

TRANSFER DEBUTS

Graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr. made his debut with the Irish on Saturday afternoon against CSUN. Of all the transfer players of the Mike Brey era, Atkinson’s career parallels Dan Miller the most, who played three years at Maryland before transferring to Notre Dame for his senior season of eligibility in 2002-03. Atkinson played three years at Yale and was the 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year.

Below are the debut games for all of the transfers into the program of the Brey era (* – game started):

ATKINSON JR. LEADS 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.

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

IRISH WELCOME BACK MOST EXPERIENCED TEAM OF THE BREY ERA

Notre Dame is in an unusual position this season and welcomes back, by far, its most experienced group of players since the Mike Brey era began in 2000-01. With the additions of Trey Wertz (two seasons at Santa Clara) and Cormac Ryan (one season at Stanford) last season, then adding Paul Atkinson Jr. (three seasons at Yale) the Irish boast a veteran group of players who have seen a significant amount of college basketball action.

As shown below, the Irish return the most career starts, minutes played, field goals, field goals attempted, three point field goals, three point field goals attempted, free throws, free throws attempted, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, assists and points of any team in the Brey era:

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTED BY 1,000 POINT SCORERS

Notre Dame has produced 65 1,000 point scorers throughout the history of the program with 24 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.

BREY-ERA TENETS SHOW THROUGH IN STATISTICAL RANKINGS

In his 22 years on the Notre Dame bench, Mike Brey’s teams have developed certain tenets they can be counted on to display – take care of the ball, defend without fouling, shot making and free throw percentage excellence. Those traits are reflected in Notre Dame’s statistical rankings, compared to all NCAA teams and the ACC, since the Brey era began in 2000-01.