Sept. 17, 2003

Hello Irish basketball fans. As many of you know, the Notre Dame basketball team is going to be traveling to Barbados, October 18-25. I’ve been asked to serve as your “unofficial tour guide,” during the trip with a diary as well as weekly updates leading up to the trip.

Obviously, I am very anxious for the trip because it is going to give me a chance to show my teammates what a beautiful and relaxing place the Caribbean is. Although I am from the U.S. Virgin Islands, I have never been to Barbados and am just as anxious as my teammates to make the trip. Several family members are going to be make , and I am anxious to have them meet everyone.

We got started back on September 4 with our first practice. Everyone was really excited to get going at such an early date. We’re looking forward to having 10 practices before we leave. The team has been working very hard and wants to take advantage of this extra practice time.

We had an intense summer of conditioning and playing pick-up games. The team is really close this year and enjoys being around each other. We definitely are aiming towards getting back to the Sweet 16 and going even farther in the NCAA tournament.

The two practices that we have had have been very intense. Coach Brey has us concentrating on defense and he’s made it very clear that this is going to be our focus in our early practices. We’re looking forward to our practice at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning (September 20) before the Michigan State football game. It’s open to the public, so I invite everyone to come out and watch us play.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll be back next week with another update on our preseason. Thanks for your interest in Notre Dame basketball and GO IRISH!!!