Irish men's hoops gearing up for new season of transition
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In a little less than a month, Notre Dame men's basketball begins a new era of sorts.
The Irish must move on from the old guard of Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell and Marty Geben, but they're looking forward to a new start.
Mike Brey's squad is in for what they believe will be an intriguing year, bringing in a talented freshman class and welcoming the return of wing DJ Harvey from a knee injury in addition to big-man transfer Juwan Durham now being eligible to play.
Of course, there is still plenty of veteran leadership in the likes of captains Rex Pflueger, TJ Gibbs, and Jon Mooney.
All of those factors coming together is what creates some unknowns, and some optimism for a team trying to get Notre Dame back in the NCAA Tournament after narrowly missing this past spring.
“Nobody even knows the rest of our roster. Nobody really knows our guys," said Brey. "It’s kind of a neat group finding itself and it’s probably good for this group to develop in that theme.”
“Going from last year where we had six or seven guys, now we have 12 guys, 13 guys that can all play," said Pflueger. "We just have so much depth that it’s exciting to figure out all of our roles and how we’re going to be a part of it.”
“We’ve always been a team that’s prided ourselves on being who we are," added Gibbs, "no matter if we’re ranked first or 101st. We always talk about our winning tradition and our culture and I think that’s going to carry on.”
The Irish will begin the 2018-19 season at home against UI-Chicago during the first week of November.