Good news for the lacrosse fans. The Irish Women had a good win at Boston College, and the men had a solid win over Michigan. Baseball ....not so much, swept at FSU.
Irish Women went from not hosting.. That is #4 seed or better in the first round to a #2 seed and hosting. Bad news is they are in the draw with South Carolina. No word yet on Kylie Watkins, and given how tight lipped Coach is on injuries I don't think we will know till they step on the court to play.
Jerome Bettis Jr has committed to the Irish. Not everybody is happy about it. Tim Prister said this.. Personally I am glad to have some legacy kids. Truth be told, and I feel compelled to say it to remain true to my Notre Dame journalistic obligations, I do not believe Bettis would be in Notre Dame’s Class of 2025 were he not Jerome Bettis’ son. But he has improved dramatically since his sophomore season with a senior season still to come.
I like it for the same reason Prister stated. Those who don't can go fly a kite. Last night, I watched a movie on Netflix titled "Greater", the true story of Brandon Burlsworth, football AA guard at Arkansas. I strongly recommend it to every college football fan, especially to those who question coaches' judgments in offering scholarships - legacy or not - to so-called "lesser" recruits.
I have no problem with it. Of all his accomplishments, the one that impressed me the most was his return to school after his playing days were over to get his degree. It told me a lot about the man and sent a message to other players who leave early that it's never too late to complete your education. He's been a wonderful representative of the ND alumni and what better way to show appreciation?
Jordan Faison's little brother Dylan, also a lacrosse star who will play both sports at ND, has given his verbal for the class of 2026. It didn’t take long for Dylan Faison to make a decision. A day after the 2026 Florida receiver landed his first scholarship offer of the process - from Notre Dame during the Irish’s Pot of Gold blitz on Sunday - Faison committed to the Irish. “They made me feel like home and I had a long talk with my family and my brother and made sure that this is what I wanted to do and their community; it’s supporting everything I can ask for,” Faison told Irish Sports Daily after announcing the decision on Monday. “The most valuable thing that they offer is life after sports and that's one thing that I'm really interested in and that is what they have.”
Not really expecting a repeat of 2018, although we are equally as thin as that team but the loss of Kylie Watson is a big blow. Still watching Arike nail 2 game winners in a row as time expires is just as thrilling now as it was in 2018
In a bit of a surprise to me at least, Matt Zona (ND Basketball) has entered the portal as a grad transfer. Matt has had somewhat of a journeyman's career at ND, a solid teammate and he was very valuable this past year. It was the most minutes he'd got to play in his career. He and J. R. Konieczny a local kid from St. Joseph HS were the only hold overs from the Mike Brey team. It's hard to imagine that Matt has any NBA options, maybe overseas, but that's it. I guess he can catch on somewhere and get more playing time next year and also work on an advanced degree.
Well this is discouraging. Riley could have really benefited from a full Spring learning the offense and his receivers. Oh well, Steve Angeli will get a lot of work and we certainly will be solid at the backup QB. That is assuming he doesn't transfer this summer. “A few injury updates. Riley Leonard will be out the next few weeks due to an additional surgery he had on his ankle on Friday, so yesterday, to address a stress fracture that was beginning to develop. The surgery was to exchange the current plate he had on his ankle with a new one. The doctor’s office said it went extremely well. The overall prognosis and health of his ankle is excellent. So, we’ll see when he can get back. We’re not putting a timetable — we know it’s gonna be a few weeks, but we’re not saying he’s out for the spring. There could be a chance he comes back and participates in some capacity during spring ball. Deion Colzie will also be out for a few practices. He had a dislocated finger that required surgery to fix. He’s expected to return probably some time next week, in some capacity. You’re not gonna see him catching balls this week, but expect him to be back out there next week. Those are two real injury updates as of right now, and I’ll open up for questions from there.”
Irish women handled a feisty Kent State team today, got off to a hot start but Kent State wouldn't go away easily. Final was 81-67 a solid victory, Sonia Citron was the leading scorer.
Very tough match up for the Irish women today vs Ole Miss. We're only 6 deep they are reportedly 10 deep. Last year they took down Stanford a #1 seed at the Farm, so I expect that this will be a very tough game for the Irish. They need to keep out of foul trouble for sure.
Very nice win for the Irish Ladies, and on to the Sweet 16 vs Oregon State. Ole Miss scored the 1st 2 of the game quickly and then the Irish ran off 8 straight and never trailed. They had a 21-9 1st qtr lead and had a 17 point lead at the half. Ole Miss came out and played us to a standoff in the 2nd half but never got close enough to threaten us, we ended up 71-56. Maddy Westbeld was our leading scorer and Hannah Hildalgo had 19 and Sonia Citron had 17. Before the game I heard one ESPN analyst who covers the SEC say that the Irish had not seen a team with the depth and the defensive pressure that they will see from Ole Miss and said this was the game with the biggest chance of an upset today. Didn't happen!
Well, shoulder surgery for Ben Morrison. So spring is over, he should be ready for fall camp. Bummer, but it will give his backup a lot more reps this spring.
First Day on the job! I wish him well and hope he guides us well in these turbulent times. Swarbrick was a controversial and unpopular (with some ND fans and Alums) so much so that on NDNation there was a count down clock for his last day/hour/minute on the job. New guy was hand picked by Swarbrick so he has that going against him. Time will tell. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4-8U3uPsA9/?igsh=MTJhZGNpc3NodTBwcg==
End of the season for the Irish Women. They didn't shoot well today and OSU just killed us on the boards. We fought like hell on defense and turned them over quite a bit, but it wasn't enough to overcome poor shooting and rebounding. It did keep the game close. But on to next year, and we should be a very good team again.
Terry, I watched the entire game. Your assessment is spot on. I saw a graphic at the end which prompts me to tip my hat to the OSU coach. This was the 3rd straight game in which OSU held the opponent to sub 40% field goal %. The good news for ND is that they don't have to play South Carolina, who convincingly beat a very good IU team. I'd be shocked if OSU can keep up with SC.
I also have to be amazed over the "nose ring" deal with Hannah Hildalgo. Apparently it's against the rules but the rules haven't been enforced till the game with Oregon State. Somebody who listened to game on the ND Radio call said the radio guys said that while the refs were not going to enforce it the Oregon State coach called them on it and sort of demanded the rules be enforced. Sort of a dick move if true IMHO. But what really surprised me is apparently those things are difficult to remove. I would have thought that you just removed them like an earing would be removed. But in googling it, that's not so and there are a number of videos (I didn't watch them) and articles on how to go about removing them, step by step. When I saw the TV shot of the trainers working on Hannah I thought WTH does she have a hemostat up her nose? Hannah of course was not happy after the game and seemed to me she said she wasn't going to stop wearing her nose ring during games next year.