Well the Chris Ash hire is a disappointment to me. Thought we could do better. Then again, I didn’t really like the Al Golden hire in the beginning so what do I know. Let’s hope he and Mickens can keep the defense going strong.
On the other hand, a convincing win by the women at Louisville. They turned a 1 point game at halftime into an 18 point rout, 89-71.
Irish women got a solid road win over Louisville. I didn't watch as it was a beautiful day here in Houston and I was out playing golf. But reports were that it was a very physical game, as seems to be the case when we play Louisville. Grad Transfer, Liatu King, left after apparently taking an elbow to the face. Hannah had a very big game, 34 points. Next up will be a couple of home games, Stanford and CAL come calling to South Bend.
A lot of speculation on the GM position, can't believe I'm typing that, at ND. There have been all sorts of rumours that the guy at Texas Tech, James Blanchard. He's coming, TT has made him a $$ offer he can't refuse, he want's total control, etc. But still nothing. All knowing fans want him. Chris Ash is clearly going to be the DCoord, and his hiring is being met with a ho hum by the fanbase. Not sure other than Knowles, who would have excited the fans. Will Freeman make Mickens the C0-Coord?
Another tough road loss for the men at FSU. We couldn't make our FT's and we missed a lot of layups. FSU like the Irish aren't a very good team, but they are long, athletic/quick. We've never won at FSU.
The Irish lose another coach to the NFL, our RB coach. McCollough was a great coach and clearly our RB room was better off for his presence. We have a lot of talented RB's coming back next year so it should be an attractive job opening and we also have a lot of OL's coming back who played a lot this past season so the OL should be very good as well. Chris Ash is officially our new DCoord and he's still being met with some doubt by a lot of the all knowing online fans. But the websites have all taken to him and are putting out stories positive about him. But as we all know it's when the rubber meets the road we know if we have good tires.. Same for coaches. No word yet on whether or not Mickens will be a Co-Coord with him. Also no word on our GM, Blanchard, whether or not he's coming or not coming. Irish women face Stanford tonight at the Joyce Center. The tree's have been a problem over the years when Tara was their coach, but they are struggling a bit this year under the new coach. They lost a lot of very good players to the Portal as soon as Tara retired. So it's a bit of a rebuilding year on the Farm.
One site interviewed former Buckeye DB, Tyvis Powell, about Chris Ash. He gave him a 'glowing review. I hope he wasn't paid to say that and Ash will continue the great defense we enjoyed with Golden.
Irish women hang the worst loss in program history on Stanford. 96-47. Tjey were just terrible, couldn't shoot, turned it over, didn't do anything good.
Irish lost out on their #1 choice for GM as Blanchard decided to stay at Texas Tech. He leveraged the Irish offer into a million dollar paycheck from Tech. On to the next guy.
On Blanchard, I know there are many factors in leaving a job, but IMHO he has chosen to remain in the minors.
Another tough loss for the Irish men. 65-63 Tech was behind until the 3 minute mark in the 2nd half. Braden Shrewsberry was 0-11 ,shooting. Ouch. Not sure what is wrong with this team,but they can't hold leads and close out games. Leadership?
Okay, this one makes sense. Per ISD sources, Notre Dame is expected to hire Ja’Juan Seider, who has spent the last seven years at Penn State. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report.
So surprised Freeman could lure the PSU running backs coach away. Both of their rbs are coming back and they will be one of the top duos in college next year. Not to mention PSU is going to be a preseason favorite to contend for not just the B1G Championship but the National Championship.
The following is for me a legitimate way to measure the progress of any sports program, but it applies especially to the ND basketball program, which has wallowed in mediocrity for a long time and in my opinion is working its up to respectability. Although it's not fast enough for an impatient fan base, it's ok for me:
I watched that 2 OT win for the Irish, it would have been easy to quit when we were down 14 and couldn't throw the ball in the ocean, while everything BC threw at the basket seemed to go in. But somehow we got something going and nearly won it in regulation, a couple of missed free throws were the reason we went to OT. That was a much needed win and truthfully I'm not as optimistic that this is a turning point for this team. The TV had a graphic that showed we had the toughest remaining schedule of any ACC team. So a a 3-3 finish to the season might be out of reach. But I'm grateful that we finally got a close win instead of a close loss.
The biggest win for Coach Shrewsberry would be to convince Markus Burton to return for his Jr. Year. He's a great college player, but he's really small and not sure how he'll be as a pro. Would another year of college improve his game, IMHO it would. With NIL it's possible that he might do better staying in college. I can't see him as a 1st round draft pick.