We’ve spoken often about wanting Notre Dame to stay shy of 20 losses this year, or ideally, shy of 19. This isn’t entirely an arbitrary number. 20 losses is a rare thing in power conference basketball. It happens—it happened to nine power six teams last year, including Notre Dame—but it’s a bad number. It’s a number that connotes either acute disaster or chronic impotence—Kenny Payne’s Louisville or accursed DePaul. At 14–18, it’s possible to have just played a hard schedule. It’s not outrageous to find a 14–18 team with an otherwise deserving NIT résumé, a performance from which a young team can build. But at 20 losses, things are bad. Things are very bad.
So, we were hoping to avoid 20 losses, and for a minute there, it looked like we might do it. The Irish were 2–3 in ACC play. They’d responded well to the loss to The Citadel and were competing with the rest of the conference’s bottom tier. They’d upset Virginia. Then, the losing streak began—a losing streak which now sits at five, with good opportunities to end it still more than a week away.
The losses themselves have been tolerable from a young, outmatched team. Twice, they’ve let a win slip away. Thrice, they’ve just kind of lost. They haven’t been obliterated. Their efficiencies on kenpom have held mostly steady. Taken individually, none of the losses has been all that bad. Taken together, the team’s on a tough slide.
Should the team be young and outmatched? It’d be better if it wasn’t, but given 1) how bare the cupboard was and 2) what little the program seems to be working with in the way of institutional and booster support (we’re talking NIL), it’s understandable. Given that Notre Dame’s NIL effort in football appears to be at least slightly improving, and given the commits Micah Shrewsberry has in the pipeline are rather good, and given the individual performances of the specific young guys are tolerable, none of these problems are insurmountable, looking ahead. With some bad teams, you can’t see a path out. With this one, you can. The issue is not that the team is too bad to get better. The issue is the losing itself. The issue is that the losing itself could become a problem.
Winning is hard. People like to say this, (it rings around my head because of its use by another Notre Dame blogger out there), and they like to say it for good reason. It is hard to win in just about anything. Losing, though, is harder. Losing is draining. Losing is exhausting. Losing pushes you up against a wall. It makes you doubt. It makes you question. Losing can leave a mark.
The problem for Notre Dame right now, then, is not that the team is bad. We knew the team would be this bad. This team is two spots off its preseason kenpom projection. The problem is the risk that all this losing will leave that mark. That’s the thing Micah Shrewsberry has to navigate if the streak does not break soon. At the moment, Pomeroy has the Irish going 3–8 from here, finishing 10–22. Lose these next two or three, and that projected record’s going to drop to 9–23. It’s easy to keep showing up when you think you can win. If the losing takes too much hold, the scary thing is what it could do to the psyches of these young players.
Riley Leonard’s Ankle
There was a weird saga in the football program this week after a few reporters reported that Riley Leonard had undergone tightrope surgery on his ankle. Rob Hunt, Head Athletic Trainer for Football, disputed one such report on Twitter. The football program’s Instagram account post a photo of Leonard working out without a noticeable brace. Then, today, Leonard confirmed to media that he underwent the surgery. It was two weeks ago. He expects to be cleared in two weeks. He’s doing some training now.
What happened here?
I have no idea. It’s very strange. Hunt has previously criticized media for reporting on injuries without official statements being released, on the grounds of privacy. The report he disputed said Leonard would miss “most of the Irish’s winter workout schedule” and possibly miss the start of spring practices in March. So, maybe this was about the timeline?
Either way, Leonard had an ankle surgery, he’s not at full strength right now, and the expectation seems to be that this won’t be a long-term issue. It took a lot of noise to get there, but that’s where we’re at.
Conspicuously absent in that Instagram post—the one where Leonard was working out without a brace—was Steve Angeli. CJ Carr was there, behind Leonard, but Steve Angeli was not. Does *this* mean anything? Again, I have no idea. What I think we’re running into is that we have two good options for a starting quarterback, no great options, and one freshman we’re hoping will be a great option in a year or two, and that we’re all a little panicked about this state of operations.
The transfer portal will open again in the spring. We’ve got a bit of time to go until then. Thankfully, there are quarterbacks already in the portal struggling to find good homes. It’s a little bit of a buyer’s market, which might keep Angeli in town.
Quick(er) Hitters
We’ve been known to lament the lack of five-stars coming into the football program, so a quick acknowledgment that Bryce Young, the incoming defensive lineman, is a five-star on 247 even though he isn’t a five-star on the 247 consensus. There are a couple others in similar boats—a five-star according to one recruiting service but not according to the majority. The bottom line? We’re getting really good four-stars. Could be worse.
On the coaching side, Marcus Freeman was able to retain recruiting director Chad Bowden despite Bowden being pursued by Michigan. The cycle isn’t done yet, though, as both Al Golden and Al Washington could be in the mix for the newly open Boston College head coaching job. There isn’t much clarity right now, but expect whatever happens in Chestnut Hill to happen rather soon.
Pivoting back to basketball, Shrewsberry was named an assistant to Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd for the U18 national team, who’ll play in the 2024 FIBA Men’s AmeriCup. I have no idea what that is, but in general, I’m guessing it can only help Notre Dame to have Shrewsberry involved in USA Basketball. Coaching alongside Grant McCasland—the other assistant—is intriguing too, given Shrewsberry has a stronger offensive reputation and McCasland is better known for defense. Notre Dame is playing solid defense already this year (bubble-level defense), but the more ideas in that round head, the better.
It was confirmed last Saturday that Olivia Miles will miss the entire year with the knee injury she suffered late last season. In the alumni world, Molly Seidel was also in the news with a knee injury. She’ll miss the U.S. Olympic marathon trials with a fractured patella and partially torn patellar tendon. A tough development after her surprise bronze in Tokyo.
On a happier note, Eva Gaetino signed with Paris Saint Germain. She’ll reunite with Korbin Albert, another ND product.
The Roundup
Looking to break the streak, the fellas go to Pitt tomorrow. Pitt’s very much an NIT team, but the odds are still long. It’s looking like Notre Dame will be a bigger underdog than when we beat Virginia.
After a bad loss at home to Syracuse, the women’s basketball team put away UConn in Storrs, then went to Atlanta last night and smoked Georgia Tech. They’re up to a 5-seed in ESPN’s latest bracketology, but the Syracuse loss has them two games back of Louisville in conference play, currently in sixth place. They host Pitt on Sunday in one they should win handily. Hannah Hidalgo continues to crush it.
The hockey team’s back in action tonight, hosting Michigan State for the first half of a two-game set. Michigan State swept Notre Dame back in December in East Lansing and currently leads the Big Ten. It’s a nice opportunity for the Irish, who remain on the bubble.
In the Tim Welsh Classic (a swimming and diving invitational hosted by Notre Dame), the men beat Ohio State while the women finished behind both Ohio State and Akron (while beating Indiana State). Nothing too surprising there. Those teams are off this weekend and next.
Still no team scores for track and field (though you can track the Indoor Nationals qualifying lists if you know how to read them—here’s the men’s, here’s the women’s) but after last weekend’s meet up at Michigan, Notre Dame’s hosting the Meyo Invitational today and tomorrow.
Both the men’s and women’s fencing teams did well at the ND-hosted DeCicco Duals last weekend, the men going 13–0 while the women finished 13–1. They’ll be at Northwestern tomorrow. The men were ranked first in the country in the mid-season coaches poll. The women were ranked second.
Neither tennis team could pull off the upset at the ITA Indoor Regionals, although the women did win their consolation match against Kansas. The women host Ball State and Chicago State on Sunday. The men are off this weekend.
The men’s lacrosse team plays its final preseason exhibition on Sunday against Detroit Mercy. They and the women will both get going in the next few weeks.
