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Boubacar Traore signs letter of intent, adds athleticism to 2023 class

By Nate Moller · Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

Defensive lineman Boubacar Traore officially signed with Notre Dame on National Signing Day, inking in his commitment with the Irish. Traore initially committed to Boston College in Aug. 2020, but he received an offer from Notre Dame on Oct. 2, 2021. Traore then de-committed from Boston College in March 2022 before verbally committing to the Irish on April 27, 2022. Traore also received offers from Pittsburgh and Michigan. Before his commitment to Notre Dame, many recruiting analysts thought Michigan had a great chance at landing Traore.

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Sam Pendleton locks in commitment, adds to Irish offensive line class

By Aidan Thomas · Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

A verbal commit since April, offensive lineman Sam Pendleton is officially Irish. He signed on Wednesday to lock in his commitment with Notre Dame. Pendleton is one of two recruits out of North Carolina in this year's cycle for the Irish, joining Sullivan Absher on the offensive line. The Irish won both recruitment battles over the Clemson Tigers. Early in February, a few crystal ball predictions picked Pendleton to head to Clemson, but he verbally committed to Notre Dame on April 25.

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Longtime safety commit Adon Shuler signs letter of intent with Irish

By J.J. Post · Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022

On Wednesday morning, New Jersey and Irvington High School product Adon Shuler officially signed his National Letter of Intent to play at the University of Notre Dame. Shuler was one of Notre Dame’s longest-standing pledges, verbally committing to the university in August of 2021. He affirmed his initial pledge despite picking up offers from college football heavyweights like Alabama and Georgia over the course of the last year. According to Rivals, Shuler ranks as the 22nd-best prospect in Notre Dame’s fourth-ranked 2023 recruiting class.

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Ohio native Brenan Vernon officially signs with Irish

By Tyler Reidy · Monday, Dec. 19, 2022

Top defensive end commits from Ohio do not often leave the Buckeye State, but Notre Dame has broken the trend. Brenan Vernon of Mentor, Ohio signed his National Letter of Intent for the Irish on Wednesday morning. Vernon, who recently visited South Bend for the Clemson game, made a verbal commitment in June 2021. He opted away from 13 Power Five offers, including Alabama, Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee and in-state powerhouse Ohio State.

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Sullivan Absher signs, adds to Irish offensive line class

By Annika Herko · Monday, Dec. 19, 2022

Offensive lineman Sullivan Absher officially committed to Notre Dame on National Signing Day. The second highest ranked offensive lineman in Notre Dame’s recruiting class, Rivals gave Sullivan Absher a ranking of 5.8. This means he could be drafted in the early rounds of the NFL draft and is a possible All-American candidate. The Belmont, North Carolina native ranks as the 22nd-best offensive lineman and 7th-best recruit coming out of North Carolina for the Class of 2023. 

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Men’s Basketball ships Terriers back up to Boston

By Annika Herko · Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022

The fourth ever meeting between the Irish and the Terriers came on the heels of Notre Dame’s close loss to Syracuse last Sunday. The Irish, 6-2 coming into the match-up, looked to build on their successes seen on defense and from the line, ending the game with a close 81-75 victory. Notre Dame is currently sixth in the country on free throw percentage. All of the starters (graduate guard Dane Goodwin, Trey Wertz, freshman guard J.J. Starling, graduate guard Cormac Ryan and graduate forward Nate Laszewski) all have been averaging more than 10 points a game.

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No. 19 ND welcomes No. 5 PSU in must-win series

By Thomas Zwiller · Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022

Last week, Notre Dame fell to No. 20 on both the USCHO and USA Today polls. After a weekend of inaction, the Irish rose to No. 19, thanks to a team ahead of it falling out of the rankings. This weekend, the Irish will take on No. 5 Penn State at home at Compton Family Ice Arena.

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First-ever ZeLO 64-team CFP

By Thomas Zwiller · Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022

Have you ever looked at the College Football Playoff and thought, “I would love an expanded tournament”? Well, I have good news, this year, it was announced that the CFP would expand to 12 teams, making the CFP much more accessible to more teams.

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Full-strength Irish prepare for midweek matchup against Boston University

By Matthew Crow · Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022

Following their first loss of the season at the hands of St. Bonaventure, Notre Dame men’s basketball responded by defeating No. 20 Michigan State by nearly 20 points. After narrowly falling against Syracuse on Saturday, 62-61, the Irish will hope to bounce back in a similar way as they host Boston University on Wednesday night.

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Holy Cross wins tri-campus face-off

By Lucia Aguzzi · Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022

This season’s tri-campus face-off saw the Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross women’s basketball teams play head to head on Tuesday evening. A friendly match between the two schools (who normally play in different divisions and conferences), the game started last year in the 2021-2022 season to create a sense of community at home. This year’s game proved to be just that, with a crowd of family, friends, students and community members at the game. 

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‘Oh captain, my captain’: Breaking down World Cup quarterfinals unconventionally

By Olivia Schatz · Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022

Over the course of the past 2 years, there have been countless breakdowns and predictions for the 2022 world cup. So, approximately two weeks ago, my sister and I decided to get what the people really want: a ranking of the Fifa World Cup’s Men’s Soccer Captains. We created a google form with pictures of every world captain and asked people to rank them from 1-10. We also gathered everyone’s age (on average, 27), as well as if they wanted to add any comments on the form. While I did collect data on every captain, I will only be creating a bracket for the final eight. 

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Breaking down the World Cup quarterfinals

By Jose Sanchez Cordova · Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022

We are well past the halfway mark of the World Cup, and the field of 32 has been narrowed down to the final eight. This is the absolute cream of the crop. Some giants have fallen already — I’m looking at you Belgium, Germany and Spain — and some teams have over-performed (shoutout Morocco). With that being said, here’s how I see the World Cup quarterfinals playing out.

Likely Tournament teams: (Teams in no particular order underneath their grouping.)Connecticut: The preseason No. 2 team in the country and the coaches' pick to take the Big East regular season crown this season. Connecticut possesses a lot of weapons. Hasheem Thabeet developed into a threat on both ends of the floor late last season. Jeff Adrien complements Thabeet nicely inside. Freshman Kemba Walker can handle things in the backcourt while A.J. Price gets back into the swing of things following an anterior cruciate (ACL) tear in Connecticut's final game last season. Connecticut will be tough to beat, but the same can be said about a lot of teams in this league. Louisville: The Cardinals made it to the Elite Eight before falling to North Carolina last season and look poised for another deep Tourney run. Louisville adds the high school USA Today National Player of the Year, Samardo Samuels, to a frontcourt that was already one of the best in the country. Forwards Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, both of whom could have been NBA draft picks after last season, give the Cardinals a good shot at taking the conference title.Marquette: The Golden Eagles have had basically the same team for the past three years. Coach Tom Crean left for Indiana, replaced by Buzz Williams - who has a lot of talent on his squad. The backcourt trio of Dominic James, Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal are among some of the best guards in the country and McNeal is a great lockdown defender. If Marquette wants to go far this year, they'll need some help in the front court from Lazar HaywoodNotre Dame: The Irish have a well-rounded, experienced team that has proven it can compete with the elite in the Big East. They have reigning Big East player of the year Luke Harangody inside, sharpshooter Kyle McAlarney outside, the always-improving Tory Jackson running the show at the point, and a confident group of seniors in Ryan Ayers, Luke Zeller and Zach Hillesland. And don't forget that Mike Brey has won the conference coach of the year award two years in a row. If ever there was a year for Notre Dame to make a run at a national title, this is it. Georgetown: After losing Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace and Patrick Ewing, Jr., from back-to-back regular-season conference champions, the Hoyas will look to some lesser-known players if they are to again compete for the title. But Georgetown has good coaching in John Thompson III and a star-in-the-making in junior forward DaJuan Summers. The loss of several mainstays will not take the team out of contention.Pittsburgh: Last year's young Pittsburgh team found their stride late winning the Big East Tournament - a sign of things to come for 2008-2009. Their two-headed front court monster of Sam Young and DeJuan Blair should be even better in the post this year, and senior Levance Fields returns to bring a steady hand at point guard. Mike Cook, Benjamin Keith and their 20 points per game from a year ago are gone, but they're replaceable. Look for the Panthers' big three to have this team near the top of the Big East. Possible Tournament teams:West Virginia: Never count out a Bob Huggins-coached team. Returning to Morgantown to coach his alma mata, Huggins took West Virginia to the Sweet 16 upsetting Duke along the way. Junior Joe Mazzula had a breakout game against the Blue Devils, and he takes over the point guard duties from Darius Nichols. The Mountaineers also lost first-round draft pick Joe Alexander and starting center Jamie Smalligan. Senior guard Alex Ruoff, talented underclassmen and a nationally-ranked recruiting class should ease the transition.Villanova: Villanova has almost everybody back. Scottie Reynolds, who averaged 15.9 points per game last season will lead the offense once again, as is Dante Cunningham, who averaged 10.4. Last year, the Wildcats were one of the last teams in the Tournament and made a nice run to the Sweet 16, but Villanova will need another offensive threat to emerge if they want to get in the Tournament this year.Syracuse: Freshman sensation Donte Green was drafted in the first round by the Houston Rockets, but the Orange have plenty of other scorers to pick up the slack. Guards Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins are all back, as is forward Arinze Onuaku. All four averaged double figures in scoring in 2007-2008. If Syracuse hopes to improve this year upon their NIT berths the last two seasons, it needs to improve a defense that yielded over 74 points per game last season.Providence: The team Irish coach Mike Brey said will surprise a lot of people this season. The Friars finished 6-12 last year but lost a lot of close games, including an overtime thriller in the Joyce Center last season. Coach Tim Welsh lost his job. Drake's Keno Davis came in, after being named Associated Press coach of the year last season, and the Friars return most of their players from a roster that had five players average over double figures last season. Providence is balanced and experienced, and that will be needed in the tough Big East.Cincinnati: If Another team that can make a move in the standings this year is Cincinnati, who finished 8-10 last year, good enough for 10th. Texas transfer Mike Williams brings a little bit of everything to the frontcourt, and Deonta Vaughn will provide the bulk of the scoring. Throw in freshman Yancy Gates who led Cincinnati in points and rebounds in the team's first game, and the Bearcats should improve over last season. Little chance of making the Tournament:South Florida: Coach Stan Heath is in the middle of rebuilding a program that just lost its best player, forward Kentrell Gransberry, who put up Harangody-like numbers the past two seasons. They do return Dominique Jones, who was arguably the best freshman in the Big East last season (17.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists per game). The Bulls had a large amount of transfers and brought in a lot of recruits, but a young, inexperienced team won't get it done in the Big East this year.Seton Hall: In point guard Jordan Theodore and big man Melvyn Oliver, the Friars added a pair of recruits that figure to contribute right away. The team also welcomes Robert Mitchell, who scored 16.5 points for Duquesne in 2006-07 before transferring to Seton Hall. Bobby Gonzalez's squad looks to improve on a 17-15 campaign in which it nosedived after starting 15-6. Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights have won just three conference games in each of the past two seasons but they finally appear to have rebuilt. They added highly-regarded recruits Greg Echenique and Mike Rosario, who is the program's first McDonald's All-American. Echenique, who spent the summer with the Venezuelan Junior National Team, joins shot-blocking center Hmady Ndiaye in the Rutgers frontcourt. J.R. Inman, who dropped 12.2 points per game last year, looks to lead the offense again.St. John's: With seven freshmen seeing the court last year, the Red Storm struggled to a 5-13 conference mark. But coach Norm Roberts hopes the experience paid off for those players. Senior Anthony Mason, Jr. will lead this still-inexperienced team as it seeks to make the conference tournament. He will have his hands full as a pair of freshmen will start in the backcourt for the once-proud program.DePaul: After just missing the NCAA Tournament two years ago, DePaul took a step backward in 2007-2008. The Blue Demons won only six conference games, finishing 13th in the Big East and failing to qualify for a postseason tournament. Things don't look much better this year as the Blue Demons lose leading scorer Draelon Burns and his 17.6 points per game. If DePaul wants to improve this season, they'll need guard Dar Tucker and center Mac Koshwal to improve after strong freshman campaigns.

Guiliano, Janton post Olympic trial cuts at U.S. Open

By Madeline Ladd · Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022

It was a monumental weekend for the Irish in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Open. A select group of nine Notre Dame athletes had the opportunity to compete against swimmers from across the United States and countries such as Brazil and Ireland. Sophomore Chris Guiliano and freshman Tommy Janton shined in the pool, each earning Olympic trials cuts, shattering school records and establishing new personal bests. Notre Dame Peterson Family head coach Chris Lindauer highlighted the exposure this meet brought to the swimmers. 

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