UHND.com - Notre Dame Football, Basketball, & Recruiting

The biggest thing, in my opinion, is that Hubb is much more prepared. People forget that last year, he was basically a high school senior. He last played as junior in high school and he had to step up and start in the best conference in college basketball. If Hubb is better, Gibbs will be better, as in back to what he was as a sophomore, not asked to be the main distributor. If Durham stays healthy, he will get the team more second-chance points. Even with his injuries, he can jump and he's long. He can give them 8-9 ppg and 5-6 rpg. Finally, he's outstanding at nothing, but Plueger's return is big. He hustles, plays defense, and somehow makes plays at key times, including making shots, even though his jumpshot is anything but pretty. He may be in a bench role, but he'll get a lot of minutes. Laszewski has potential, Carmody has potential. I think Doherty has to get minutes. He's tough and physical. Mooney should do what he did last year. I'm not expecting some big jump. What he does is fine.

The following year, I think Brey will have Dickinson and two other big guys to bring along more slowly among the freshmen. A lot of people will be surprised by Cormac Ryan. That was a really good pickup. His numbers at Stanford aren't indicative of his ability. He was injured much o the year and played hurt. He's tough, he can shoot and he'll be better with the ball than most probably expect. Along with guys like Carmody, Doherty, and the recruits, Taylor and Zona, he's got a swagger about him and plays with high intensity. That bodes well after the last couple years.

Wow. Great update. So we are a couple of years away from being really good?

I am cautiously optimistic about this group.