2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Record11–15 (7–11 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaPurcell Pavilion
Seasons
2020–21 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 15 Virginia 13 – 4   .765 18 – 7   .720
No. 14 Florida State 11 – 4   .733 18 – 7   .720
No. 25 Virginia Tech 9 – 4   .692 15 – 7   .682
Georgia Tech † 11 – 6   .647 17 – 9   .654
Clemson 10 – 6   .625 16 – 8   .667
North Carolina 10 – 6   .625 18 – 11   .621
Louisville 8 – 5   .615 13 – 7   .650
Syracuse 9 – 7   .563 18 – 10   .643
NC State 9 – 8   .529 14 – 11   .560
Duke 9 – 9   .500 13 – 11   .542
Notre Dame 7 – 11   .389 11 – 15   .423
Pittsburgh 6 – 10   .375 10 – 12   .455
Miami (FL) 4 – 15   .211 10 – 17   .370
Wake Forest 3 – 15   .167 6 – 16   .273
Boston College 2 – 11   .154 4 – 16   .200
† 2021 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Fighting Irish were led by 21st-year head coach Mike Brey and played their home games at the Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, Indiana as eight-year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Fighting Irish finished the season 11–15, 7–11 in ACC play, to finish in eleventh place. In the ACC tournament they defeated Wake Forest before losing to North Carolina in the second round. They were not invited to either the NCAA tournament or NIT.

Previous season

The Fighting Irish finished the 2019–20 season 20–12, 10–10 in ACC play to finish in a tie for eight place. As the No. 7 seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated Boston College in the second round. The team was scheduled to play Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The NCAA tournament and NIT were also cancelled due to the pandemic.[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Rex Pflueger 0 G 6'6" 218 Graduate Student Dana Point, CA Graduated
T. J. Gibbs 10 G 6'3" 185 Senior Scotch Plains, NJ Graduated
Chris Doherty 15 F 6'8" 235 Sophomore Marlborough, MA Transferred to Northeastern
John Mooney 33 F 6'9" 245 Senior Orlando, FL Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Trey Wertz 2 G 6'5" 195 Junior Charlotte, NC Santa Clara

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Elijah Taylor
#41 PF 		Philadelphia, PA Imhotep Charter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 231 lb (105 kg) Sep 19, 2019 
Star ratings: Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN:3/5 stars   ESPN grade: 79
Matt Zona
#51 C 		Blauvelt, NY Bergen Catholic 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 243 lb (110 kg) Sep 30, 2019 
Star ratings: Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN:3/5 stars   ESPN grade: 77
Tony Sanders Jr.
#47 SF 		Miami, FL Gulliver Prep 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Apr 3, 2020 
Star ratings: Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: 0
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Notre Dame Fighting Irish". ESPN.com.
  • "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.
  • "Notre Dame 2020 Basketball Commits". 247sports.com.

Roster

2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 2 Trey Wertz 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Providence Day Charlotte, NC
G 3 Prentiss Hubb 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Gonzaga Upper Marlboro, MD
G 5 Cormac Ryan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Milton Academy
Stanford 		New York City, NY
F 11 Juwan Durham 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 223 lb (101 kg) GS Tampa Prep
Connecticut 		Tampa, FL
G 12 Tony Sanders Jr. 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Fr Gulliver Prep Miami, FL
G 13 Nikola Djogo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) GS Athlete Institute Prep Hamilton, Ontario
F 14 Nate Laszewski 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 227 lb (103 kg) Jr Northfield Mount Hermon Jupiter, FL
F 22 Elijah Taylor 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 231 lb (105 kg) Fr Imhotep Philadelphia, PA
G 23 Dane Goodwin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Upper Arlington Upper Arlington, OH
G 24 Robby Carmody 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Mars Area Mars, PA
F 25 Matt Zona 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 243 lb (110 kg) Fr Bergen Catholic Blauvelt, NY
G 31 Elijah Morgan (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Jesuit High School New Orleans, LA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 23, 2020

Schedule and results

Source:[3]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 28, 2020*
8:00 p.m., BTN 		at No. 13 Michigan State L 70–80  0–1
  23 – Hubb   9 – Laszewski   4 – Goodwin  Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
December 2, 2020*
7:00 p.m., ACCRSN 		Western Michigan Canceled due to COVID-19 issues[4] Purcell Pavilion 
Notre Dame, IN
December 5, 2020*
11:00 a.m., ACCNX 		Purdue Fort Wayne Canceled due to COVID-19 issues[5] Purcell Pavilion 
Notre Dame, IN
December 6, 2020*
7:00 p.m., ACCN 		Detroit Mercy W 78–70  1–1
  18 – Hubb   11 – Laszewski   8 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (84)
Notre Dame, IN
December 8, 2020*
7:30 p.m., ESPN2 		No. 22 Ohio State
ACC–Big Ten Challenge 		L 85–90  1–2
  26 – Hubb   9 – Tied   6 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (156)
Notre Dame, IN
December 12, 2020*
12:00 p.m., CBS 		at Kentucky W 64–63  2–2
  21 – Laszewski   9 – Laszewski   4 – Ryan  Rupp Arena (3,075)
Lexington, KY
December 16, 2020
9:00 p.m., ESPN 		No. 21 Duke L 65–75  2–3
(0–1) 		 25 – Goodwin   8 – Laszewski   3 – Tied  Purcell Pavilion (89)
Notre Dame, IN
December 19, 2020*
2:30 p.m., ESPN2 		vs. Purdue
Crossroads Classic 		L 78–88  2–4
  27 – Wertz   6 – Tied   5 – Wertz  Bankers Life Fieldhouse (0)
Indianapolis, IN
December 23, 2020*
12:00 p.m. 		Bellarmine W 81–70  3–4
  27 – Goodwin   8 – Laszewski   4 – Tied  Purcell Pavilion (82)
Notre Dame, IN
December 30, 2020
6:00 p.m., ACCN 		No. 23 Virginia L 57–66  3–5
(0–2) 		 28 – Laszewski   7 – Goodwin   8 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (86)
Notre Dame, IN
January 2, 2021
2:00 p.m., ACCN 		at North Carolina L 65–66  3–6
(0–3) 		 25 – Laszewski   9 – Laszewski   5 – Tied  Dean Smith Center (0)
Chapel Hill, NC
January 6, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCRSN 		Georgia Tech Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[6] Purcell Pavilion 
Notre Dame, IN
January 10, 2021
6:00 p.m., ACCN 		at No. 19 Virginia Tech L 63–77  3–7
(0–4) 		 17 – Laszewski   7 – Ryan   6 – Hubb  Cassell Coliseum (250)
Blacksburg, VA
January 13, 2021
4:30 p.m., ACCN 		at No. 18 Virginia L 68–80  3–8
(0–5) 		 16 – Ryan   8 – Laszewski   4 – Wertz  John Paul Jones Arena (250)
Charlottesville, VA
January 16, 2021
4:00 p.m., ACCN 		Boston College W 80–70  4–8
(1–5) 		 21 – Goodwin   11 – Durham   10 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (78)
Notre Dame, IN
January 18, 2021*
2:30 p.m., FOX 		at Howard Canceled due to COVID-19 issues[7] Burr Gymnasium 
Washington, D.C.
January 24, 2021
6:00 p.m., ACCN 		at Miami (FL) W 73–59  5–8
(2–5) 		 21 – Laszewski   10 – Laszewski   9 – Hubb  Watsco Center (0)
Coral Gables, FL
January 27, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCRSN 		No. 20 Virginia Tech L 51–62  5–9
(2–6) 		 22 – Hubb   10 – Laszewski   3 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (103)
Notre Dame, IN
January 30, 2021
8:00 p.m., ACCN 		at Pittsburgh W 84–58  6–9
(3–6) 		 19 – Ryan   9 – Tied   9 – Hubb  Petersen Events Center (500)
Pittsburgh, PA
February 2, 2021
5:00 p.m., ACCN 		Wake Forest W 79–58  7–9
(4–6) 		 18 – Durham   10 – Laszewski   10 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (123)
Notre Dame, IN
February 6, 2021
8:00 p.m., ACCN 		at Georgia Tech L 80–82  7–10
(4–7) 		 27 – Laszewski   7 – Tied   10 – Hubb  McCamish Pavilion (1,200)
Atlanta, GA
February 9, 2021
4:30 p.m., ACCN 		at Duke W 93–89  8–10
(5–7) 		 28 – Ryan   7 – Goodwin   8 – Hubb  Cameron Indoor Stadium (0)
Durham, NC
February 14, 2021
6:00 p.m., ACCN 		Miami (FL) W 71–61  9–10
(6–7) 		 18 – Djogo   11 – Goodwin   5 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (114)
Notre Dame, IN
February 17, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCRSN 		Clemson Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[8] Purcell Pavilion 
Notre Dame, IN
February 20, 2021
2:00 p.m., ACCN 		at Syracuse L 67–75  9–11
(6–8) 		 17 – Wertz   12 – Laszewski   10 – Hubb  Carrier Dome (0)
Syracuse, NY
February 23, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCN 		at Louisville L 57–69  9–12
(6–9) 		 18 – Durham   8 – Ryan   6 – Hubb  KFC Yum! Center (2,948)
Louisville, KY
February 27, 2021
2:00 p.m., ACCN 		at Boston College L 90–94  9–13
(6–10) 		 28 – Hubb   9 – Laszewski   7 – Hubb  Conte Forum (0)
Chestnut Hill, MA
March 3, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCN 		NC State L 69–80  9–14
(6–11) 		 14 – Hubb   9 – Tied   4 – Tied  Purcell Pavilion (497)
Notre Dame, IN
March 6, 2021
12:00 p.m., ESPN2 		No. 11 Florida State W 83–73  10–14
(7–11) 		 22 – Hubb   9 – Tied   5 – Hubb  Purcell Pavilion (646)
Notre Dame, IN
ACC tournament
March 9, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCN 		(11) vs. (14) Wake Forest
First round 		W 80–77  11–14
  16 – Tied   10 – Durham   4 – Hubb  Greensboro Coliseum (2,820)
Greensboro, NC
March 10, 2021
9:00 p.m., ACCN 		(11) vs. (6) North Carolina
Second round 		L 59–101  11–15
  13 – Tied   6 – Durham   3 – Hubb  Greensboro Coliseum (2,820)
Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: — = Not ranked
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP—————————————————Not released
Coaches——————————————————

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

References

  1. ^ "Statement from ACC on Men's Basketball Tournament". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships". Archived from the original on March 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". und.com. Notre Dame Athletics. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  4. ^ "Home Opener With Western Michigan Canceled". und.com. Notre Dame Athletics. December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  5. ^ "Home Opener With Purdue Fort Wayne Canceled". und.com. Notre Dame Athletics. December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  6. ^ "Georgia Tech at Notre Dame Men's Basketball Game Postponed". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "NOTRE DAME - HOWARD MLK DAY MEETING POSTPONED TO 2022". und.com. The University of Notre Dame. January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  8. ^ "Clemson at Notre Dame Men's Basketball Game Postponed". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.