Three weeks ago, I documented the Notre Dame basketball team’s progress over the course of the season within the construct of Bruce Tuckman’s stages of team development. You will recall that Tuckman, a professor of psychology at Ohio State, identified a model for the stages of team development and successful leader behaviors for each. His work, first published in the 1960s, still is taught in graduate level management and leadership curricula today.

Tuckman identified four distinct stages of development and assigned them catchy, rhyming names – Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. These stages are enduring truth, and the Fighting Irish noticeably tracked through each one in order.

Either as a result of additional study or because it took that long to come up with an appropriate word that came close to rhyming, Dr. Tuckman and colleague Mary Ann Jensen added a fifth stage ten years after publishing his original findings – Adjourning.

When a group or team completes its work, it’s time to adjourn. In the business world, some members of a project team might go back to their regular jobs while others move to the next project. Promotions and outside job opportunities cause changes to work units that require a new team to re-form.

In the sports world, the end of the season is Adjourning time. It’s a time to celebrate success, but it’s also a time of uncertainty as seniors move into the next phases of their lives, underclassmen begin to envision and work towards new, expanded roles in the next season. It’s a time to think about integrating recruits who will be enrolling for summer sessions in a few months. There is sadness that goes with the ending, and optimism about the new beginning that soon will start to unfold.

Now What?

It would not be unusual for team members to feel some anxiety now and not understand why. After all, they just engineered the most successful and enjoyable basketball season in most fans’ memory. They should be bursting with pride, and most of the time they probably are; but as soon as the topic of what’s next arises, there are many more questions than answers.

For Pat Connaughton and Jerian Grant, the next phases of their lives didn’t need a second thought until Sunday morning. Now that’s their main focus. For the remaining rotation players, roles that were set for months are open to possibilities; and those possibilities come with more responsibilities. Players who weren’t in the rotation want a spot next season, and they want to know what is required to get one.

Overriding all questions is filling the leadership vacuum that Connaughton’s and Grant’s departures has created.

“I really believe that our sophomores and Colson have played more like juniors because of the leadership of Pat and Jerian,” Mike Brey said after the regular season finale. Notre Dame will need young players do the same next season. Who will be the leaders who bring out the best in the 2015-16 freshmen and sophomores?

“We have a bunch of leaders on this team,” Steve Vasturia told me after the Clemson game. After acknowledging Connaughton’s and Grant’s roles, Vasturia continued, “We have Demetrius (Jackson) as a leader, and Zach (Auguste) has developed into a leader too. They all do it in different ways. They do it by the way they play on the court, coming in and playing hard every day; and vocally, they’re always holding each other accountable.”

Skylar Diggins explicitly passed leadership responsibilities to Natalie Achonwa during her final awards night speech. Achonwa accepted the challenge and became a great leader from that moment through her last one of the season. It will be interesting to see if there is a similarly explicit challenge when the seniors speak at awards night in a little over a week. That will tell us a lot about the supporting leadership that was part of this season. Is the successor obvious, or does he need to emerge?

On the Court

I have little concern about the amount of talent remaining. Assuming the NBA doesn’t turn his head, Jackson will take the ball and continue to provide the favorable point guard matchup we all enjoyed with Grant. It will be different in nature but similarly explosive.

Noteworthy for next season is the emergence of Auguste and Vasturia late this season. Both improved from 2013-14 to 2014-15, and what they did throughout the season made it a personal success story for each; but they weren’t done at the end of the regular season. What they did at the end portends memorable 2015-16 performances.

Improved but inconsistent throughout the season, Auguste played his last subpar game vs. Louisville on March 4th. In the eight games that followed, he averaged 15.1 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes of playing time per contest. If he can be that guy for his entire senior season, Notre Dame fans will be pleased; but his game still has room to grow. One or two decent post moves, a little better defensive technique, and a better job of avoiding cheap fouls will have Auguste in the mix for ACC honors next season.

Vasturia made the postseason the time to kill perceptions that he is a one-dimensional defensive stopper. Make no mistake. He’s a great defender, but he averaged 13.3 points in seven postseason games while making 52.5% of his shots from the field and 46.4% of his three point attempts. More importantly, he surprised those who thought shooting was his entire offensive game with fearless drives for scores against bigger defenders.

I expect Bonzie Colson to be a full time starter and a very good one. I expect VJ Beachem to work as diligently on his ball handling as he did on adding an intermediate game last offseason, and I expect him to continue to add weight and strength.

If there are significant contributions from Martinas Geben and/or any of the freshmen, this team will be right back at or near the top of the ACC and will be a cause for any opponents’ concern in the postseason.

Looking Back

I invite you to post your favorite moments of the season. Here are a few of mine.

• Strictly in hindsight, I remember Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Mike Herenda finishing his postgame press conference at Notre Dame, starting to leave the press room, stopping, turning to the assembled media creatures (all ND related), and saying, “This is a tournament team, and I mean a deep run in the tournament.” We were hoping to find a way in. He saw more.
• Worrying about Florida State’s size and then crushing the Seminoles by 20 points. The score was closer than the game.
• The improbable comeback from an 18 point deficit at North Carolina State to win in overtime.
• Duke game #1
• Duke game #3
• Buzz bombing North Carolina in the ACC Championship game just when it looked like the Tar Heels were taking control of the game. They still don’t know what happened to them.
• Repeat buzz bombing vs Wichita State
• Everything about the Butler game; but more than anything, Pat Connaughton’s block.

Women’s Final Four

I realize that most Notre Dame men’s basketball fans aren’t regular followers of the women’s team. It’s a different game played by centers who the size of men’s basketball guards and guards who usually weigh 150 pounds or less. If you expect the same amount of athleticism and explosiveness, women’s basketball will not impress you; but if you’re looking for skill and toughness, the Fighting Irish women are worth your time.

This was to be the rebuilding year after losing three legendary players, all high first round draft picks, to graduation over the last two years. The only senior in this season’s playing rotation will be back for a fifth year in 2015-16. Despite their youth, here they are in the Final Four for the fifth straight year.

The Irish play South Carolina at 6:30 EDT Sunday. ESPN will televise the game. Check them out.

The End