At forward, a 6’10” senior from Avon, Indiana, and Keough Hall… A.J. Burgett!
After Burgett sat on the bench for all but 41 minutes of the 2015-16 season and played only 8 minutes in the first 8 conference games, I don’t think anyone saw that announcement coming.
Burgett’s start in Sunday’s victory over Wake Forest was more than token. He played 25 minutes, made 5 of 7 shots from the field, scored 14 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and added a blocked shot for good measure. What a welcome addition his game was, but why now?
“He’s practiced so well the last month,” Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey said after the game. “Here’s a guy who really hadn’t been in the mix for a long time; and I just felt with Demetrius coming back, and Rex tweaked his ankle a bit, I wanted to start the game with the four captains on the floor.”
“I feel like like I was just trying to do what I’ve done in practice since Christmas break, just coming in and trying to make everybody better,” Burgett said.
The last month? Since Christmas break? What changed four to five weeks ago? Was there a meeting between player and coach?
Brey said there was no such meeting when I asked. Brey said, “He’s never one to come in and meet with me about playing time.”
Brey did go on to describe a different kind of meeting he and Burgett had at the beginning of January. “We lost at Virginia. He didn’t see any time. We get our butts kicked. Zach has a tough day. He comes to see me the next day to talk about how he can help Zach.”
In the past, I have felt a defeatist attitude from Burgett, as if to say that he wasn’t getting a chance to play and never would, so why bother? Observed on the bench during games, he always has been a good teammate who encouraged the others, especially the young guys; but he seemed to be going through the motions when he got to play during mop-up time.
Maybe I drew too much out of brief conversations and short stints on the floor, but I had to believe that something must have changed because both men independently observed better practicing over the last month. So I asked A.J. himself.
“I went home for Christmas break and talked to my dad. He said, ‘This is your last semester. Give it all. I know you aren’t playing much, but just be a great role model for the young guys.’ That’s what I’ve tried to do, tried to show every day in practice.”
A.J. will start the next game vs Miami; and if he continues to play well, the minutes will continue because the team desperately needs consistent defense and rebounding from a big man. And if he continues to play well, Notre Dame fans will owe a big Thank You to Terry Burgett because whatever he told his son and however he said it will have made a positive difference for the last two months of the 2015-16 season.
*For those of you who are too young to get the “Avon calling” reference, Avon cosmetics used to be sold door-to-door.
Shooting Stars
Last week’s note about the lower percentage of three point shots the Irish are attempting this season raised an interesting question – Who are the best three point shooters in Notre Dame history?
Austin Carr might have been at or near the top of the list had there been a three point shot when he played. There wasn’t so he isn’t.
The shot was added to college basketball late in Digger Phelps’ time as Notre Dame’s coach, but he never embraced it. Daimon Sweet and Elmer Bennett were good shooters in that time frame, but individual stats are hard to find now that statsheet.com is out of business.
John MacLeod had a shooter or two, Keith Friel and Ryan Hoover come to mind; but Friel didn’t stay at Notre Dame, and research put Hoover’s shooting percentage in the mid-30s.
So I have limited my selections to the Mike Brey era and created a few rules for my selection committee of one:
- Anyone who played for Brey, even if only for a year, would be considered.
- Only conference statistics (click here to view) will be used to inform my rankings. That’s when the opponents and their defenses were consistently good.
- A minimum of 200 attempts were required to make my top five.
Honorable mentions go to Martin Ingelsby and Matt Carroll.
Like Ayers, Ingelsby barely made the 200 shot cutoff; and while he had a good career percentage, it was 4.3 percentage points lower than the #5 player on my list’s percentage.
Carroll’s outside shot improved every season, but his best single season percentage was lower than four of the top five’s career percentages.
Here is my top five.
#5 – Ryan Ayers. With 200 career attempts, Ayers barely made the cut-off; but the man with the highest career percentage had to be on my list.
#4 – Colin Falls. Falls has the most takes and makes in school history, but everyone who is ahead of him on the list has a higher career percentage than his best single season percentage.
#3 – Kyle McAlarney. McAlarney missed a year due to suspension, but he still had 322 attempts. He made 46.3% of his threes as a junior, the second best season in Notre Dame history (not counting Ayers 15-25 in limited time his sophomore season.
#2 – Tim Abromaitis. Abromaitis has the second best career percentage; and like Ayers, he barely made the 200 shot cut-off. The difference is Abro’s senior season when he made 47.3% of his threes, the second best single season percentage of anyone who had a starter’s number of attempts.
#1 – Chris Quinn. Not only among the career leaders at 43.7%, Quinn has the best single season by far, an amazing 51.8% as a junior. He followed up with a 45.5% senior season. Most players start slow and improve. Quinn improved to 48.2% for his final two seasons wearing an Irish uniform. Nobody else’s final two seasons come close.
That’s my list. What’s yours?