“He can make passes when he’s in the air turning back on his body with two guys draped on him, and he still delivers it to that shooting pocket for guys.”

That was Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey after the Fighting Irish defeated Wake Forest 88-75 on Tuesday. He was, of course, talking about Jerian Grant.

Grant led the Fighting Irish with 24 points; but postgame conversation centered around his 10 assists, some dazzling passes but most merely pinpoint accurate to make catch-and-shoot one motion for the recipient.

“When he gets it to guys it’s a H-O-R-S-E shot a lot of times,” said Brey.

“He has great vision, and it seems like every time it’s right on the money,” said V.J. Beachem. “We just try to get open for him, and sometimes even if we’re not open he’ll get us open with his vision. It seems like it’s always right on time and right on the money.”

Grant passed Eric Atkins for third place on ND’s all time assists leader board during the Boston College game on February 4th. He has 609 assists through the Wake Forest game. Chris Thomas’ 833 assists are out of reach, but Grant has an outside chance to catch to catch Tory Jackson (694) to take second place on the list. For my money, Grant’s uncanny accuracy makes him the best passer since I started watching Notre Dame basketball in the late 1960s.

Accuracy, scoring ability in the lane and on the perimeter, and the ability to read the defense combine to make Grant that good.

“He has always had the instinct of finding the open guy and being unselfish and a playmaker,” Brey said. “You’ve heard me say that sometimes he’s too unselfish and he gives it up too much when he can take the shot or drive and get the foul. This year he’s had a great balance of when to drive it and get fouled or shoot the short jump shot, but I think he really prides himself on looking at how a defense plays and making the right play.”

Shooters aren’t the only beneficiaries of Grant’s passes. Bonzie Colson said, “Coach is always telling me ‘screen roll, screen roll, screen roll.’ If we roll, he’s going to find us for easy layups.”

Grant has 172 assists this season. Maintaining his 6.4 per game average, he would need 12 games to match Thomas’ single season record of 252, 8 games if he could average 10 assists the rest of the way. It would take 13 games at the 6.4 average to catch Jackson for second place on the career assists list, 9 games if Grant were to average 10 per game. If Grant comes close to those two milestones, Irish fans will be more than satisfied with the team’s postseason results.

Three Headed Monster

Even though they didn’t play well in the games vs Pittsburgh and Boston College, it looked like the Irish had made strides cleaning up their defensive rebounding. After allowing Duke to rebound 40% of its missed shots in South Bend, ND allowed Pitt to rebound 32% of its misses; and BC only rebounded 25% of its errant shots. It was short lived.

Duke got second chances on 60% of its shots during the rematch in Durham, and Clemson followed with extra chances 40% of the times it missed. The final percentage wasn’t much better in the Wake Forest game, but it was only 10% in the first half. Wake padded its number when it was firing at will trying to get back in the game late in the second half.

Zach Auguste bounced back from a run of substandard games to score 12 points and corral 4 rebounds against the Demon Deacons, but foul trouble limited him to 14 minutes. That opened the door for Austin Torres, and he delivered 5 points and 6 rebounds in 13 minutes. Add Bonzie Colson’s 8 points and 2 boards in 13 minutes, and you’re looking at the kind of big man performance the Irish will need to succeed in the postseason. If they see anything like Tuesday’s 25 points and 12 rebounds supplementing what the guards do, they will be hard to beat.

Road Warriors

Notre Dame will be going for its sixth road victory at Boston College on Saturday with a date for several overtimes at Louisville remaining on the schedule. For reference, the 2011-12 team that went 11-5 in the Big East was only 5-4 on the road; and the 2010-11 team that was 14-4 in the Big East was also 5-4 on the road.

To fully appreciate ND’s road success, consider the make-up of the team – two seniors and an otherwise very young team with only one more upperclassman in the rotation. Credit Grant and Pat Connaughton for the maturity this team has shown on the road early in the season as well as the ability to recover at Clemson after the disappointing performance at Duke. Providing leadership to a veteran team is a good accomplishment. Leading a youthful team to the success we’ve seen to date is extraordinary.