Notre Dame Basketball Will Have Trouble Meeting High Standards In 2015-16

By Geoffrey Knox
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

There isn’t a college basketball fan in the country who wouldn’t take a 14-4 conference record. Amazing as it may sound, that wasn’t good enough to win the ACC last year. That wasn’t even good enough for a second place finish. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, after achieving that 14-4 conference record, walked into the ACC tournament as the No. 3 seed. From that Thursday to the following Saturday, they backhanded the Miami Hurricanes, completely dominated the Duke Blue Devils (the team that would win the national championship) and then followed it up by upending the North Carolina Tar Heels in the championship game (who probably spent too much time celebrating the fact that the Blue Devils had lost the day prior).

The Irish only lost two other games out of conference and finished with a 32-6 record. Sounds great right? It should. That’s a phenomenal accomplishment. Then it happened. Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton graduated. No big deal right? Not so fast. One year prior to that, Grant failed to qualify academically; and in his absence the Irish sputtered to finish with a record of 5-13 to close out the season. Now the Irish look to replace him completely and Connaughton won’t be there anymore either.

They add two four-star freshmen, but in losing both Grant and Connaughton, they also lose some leadership in addition to the 29 point per game output the two shared collectively. Demetrius Jackson is getting a lot of attention and should, but the Tar Heels, on paper, have the best team in the conference. Duke, again, has the best recruiting class in the country. The Virginia Cavaliers won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes, Syracuse Orange and even the N.C. State Wolfpack are putting the pieces together to make serious noise. The Irish now switch from the familiar role of hunter to the now unfamiliar role of hunted.

Their coach is smart. Their roster is impressive. Their future is bright. Their direction is clear. They’re headed in the right direction, but expect them to take a step backwards this year. 32-6 will be very hard to repeat for a second season in a row.

Geoffrey Knox is a Writer for ACC Basketball and SEC Football for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @gq_4_eva, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.

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