Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson Made The Most Of His Opportunity

Early in the season, Notre Dame freshman Bonzie Colson wasn’t seeing a lot of minutes. Coach Mike Brey isn’t against playing freshman, but he doesn’t go very deep into the rotation either. The three star recruit was working hard, doing everything he could to find minutes. When Zach Auguste served a one-game suspension for an academic issue, Colson seized his chance.

While he didn’t get the start, Colson played 22 minutes in the absence of Auguste, scoring 10 while grabbing four rebounds in the Irish victory. His energy has become a key ingredient of his game, and seems to always provide a spark for Brey off the bench. That game set the tone for Colson.

"“He energized the rest of our group with how he played,” Brey said of Colson."

Colson never looked back, and has been one of the first off the bench to spell Auguste, or if he gets in foul trouble. In the last two games, he’s made an even better case for minutes.

In his return to his home state, and a place he knows well in Boston College as his father was once an assistant under Al Skinner, Colson was the brightest star on the court. He scored 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting, and made the Massachusetts native return a memorable one.

Against a suffocating 2-3 zone from Syracuse, Colson once again provided life for an offense that had looked quite stagnant, attacking the zone and getting to the line. While the Irish fell short against ‘Cuse, Colson provided another 16 point game, along with five rebounds and three steals.

In a recent post I even talked about Colson’s physical presence providing a different type of interior player compared to Auguste. Against the zone, his wide wingspan as well as his soft shooting touch from mid-range proved to be very effective.

As Colson gains confidence, he’s only going to get better. As the Irish push towards the end of the regular season and into the ACC Tourney, Colson may be a key factor to how far they can go.