Notre Dame Basketball: Matt Farrell is Emerging as Irish’s Star

Matt Farrell was supposed to be a good role player this season, but not satisfied he’s now making Notre Dame his team.

It was a rough start for Matt Farrell in his career at Notre Dame. He played his last two seasons behind NBA guards Jerian Grant and Demetrius Jackson and didn’t find much playing time until the end of last season when Mike Brey made the move to start him in the NCAA Tournament. A move that helped lead Notre Dame to their back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.

The success of Farrell didn’t end there. He knew coming into this season after the departure of Jackson that this would be his offense to run. And when they do get out and run, it’s a show.

Now that Farrell is playing more minutes, as the season progresses, he’s becoming more comfortable. Often going over to Mike Brey when he sees something and helps decide what’s the best game plan.

Adapted Efficiency

The ball-security is still improving, but Farrell has led the Irish to become a very powerful and efficient offense. Notre Dame has the 4th best offensive rating and 5th lowest turnover percentage in the country.

Farrell has already produced five games of 18 points or better this season. Shooting 45% off of 32.3 minutes per game and 5.4 assists, he’s finding his stride and breaking out.

Even Jay Bilas had to chime in.

The Irish are also currently leading the country in free throw percentage. As a team they hit 84% from the charity stripe and Farrell has been a big part of that shooting 90%

It’s not just offensively that Farrell can make an impact. On the other side of the ball, it’s just as hard to go at him as it is to guard him. If you’ve watched any Notre Dame broadcast this season, you would know that Farrell is a Jersey boy. It reflects in his game too as many call it Jersey toughness. He’s physical and a tough body to run through.

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Just over half way through the season sitting at 14-2 and 3-0 in ACC, Matt Farrell looks like he’s just getting started during this breakout season.