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Notre Dame Men’s Basketball: Irish can make statement at No. 13 Michigan State

By Brad Weiss

Feb 29, 2020; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Juwan Durham (11) shoots the ball against Wake Forest Demon Deacons center Olivier Sarr (30) during the second half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 29, 2020; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Juwan Durham (11) shoots the ball against Wake Forest Demon Deacons center Olivier Sarr (30) during the second half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Notre Dame Men’s Basketball team has a tough early-season slate, and they can make a statement with a win against No. 13 Michigan State in their opener.

Going into the 2020-21 college basketball season, the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball program is definitely going to be tested early. Head coach Mike Brey has put together an early-season schedule that is one of the hardest in the country, and the party get started on Saturday night against No. 13 Michigan State.

Last season, the Irish made it to the quarterfinal of the ACC tournament before it was cancelled due to COVID-19. Since then, the pandemic has continued to rage all over the world, so the fact that the college basketball season is actually tipping off this week is a miracle in itself.

Notre Dame, like every team in the country, are going to have to navigate what should be a very trying season.

Michigan State is young and talented

Travelling to East Lansing and beating the Michigan State Spartans is never an easy task, but that is what the Irish will try to do in Game No. 1. Michigan State is the No. 13-ranked team in the country to start the season, but they are young, and still have question marks in terms of who their starting five will be.

They have some established players, like wing Aaron Henry, big man Joey Hauser, and Joshua Langford, a fifth-year senior who has missed the last year and a half due to injury. There are still question marks at point guard, and center, but while there are questions, there is not a lack of depth.

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Notre Dame will rely heavily on Prentiss Hubb this season, and will hope that Cormac Ryan is as good as advertised after transferring from Stanford and sitting out last season. Nikola Djogo and Juwan Durham join Hubb and Ryan as captains for the Irish, who will have to find a way to make up for the loss of John Mooney and T.J. Gibbs, two of their top players from last season.

The season kicks off at 8pm ET on Saturday inside the Breslin Center.