Will The Irish Score?
The exit of Ben Hansbrough, Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott from the Notre Dame men's basketball program was expected, as these players fulfilled their commitment to the Fighting Irish and graduated.
Now that the trio has exited, however, the question remains. How does Notre Dame replace all that scoring?
Hansbrough, Nash and Scott were three of the Fighting Irish's top five scorers, but they contributed so much more than just points to Notre Dame's 27-7 season and third-round appearance in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. Together the three averaged 39.1 points per game, just over half of Notre Dame's 75.2 per game scoring average.
Hansbrough, the younger brother of former North Carolina and current Indiana Pacers player Tyler Hansbrough, led the Fighting Irish with 18.5 points per game and was the 2010-11 Big East Conference Player of the Year. In a conference as difficult as the Big East, that is a major accomplishment. He signed with Bayern Munich of Basketball Bundesliga, the official basketball league of Germany. His 145 assists, 47.9 percent overall shooting and 43.5 percent perimeter shooting will be sorely missed.
Scott was not only the team's third-leading scorer at 11.2 points per game, he was the leading rebounder (7.4 per game, 179 defensive rebounds). That is a potent combination coach Mike Brey will need to address quickly, and Brey also will need to look at how to replace Nash's 9.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, not to mention the 90 assists.
To be fair, Notre Dame does have some power coming back. Tim Abromaitis, a 6-foot-8 forward, brings back his 15.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and he should supplant Hansbrough as the team's leading scorer. Scott Martin, a 6-8 senior guard, averaged 9.7 points a game. Together, these two played a combined 2,170 minutes on the court, so they should soak up plenty of playing time.
Notre Dame does have a lot of height, which should help it compete in a loaded Big East race. With two 6-8 players and three guys who are 6-9, the Irish's height will help. The Irish just need other players to score around the top two.
Read the in-depth preview for Notre Dame men's basketball
