Mailbag! Jalen Haralson Transfer Reaction, CJ Carr Ceiling, Notre Dame Short Yardage Solutions, Elite Defensive Depth, and more

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Jalen Heralsen entering the transfer portal tells you exactly where Notre Dame ends

basketball is at right now.

And at the same time, Notre Dame football might finally have the quarterback in CJ Carr

who can take him all the way that's coming right up.

You are locked on Irish, your daily podcast on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, part of

the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

What is up, welcome in to Lockdown Irish, your daily home for Notre Dame football.

I'm Tyler Wojak and happy Friday, everybody.

It is good Friday, April 3rd, and I really appreciate you for making this your first

watch or listen of the day.

Before we get going, make sure that you're subscribed on YouTube or following on your

favorite podcast platform.

So that way you never miss an episode and we have got a loaded show for you on this

Friday.

And we're going to start with some big news as Jalen Heralsen is officially entering the

transfer portal.

We'll get into what it says about the state of Notre Dame ends basketball because this

isn't just about losing a player.

It's really about what it means for the direction of the program.

Then we're going to dive into the mailbag and there is a fascinating question about CJ

Carr's floor and his ceiling.

And we're going to keep it rolling with some more football talk on how Notre Dame fixes

those short yardage issues that plague them last season, plus some fun topics to close

things out heading into the weekend.

But let's get right into it.

What has been known for weeks is now official Jalen Heralsen, the highest rated recruit

in Notre Dame men's basketball history and the best player on the team is going to enter

the transfer portal.

And here's the reality.

This is a massive loss, yes, but it's also like the least surprising thing that has happened

all off season.

In fact, I try to come up with one good reason for him to stay at Notre Dame.

And I just really couldn't find one.

That's the story like that tells you where this program is at right now.

And he is actually the fourth Notre Dame player to announce his intention to enter the

transfer portal since this season ended.

He joined sophomores, Garrett Sondra and Sir Mohammed as well as freshman writer Frost.

And he's not going to be the last one either friend of the show, Tom Neuwy from the

South Bend Tribune and others have reported that Marcus Burton and Coleserta, the other

two players worth keeping on the team are expected to enter the portal in the very near future.

But for today, let's focus on Jalen Heralsen.

Even though we knew this was coming, it's still things.

It's just another reminder that this program isn't a really bad place and things are going

to get much worse before they get better.

It's even more frustrating though when you think about how excited everyone was when

he committed to Notre Dame back in September of 2024 in what that commitment meant for

the program at the time.

If you remember, the Irish were coming off the first season of the Schoesbury era.

They finished 13 and 20 that year.

So it wasn't a great season by any stretch, but they did end on a high note.

They won five of six during a stretch in February, including a nice win over Clemson.

And Marcus Burton had established himself as one of the best young players in the ACC.

So there was reason for hope.

And everyone understood going to that year that like year one was going to be rough because

of what Schoesbury inherited, which was basically nothing you had to start from scratch with the

roster after pretty much everyone left after Mike Bray stepped down.

But he did have Marcus Burton in the class before he wasn't even a Schoesbury recruit and

he decided to stick around despite the fact that Bray was walking out the door.

So the roster was practically empty.

So he was given some grace and there was real optimism going into year two with the way

that the season ended.

And then he got Harrelson, who is who or who was one of the best recruits in the entire

country.

And he committed to Notre Dame over Michigan State, led by Thomas and Indiana.

And even though it wasn't going to help immediately, he wasn't going to suit up for

the team in 2024 and 2025.

It felt like a major signal that the program was headed back in the right direction.

If they could stack more players like him, which they did, they fielded a pretty solid

recruiting class that year, they would be back in the NCAA tournament in no time.

Or so we thought.

But as we know, they barely improved in year two, going from 13 and 20 to 15 and 18.

And that was largely due to Marcus Burton's injuries.

So again, Mike Schoesbury was given some grace.

And then in year three, during what ended up being Harrelson's only season in the program,

they actually went backwards.

They finished 13 and 18.

They failed to make the conference tournament, let alone the NCAA tournament.

And yes, Marcus Burton missed the majority of the season once again, Jalen Harrelson dealt

with some injuries as well.

But you can't go backwards in year three, especially after how disappointing year two was.

So at one point, Harrelson's commitment to Notre Dame felt like the clear sign that

the program was on the rise.

Now just a year and a half later, his departure feels like the clear sign that this program

is in free fall right now.

And it's fair to wonder how long it's going to take to get out of this.

It has gotten so bad that I can't even blame them for leaving.

And I say that as a huge Notre Dame fan who obviously wants him to stay, I try to be objective

about this and come up with one good reason for Jalen Harrelson to stick around at Notre

Dame.

And honestly, I just couldn't do it.

Michael Schruzberry sold Jalen Harrelson on development, on turning him into an NBA player

and he pointed to his time with the Celtics as proof.

And sure, Harrelson showed flashes and clearly got more comfortable as the freshen year went

on.

But be honest, was there one area of his game that clearly improved from the beginning

of the season to the end?

And just adjusting to the college level, I just don't think so.

And that falls on coaching.

His jump shot certainly needs to work and he's got a lot more work to do.

It's not like him coming back was going to take Notre Dame to the NCAA tournament.

Like he definitely has a lot more work to do on his game.

I think when he committed out of high school, there was an idea in his head that he was

going to be a one and done or at least that was his desire.

He's not ready to do that yet.

He's probably another two years away from the NBA, I would say.

But still, he averaged 16.2 points a game, four rebounds per game, which is undoubtedly

impressive.

Virtue freshmen, especially a play signal to the game.

But as Matt Freeman from Irish Sports Daily pointed out, Harrelson finished as the 110th

most efficient player in the ACC among players with 500 plus possessions.

And Matt followed that up by saying, quote, he has a ton of potential.

If you can find a staff that can develop his game, that's that's pretty brutal, but

it's reality.

His game was not being maximized in Notre Dame isn't close to competing for an NCAA tournament

next year.

Like, can you imagine watching these tournament games?

If you're Jalen Harrelson knowing that you could be one of the best college basketball

players in the country and you're not even close to being part of that action, at least

if you stay at Notre Dame and you only have a finite amount of years to play basketball

and make as much money as you possibly can during that time.

And let's be honest.

He said one, playing for Michael Schruzberry and Notre Dame in 2025 in 2026.

So from a basketball standpoint, it does not really make any sense for Jalen Harrelson

to stay.

But what about off the court?

Well, he reportedly made around a million dollars last year, which is great, but a player

of his caliber can make significantly more elsewhere, especially at a program that's

playing in March.

So not only could he make more money playing for another team, he'd also be on a much

more competitive team who is likely destined to make a deep run in March, or at least that

is the goal and the expectation for whatever program he decides to go next.

And if you want to argue that he should stay for the degree, stick around for two more

years.

I mean, Jalen Harrelson has been pretty clear since day one.

He does not want to be in college for a long.

His goal is to develop and get to the NBA and he has shown enough flashes to make that

path realistic.

So the degree becomes secondary when you're talking about life changing money and better

basketball opportunities.

And look, I understand it's hard to put a value on the Notre Dame degree.

It's worth a lot.

But let's be honest, people go to college to set themselves up financially and you're

not automatically handed millions of dollars just because you graduate from Notre Dame.

Trust me.

I wish it worked that way.

Okay.

So if you're Jalen Harrelson and you can make a lot more money right now because Notre

Dame isn't willing to invest as much into the Notre Dame and Spasswell program while

also putting yourself in better position to reach the NBA, I mean, you just make that

decision every single time.

There is no rational person who should be surprised by this.

So now the real question becomes, how does Notre Dame respond?

At this point, it feels pretty clear.

They're not going to fire Mike Shrewsbury this off season.

And honestly, it's hard for me to understand what's holding them back.

This clearly isn't working and there are plenty of powerful, powerful people at Notre

Dame.

We probably don't want him around that much longer.

And there were even reports that he explored other opportunities elsewhere like at Butler.

So I'm not even sure Mike Shrewsbury wants to be around anymore.

So instead, it feels like everyone is just kind of delaying the inevitable with Harrelson

gone and Burton and Serda likely to follow this team is going to be really bad again next

year.

Unless by some miracle, Notre Dame goes out there and they add a bunch of really talented

transfers in the portal and I just don't see that happening.

So you're probably looking at a coaching change with just one less year on the buy-out.

So I guess Notre Dame gets to save some money next off season.

And if that's the plan, fine.

But someone needs to say something, we are well past time.

Like I'd like to hear from the athletic department just acknowledge that this isn't good

enough.

I think athletic director Pete Bavocqua has done a great job overall since becoming

the Notre Dame athletic director.

The football program is in a better place than it has been in a really long time.

He deserves a lot of credit for that.

He understands that football is King at Notre Dame and nobody is disputing that.

One of Pete Bavocqua's main priority, if not the singular most important priority,

is to make sure that the head football coach, Mark Streamen, has everything he needs to

win a national championship.

And so far, I believe he has everything that he needs.

And I also understand that Micah Shrewsbury was not Pete Bavocqua's hire.

That was Jack Swarbricks, but it's his program now.

And I think fans deserve to hear that they recognize that the powerful people at Notre

Dame recognize where things stand with this program.

Because right now, as my guy Luke Smith texted today, lately there hasn't been much evidence

the athletic department even knows the basketball team exists.

And that is just not how you go about fixing this.

And look, I understand a lot of you listening care way more about football and that is completely

fair.

I don't care more about Notre Dame football than any other sports team on Planet Earth.

So I get it.

But you know what's fun, even if you are just a football fan, March Madness, like I feel

like if you just like sports and you watched the end of that Duke Yukon game on Sunday,

that was thrilling.

And you had a ton of fun watching that.

And you know what makes March Madness even more fun watching your school or your team

make a run in the NCAA tournament like those 2015 and 2016 teams were incredible.

And those moments matter, not just for the program, but for the entire athletic department

it gave something for Notre Dame fans to rally around and it was a great time.

That is part of what makes college sports so great and Notre Dame basketball should

be striving to get back to that to that level because they've proven that they can get

to that point.

But right now, they are nowhere close.

And until something size changes, this isn't getting better anytime soon.

All right.

Now a shift gears here and talk about the best player in the football team because CJ

Carr has real high-spin potential in 2026 and he is showing signs to the player that Irish

fans have been dreaming about for a long time.

That's coming up next.

I'm Clea Butler, host of Locked On Women's Basketball and this is Mazda's Women's Basketball

snapshot celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture.

The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Elite 8 wrapped up with the Yukon Huskies, saying

undefeated at 38 and 0 after a decisive win over Notre Dame while the UCLA Bruins rally

passed Duke behind a dominant second half performance.

On the other side, the remaining one seeds in South Carolina and Texas will be determined

after their matchups against TCU and Michigan respectively.

Next up, the final four is set for Friday in Phoenix with the winners advancing to the

National Championship on Sunday.

These moments are earned off the clock.

Those long before the lights ever come on, the sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes

and coming back for more every time.

Mazda puts that same drive into every detail.

When's defined the moment, putting in the work, that defines you.

There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you.

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Welcome back to Lockdown Irish.

Before we get to the mail-back questions, I wanted to let you know that you can still

get your first month of the Every Day or Club for free when you use code March.

And when you do that, you'll unlock ad-free episodes of this show and you'll get access

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your free month.

All right, let's get to our first question.

This one comes from at V. Montgomery.

What is the floor and the ceiling for CJ Carr in 2026?

I would say the floor is 2700 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns, six interceptions,

a 67% completion percentage, and three more rushing touchdowns.

If you're wondering why I'm being so specific, that is because I'm using his exact numbers.

From last season, when he was one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the country during

his first season as a starter, he actually finished eighth in QBR in 2025.

So Gina Godoli was actually asked about how he's been helping Carr in his development.

And this was part of his response.

He said, quote, the job that Carr did last year was phenomenal.

We need CJ this year just to be a great leader.

If he can perform the same way he did last year, great.

He doesn't need to do something above and beyond what he was doing last year.

So mine is just kind of putting guidelines, putting guardrails up for him, end quote.

So if you interpret that literally, it might sound like he's trying to limit what CJ Carr

can be.

But that's not what he means at all.

And my point of this is saying, Gina Godoli understands the level of expectation that

Carr is facing the season and it is astronomical because I truly believe his ceiling is the

best quarterback in College football, a Heisman trophy winner, a national champion in a future

number one overall pick.

So if last season was the floor and he was a top 10 quarterback and his ceiling is literally

the best player in College football, Notre Dame is in great shape at the quarterback position.

Like I am so excited to see what CJ Carr can do the season.

It is probably the most excited I have been about an individual player in a long time.

And I was obviously really excited about what Jeremiah love could do last season.

But it's just different when it's the quarterback.

Notre Dame hasn't gone into a season with a clear top five quarterback in a really long

time.

You consider the rest of the team around him is built to succeed as well.

Like they had Brady Quinn was an unbelievable college quarterback, but there are a lot of

holes on that roster.

And with what CJ Carr has right now, you know, they are in great shape.

It's not just him, right?

He has a great team around him.

And he has the potential to accomplish all those things.

The question is just going to be, will he actually do it?

That remains to be seen because obviously he still has to improve in several areas as

well.

And that is what's on the table for him.

And you know, it really recognized it with a player like car who wants to go above and

beyond and everything that he does on the football field.

You almost have to keep him grounded and like reset his expectations a little bit just

so that he doesn't get overwhelmed and can stay the course because everyone on the outside.

People like me are going to be telling you and everyone else that hey, CJ Carr can be

the best player in college football.

He has all these aspirations and things like that.

And if that starts again, his head, you know, things can spiral.

So hopefully he's not listening.

I don't think he is.

But CJ also is a really high floor compared to most quarterbacks based on what we've already

seen.

And sure, I understand there might be some concern about could his game take a step backwards

because he's not going to be able to hand the ball off to Jeremiah Love and Jardin Price

and defenses are going to play him differently.

That's all true.

I'm sure he's going to see a lot more too high safety looks.

He's going to see a lot more cover to this season than he did last year.

But when you consider how quarterbacks typically develop from their first season as the

starter to the second, and then you also consider how devoted CJ Carr is to being the best

version of himself on the football field.

I just think he is going to take a massive leap this year.

And if he's able to put the rest of his game together and it sounds like he's doing everything

in his power to reach that potential, he can become one of if not the best quarterbacks

to ever come through Notre Dame.

And if he does go out there and he leads the Irish to their first national championship

since 1988, he truly was the prince that was promised.

And that's how I'm going to refer to him until the end of time.

All right.

Next up, we get a question from at DA Domer, NM, given the current roster, how will the

Irish solve the short yardage woes from 2025?

There's a few different ways to go about this.

I think they can be a lot more effective running in 12 personnel with two tight ends.

That's probably the main thing.

Like last year, they just weren't as effective using two tight ends because they really only

had Eli Rairden healthy through the entire year.

Ty Washington was dealing with an injury throughout like the first half of the season.

And then even once he was back, he wasn't really a great blocker.

Blocking wasn't really a strength of Eli Rairden's either.

It's not like they're bad.

It's just not a strength for them.

And I think by bringing back Cooper Flanagan from injury and then having James Flanagan

with a full year under his belt, they will be able to capitalize running the ball and

short yardage situations a lot more frequently.

As a matter of fact, Marcus Freeman spoke about Flanagan during his recent press conference

Cooper Flanagan.

I mean, quote, you miss what Cooper brings the toughness, the tenacity he brings to practice.

You miss that.

And sometimes you don't notice until you have him back, but he's back to old Cooper and

he's pretty special and quote, I think Cooper Flanagan's return will be felt the most

in the run game because Flanagan has played a lot of football and Notre Dame in just two

seasons.

I mean, he missed all last season, but in his first two seasons, he played 426 offensive

snaps, but he has only caught five passes, although three of those five went for touchdown.

So he has been used much more frequently in the run game than as a pass catching tight

end.

So his strength is as a blocker and Notre Dame felt his absence in a big way last season.

I mean, there were times when Notre Dame was in short yardage situations where they are

bringing in match, effort and motion.

And I love his story.

I love what he's done during his time at Notre Dame.

But like when you're trying to bring in big bodies to block and get that, you know, third

and one or fourth and one, you'd probably be in a better situation.

If you have a big bruising tight end like Cooper Flanagan out there to lead the way.

And admittedly, Den Brock can be a little bit stubborn at times with his play calling.

They continue to run into stacked boxes and they got stuffed up the middle far too often

in these situations.

And I think, you know, when they do some self-scouting during the off season, Den Brock

and probably, you know, admit that like there were times when they could have spread it

out a little bit more.

It was something that I brought up a lot.

Another example of Mike Den Brock being stubborn was actually in 2024 when Notre Dame was

near the goal line and they were playing army and they ran that exotic formation that

was meant to be sort of a tribute to the four horsemen days because it was the 100 year

anniversary from the four horsemen.

And then they ended up getting stuffed by army at the goal line and that should never

happen.

I feel like Notre Dame has been in that position way too frequently the past two years.

But I also think they're going to have more success this year simply because they have

better personnel on the line and on the interior.

I think Anthony Nat moving to guard is probably going to help them there.

And I also think CJ Carr is going to have to convert some first downs with his leg with

his legs, but only in the big games, right?

There is no world where Notre Dame should be running QB power with CJ Carr in the first

half against rice.

And I don't think they will.

But also, Carr has mentioned that he wants to go under center more.

And I think that's important.

Now, part of that is probably him preparing for the NFL and he understands that he's going

to have to go under center a lot more when he reaches that level.

But it's also going to help in short yardage, especially if Carr can just take a snap and

plow forward behind the offensive line to move the chains.

As for the running back who could help here, my money is not Nolan James Jr.

He's short.

He's compact by all accounts.

He's tough to bring down.

And I think he's going to hit the hole with enough burst to convert.

Now, obviously, if Keija Young is healthy and available, that changes things given his

size.

But sometimes it's not about being the biggest back.

It's about getting to the hole the fastest so you can beat the defensive line.

It's part of the reason that former Notre Dame running back coach, Stila McCullough, with

your brown pain over object estimate and some short yardage situations.

I didn't always agree with those, but I think his line of thinking was, pain is five

nine.

He's really just low to the ground and he can find like squeeze for those extra yards.

S may big running back, really, really talented college running back, but sometimes he was

a little bit slow to get to the hole because he was such a big body getting down hill.

But then once he got down hill, I mean, there was no stopping him.

But again, it's different in a situation where it's third and short and fourth and the

defense knows you're going to be running it up the middle.

So I think Nolan James Jr. could be a much better version of your bond pain in the short

yardage situation.

So I think he's a great fit for the role.

I think Notre Dame is going to take a big step forward in that department this season.

Okay, Connor Higgins asked, this might sound crazy, but I think the 2026 second team

defense could be better than some of the early Brian Kelly defenses outside of 2012.

Obviously, if you ignore depth and only focus on the starters, would you take this entire

second unit over some past defenses?

Okay, interesting question from Connor here.

First, let's define what the second team defense is as of now.

So in the defensive line, I think you're looking at Keon, Kaylee, Teona Gray, Elijah Hughes,

and either Logan Thomas or Ronnie Dunham.

Alignbacker, we're going to say that both Drake Bowen and Kingston, William Ossah are

healthy, so we're going to go with Jane Osbury and Jalen Seed.

And then in the secondary, Mark Zachary, Jane Sanders, DJ McKinney, we're going to put

him at Nickel for this exercise.

And then it's safe that you've got Luke Talich and either Ethan Long or Joey O'Brien.

We're going to say Christian Gray and Dallas Golden are both starting right now.

So if you take that unit, I think they're better than the 2007 defense, for sure, and

probably 2009 as well.

When you consider the amount of talent that Notre Dame had on offense, like Jimmy

Clausson, Golden Tay, Kyle Rudolph, Michael Floyd, and they still went six and six.

It wasn't because of the offense is because the defense was terrible that year.

So I would actually take the second team unit over Charlie Weiss's last defense.

But the question was about Brian Kelly's early defenses.

I think people are forgetting, they were pretty solid on that side of the ball.

Brian Kelly was able to come in and clean up that side of the ball pretty quickly,

but they just didn't really have a quarterback that they loved early on.

Like the 2010 defenses actually pretty solid.

They finished 23rd in the country and scoring defense.

They actually finished top 30 in his first two seasons.

And then in 2012, they had the second best defense in the country.

I would, however, take this second team unit over the 2014 defense.

They were really bad.

They finished 97th in scoring defense that season.

And it is also much better than the 2016 defense because that group really struggled.

I mean, they were starting guys who had no business starting at Notre Dame ever.

And some of them were true fresh.

And so they were just in a world of paying that year.

Brian Van Gordon ends up getting fired mid season.

So there's a bunch of things going on there.

But that's why I'm taking this 2026 second team defense over the 2016 unit

and the biggest difference here by far is the secondary.

Like I didn't even mention curry Adams in the second team unit.

Partially because he's a freshman and he's going to miss all spring practice.

So we don't really know where he's at right now.

But I imagine at full health, he could have started on a lot of those teams,

even the good teams, like he's probably starting over Kavari Russell on that 2012 defense.

But Mike Elsen did have some good defensive lines.

He's a good defensive line coach and Notre Dame had some pretty strong fronts in those years,

even if they lacked like a truly elite past pressure outside of Stefan to it.

So those defensive lines are probably better than what Notre Dame has in the second team unit.

But in the secondary, it's just so different from top to bottom.

This group overall just has more talent and more athleticism.

But I really like this question a lot and they just kind of puts into perspective.

The growth Notre Dame has made just throughout the roster, not just the front light starters,

but the depth as well.

All right, those are some great football questions there.

Now let's have a little fun to close it out more mailbag coming right up.

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Are we just have a few more questions left on this Friday mail bag?

And our next one comes from at Indie underscore lunch box.

If the recent commit Isaiah Rogers committed this soon out of concern that another running back

recruit would take the second spot in the 2026 recruiting cycle.

Should we consider his recruitment still open?

And Indie lunch box says I feel like he's still pursuing the best fit for himself.

I understand what you're getting at, but no, I'm not worried about that at all.

He wants to be part of the class and Notre Dame would not accept his commitment

if they felt like he was wavering.

And we've talked about this a lot on the show since he committed.

Lathan was in 10 was the first running back to commit in this class.

Notre Dame was only going to take two.

So once was in 10 committed, there was only one spot left and Notre Dame was in the mix

for several guys.

It wasn't just Rogers.

They were after cigar as well.

But this is less about him trying to hold a spot in this class.

And it has more to do with his desire to actually be part of this class to go to Notre Dame

and be a part of this football program while understanding that if he didn't commit

soon, someone else could take that spot and likely would take that spot.

So he, I think you just realized where he wanted to go and understood the urgency

of the situation.

Also, Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame coaching staff make it pretty clear that they expect

commits to mostly shut down their recruitment.

There is some leeway, obviously, depending on the caliber of player and the situation.

Like I'm sure if they had command spell committed them publicly back in October when he was

on campus for the Notre Dame USC game.

Like, yeah, they understand with a player like spell who is going to be recruited by literally

every school in the country.

Like he's probably going to answer the phone.

He might even take a trip to campus.

But it's just different for different guys, right?

What's the old Jimmy Johnson line?

I'm not going to treat everyone equally.

I'm going to treat them fairly.

And that's kind of how it works sometimes, especially with recruiting.

Like this thing that Peyton Bowen was getting away with is a five star safety recruit

are not the same as like what some other recruits would be able to do during their

time in high school as well.

So there's some leeway.

But I feel like Notre Dame understood that they are in the mix for several talented

guys and they only had two spots.

And Isaiah Rogers was really good.

The coaching staff really likes him.

So they were more than happy to accept that commitment.

There are other players.

I'm sure who might be able to visit elsewhere or take a look at schools.

Like there were some reports that Ace Austin, the defensive back commit might have

visited Florida recently.

I don't have all the details on that.

But given how highly recruited he is.

And the fact that Mike Mickens is out the door.

Mickens is his position coach.

He's the guy that recruited him.

I feel like Notre Dame might be a little bit more understanding in that situation.

But if Rogers kept his recruitment completely open and it was clear that he was just

trying to save his spot, Notre Dame wouldn't wait around for him, right?

They would move on first.

All right, Johnny Mack wants to know who are your three favorite non football

athletes of all time in favorite non football coach?

Okay.

For my three athletes, I'm going to go with pack on it and Kyle McLearny and Skyler

against and then for the favorite non football coach, that one was easy.

That's Mike Bray.

But let's go back to pack on it.

And it was really tough for me to pick between pack on it and Jerry and Grape just

based on what both of those guys did for the Notre Dame's basketball program and

the run that they led in 2015.

We've already talked about that a little bit on the show today.

But since pack on it and was a stud at two sports at Notre Dame, I'm going to give

him the nod here and funny story about pack on it and I don't know if I've told

this on the show.

So Conatin was a senior when I was a freshman.

And at that time, this is before the 2014 2015 season when Notre Dame made their

first run to the elite eight.

Conatin had just been drafted to play baseball for the Baltimore Orioles.

And I believe he was drafted in the fourth round and he would have been drafted

earlier if he had committed to playing baseball full time.

But he made it pretty clear that he was going to play his last season of basketball

while he was still considering baseball.

So that summer, he pitched in the minor leagues for the Orioles and he got a nice

signing bonus.

So when he showed back up on campus, I remember seeing him driving around and he had

this sweet car.

I think it was a Range Rover.

I could be wrong.

But it was a nicer car than pretty much what every other college kid was driving.

And I remember thinking about it at the time, like, man, that's got to be so nice

to be able to go to college and experience that and actually have made really nice money.

You know what I'm saying?

So this was NIL before NIL.

And now that's commonplace, right?

Like every big time athlete and every power for every big time school is going to have

a sick car.

They're going to have, you know, probably the nicest housing around campus.

But at the time, it just felt so unique.

And I remember being so jealous of him like, man, must be nice, right?

To have a signing bonus and then come back your senior year and then play basketball.

Because at the time, he could make money playing baseball, but as long as he didn't

make any money playing basketball, he could still play at Notre Dame.

So I just thought that was funny and he was a great dude, very humble.

Everyone who's been around him has nothing but great things to say.

So rooting for Pat Connotton was easy and it was a whole lot of fun.

And then you have Kyle Maclarty, one of my favorite players during my childhood.

He was so much fun to watch.

And that was like right around the time when I was really getting in to college basketball.

He was on the team, I believe when my family moved to Louisville.

And if you don't know anything about Louisville or the state of Kentucky,

college basketball is king with the Louisville Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats

and no professional sports in the state, all they care about is college basketball.

So Notre Dame was still in the big east at the time.

They were led by Mike Bray and Kyle Maclarty was one of the most fun players to watch.

Like he was Steph Curry before Steph Curry.

And obviously he was not nearly as good as Steph.

But it's normal now to see guys pulling up from 35 feet.

But that wasn't happening back then, but Kyle Maclarty was doing it.

And he was doing it while shooting 43% from three for his career.

So he was taking about eight threes per game during a senior season at a high volume.

Plus they were very difficult shots.

And he was still incredibly efficient.

So he was such a fun player to root for on some really fun Mike Bray teams.

And then you've got Skyler Diggins.

You can make the case that if NIL were around when Skyler Diggins was at Notre Dame,

she might have made more money than any Notre Dame athlete, any Notre Dame football player.

Like it was insane.

Skyler Diggins was such a big star.

She had Lil Wayne showing up to games in South Bend during the prime of his career.

I'm talking Lil Wayne showing up to watch a Notre Dame women's basketball game on a weeknight court side.

And that's when Lil Wayne was huge.

Not not now when he's like old and probably addicted to drugs and kind of scary looking.

Drake was wearing her jersey while hosting the SPs.

While she was still in college, this is before she got to the WNBA.

And now I feel like women's college basketball is much more part of like the culture.

And everyone understands that Caitlin Clark and how big the star she was.

Well, women's college basketball was not nearly as big at the time.

And yet Skyler Diggins transcended all that.

And yeah, I think part of that had to do with her looks and her star power off the court.

But man, she could hoop.

She was a two time all American and the face of some really great Notre Dame team.

So I'm going to include her in that as well.

Mike Bray.

Come on.

That's pretty simple.

Lucius coach in college basketball, great coach led some of the best teams in Notre

Dame men's basketball history, great personality.

And easy got to root for.

I remember doing a show last summer and I said that if I could tailgate with one Notre Dame

person ever, it would be Mike Bray and he ended up hearing it somehow and treated

at me.

So we got to figure out a time to connect Mike Bray.

I don't know if you're listening to this, but you were listening to that one episode.

So maybe it's an opportunity, but we got to get you in the fall at a tailgate before

one of these football games.

Our last question comes from at Katie ND1.

If you own a place in South Bend, where would you want it to be and how would you outfit

it?

So for the sake of this exercise, I'm going to keep the focus on tailgating.

So I would want one of those nice New York condos by Eddie Street, right?

Like right off Angela and directly South of the Compton family, Icerina, you just can't

be that location.

I would turn the garage though into an Irish pub with a bunch of Notre Dame decor.

And I'd probably have to get my dad to help with that.

He's got experience.

He turned our basement at our house in Louisville into an Irish bar.

It was unbelievable.

He worked on that project for years, finished it.

They got to enjoy it for like a year and then my family moved.

That's another story for another time.

I'd also want a bunch of like old Notre Dame memorabilia inside, plus some nods to my favorite

spots in South Bend, like the linebacker in CJ's, but the most important thing, the critical

piece to having the best indoor tailgate during football season.

I need at least three televisions.

That way everyone can watch the other college football games while we're tailgating.

It's honestly the one and only downside to actually going to a Notre Dame game is you

miss everything else happening that day in college football for the most part of me.

Sure, you could track it on your phone.

Maybe you can like sneak a peek at someone else's tailgate to all the people who have great

TV setups at the tailgates like salute to you.

You guys are doing it the right way.

So yeah, it can be an Irish pub setup, packed with TVs in memorabilia, all within walking

distance of the stadium.

Like to me, that is the dream.

And hey, if you've got a great setup, whether it's at a house or a tailgate, send me a picture,

maybe I'll make it there someday this fall.

All right, that's going to do it for me today.

Thanks again for making a lockdown.

I wish your first watch or listen to the day and for tuning in all week long before you

head out for the weekend, make sure you subscribe on YouTube.

Follow on your favorite podcast platform, like the video and leave a rating or review.

By the way, if you never miss an episode of the everyday clubs built for you, get locked

on Irish ad free plus members only discord access and more, head to locked on iris.supercast.com

to join the club.

And just a heads up, there will be no episode on Monday after Easter, but we will be right

back here on Tuesday.

So happy Easter, everybody.

Enjoy the weekend and I'll see you next time.

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