Irish Insights

John Carlson A Scholar Athlete

Notre Dame senior tight end John Carlson is one of 15 National Scholar-Athletes as determined by the National Football Foundation.
Carlson, from Litchfield, Minn., receives an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship and is a finalist for the Draddy Trophy, given to the nation's top football scholar-athlete.
He is the 15th Notre Dame player to receiver the scholarship, the first since Tim Ruddy in 1993.

The Scholar-Athletes:
Alex Brink, QB, Washington State -- Sport Management
John Carlson, TE, Notre Dame -- History
Dennis Dixon, QB, Oregon -- Sociology
Dallas Griffin, C, Texas -- Business Honors/Finance
Mike Klinkenborg, LB, Iowa -- Elementary Education
J Leman, LB, Illinois -- Speech Communication
Brandon Renkart, LB, Rutgers -- Civil Engineering
Paul Smith, QB, Tulsa -- Communications
Jacob Tamme, TE, Kentucky -- Integrated Strategic Communication
Nick Clark, DE, Texas State -- Mathematics
Brandon Cramer, S, Dayton -- Pre-Medicine
Michael Eubanks, LB, Delta (Miss.) State -- Pre-Medicine
Danny Woodhead, TB, Chadron (Neb.) State -- Math/Health and Physical Education
Eric Safran, C, Mount Union (Ohio) -- Business Administration
Jake Weller, DB, Illinois College -- Biology/Chemistry

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Big East Women's Preseason Teams/Polls

Day two of the New York Big East media experience went to ESPNZone in Times Square, where the women had their media day.

2007 Preseason Big East Coaches' Poll:
1. Connecticut (15) 225
2. Rutgers (1) 211
3. West Virginia 186
4. Pittsburgh 169
5. Notre Dame 165
6. Louisville 154
7. DePaul 152
8. Marquette 124
9. USF 105
10. Seton Hall 93
11. St. John's 83
12. Villanova 77
13. Syracuse 61
14. Cincinnati 49
15. Providence 36
16. Georgetown 20

Preseason Player Honors:
Player of the Year: Angel McCoughtry, Jr., F, Louisville
Rookie of the Year: Maya Moore, Fr., F, Connecticut
All-Big East Team:
McCoughtry
Matee Ajavon, Sr., G, Rutgers
Charel Allen, Sr., G, Notre Dame
Essence Carson, Sr., G/F, Rutgers
Tina Charles, Soph., C, Connecticut
Krystal Ellis, Jr., G, Marquette
Renee Montgomery, Jr., G, Connecticut
Olayinka Sanni, Sr., C, West Virginia
Kia Vaughn, Jr., C, Rutgers
Marcedes Walker, Sr., C, Pittsburgh
Shavonte Zellous, RS-Jr., G, Pittsburgh

Honorable Mention:
Allie Quigley, Sr., G, DePaul
Charde Houston, Sr., F, Connecticut
Kia Wright, Sr., G, St. John's

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Maurice Crum To Return Next Year

Notre Dame senior linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. will return for his final year of eligibility, his father, Maurice Crum Sr., told Notre Dame’s student newspaper The Observer on Wednesday.

Crum, a Riverview, Fla., native, is one of two Irish defensive captains this season and the only one of the team’s five captains eligible for next year.

He was named the Walter Camp Foundation Defensive Player of the Week after intercepting two passes, forcing two fumbles and recovering two fumbles in Notre Dame’s lone win this season over UCLA.

Crum is tied with safety Tom Zbikowski as Notre Dame’s fourth-leading tackler this year, making 51 stops. He also has 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions and four pass breakups.

Crum is one of seven Notre Dame players eligible for a fifth season by not playing as true freshmen.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

More Notes From Big East Media Day

Notre Dame forward Rob Kurz looked lonely.

All around him, players had teammates to joke with in idle moments and other players to entertain them. Kurz, he had Notre Dame Associate Athletic Director and men's basketball Sports Information Director Bernie Cafarelli.

Every Big East team brought multiple players to the conference's media day in New York except for the Irish, who chose to bring their lone senior.

"Not necessarily," Kurz said when asked if he felt alone. "It'd be nice to have some of the other guys here but it's not a big deal to me."

Providence, with forwards Charles Burch and Jonathan Kale, swingman Geoff McDermott and guards Sharaud Curry and Weyinmi Efejuku, had the largest listed contingent (although Insights isn't positive all of them showed). Georgetown brought its four seniors: center Roy Hibbert, forward Patrick Ewing Jr. and guards Jonathan Wallace and Tyler Crawford.

Fashion Day

Possibly one of the best things about basketball players is their dress. From stately to outlandish, you never know what you're going to get at a media day.

Kurz showed up in one of the two suits he owned -- a pinstripe number -- with a purple tie.

Best dressed probably went to Marquette guards Dominic James and Jerel McNeal. The two media day vets wore button down shirts with argyle sweater vests -- James in pink and McNeal in brown -- breaking up the monotony of suits worn by most of the other players.

"Last two years I've been wearing a suit," James said. "I wanted to be a little more laid back, do a little sweater vest. Keeping everybody on the P's and Q's.

"I feel like we are always trying to be a little different, got our own little style. That's why I always look forward to coming to New York. You never know what you're going to see."

James also declared it the right move because The Theater at Madison Square Garden was surprisingly hot, so he had people coming up to him sweating. Not a problem there.

The Marquette duo were not the most casual, though, even if they did pull off the country club look well. Syracuse's two-player contingent of Arinze Onuaku and Eric Devendorf showed up in Syracuse sweatshirts with their numbers stitched on the right shoulder.

"We got the laid back look," Devendorf said.

Hibbert's candidate

Being in Washington, D.C. and having to turn down an internship with the Department of Education over the summer, Georgetown center Roy Hibbert has an opinion on a lot of things.

His favorite for President in 2008 -- Barack Obama.

"I've seen Barack Obama speak a couple times at Georgetown," said Hibbert, a government major. "He went to an event at a family friend's house in Maryland. I like Barack. I like what he has to say.

"I have a picture with him, too, so I'm going to put that on Facebook, hopefully."

Marquette Chop

Marquette ran through an unorthodox pre-season training regimen -- taekwondo.

The Golden Eagles brought in taekwondo grand masters to work with them and coach Tom Crean seemed visibly excited talking about it to his players.

"I got two boards," Crean said, motioning to his players for confirmation about breaking wooden panels. "I broke two boards. I could get that. It's all a matter of the mind."

Why they came back...

Both Hibbert and James entered their names in for the NBA Draft. Both, though, decided to return to school.

In their words, here's why they returned:

Hibbert: "I decided I'd be better ready for the NBA at the end of the year. I could get my degree. I'm a government major and I wanted to get an internship on the Hill but I decided to come back and do USA stuff and Georgetown stuff so I couldn't do it. But what's one more year of helping lead my team to a victorious season this year."

James: "I didn't know where I was going to end up. I knew I wanted to be a place where I was secure and that was coming back to Marquette."

Later on, James added more: "I didn't want to be in a situation where I didn't know where I was going to go because the second round is really something you don't want to mess around with cause you really don't know where you are going to fall. Timing is everything in this process and I didn't want to rush something that I've been working for my whole life. I really want to be in the situation when it's all said and done that I want to be at."

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Big East Media Day Polls/Teams

Just in case we neglected to mention it, we've been in New York all week and stopped by Big East men's basketball media day today. Check for two stories in Thursday's Journal Gazette.

Anyway, here is how the preseason coaches' poll played out:

1 (tie). Georgetown 217

1 (tie). Louisville 217

3. Marquette 191

4. Pittsburgh 170

5. Syracuse 153

6. Connecticut 149

7. Villanova 143

8. Providence 141

9. Notre Dame 122

10. West Virginia 112

11. DePaul 79

12. Cincinnati 62

13. Seton Hall 56

14. St. John's 52

15. Rutgers 32

16. USF 23

Preseason All-Big East Player honors and team:

Player of the Year: Roy Hibbert, Sr., C, Georgetown

Co-Rookies of the Year: Donte Greene, F, Syracuse AND Jonny Flynn, G, Syracuse

All-Big East Team:

Hibbert, Sr., C, Georgetown

Jeff Adrien, Jr., F, Connecticut

Jonathan Wallace, Sr., G, Georgetown

David Padgett, Sr., C, Louisville

Terrence Williams, Jr., F, Louisville

Dominic James, Jr., G, Marquette

Jerel McNeal, Jr., G, Marquette

Geoff McDermott, Jr., F, Providence

Kentrell Gransberry, Sr., C, USF

Eric Devendorf, Jr., G, Syracuse

Scottie Reynolds, Soph., G, Villanova

Honorable mention:

Edgar Sosa, Soph., G, Louisville

Levance Fields, Jr., G, Pittsburgh

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Blue-Gold Game date announced

Quick note from the powers that be in South Bend -- the Blue-Gold game will be on April 19, 2008.

No word on sponsorships, honorary captains or format for this year's game yet. That'll likely come in the offseason.

Last year's spring game was sponsored by Home Run Inn pizza and saw Lou Holtz and Ara Parseghian return as honorary coaches. Tony Rice and Ross Browner were honorary captains.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Jonas Gray Commits

One program's loss is another's gain.

Notre Dame picked up its 21st oral commitment for the Class of 2008 on Tuesday when running back Jonas Gray from Detroit Country Day selected the Irish, according to IrishIllustrated.com.

Gray initially committed to Nebraska, but reopened his recruiting process after the Cornhuskers fired their athletic director and head coach Bill Callahan's status is tenuous, at best. Gray visited Notre Dame this weekend for the USC-Notre Dame game.

"Me and coach (Corwin) Brown have always had a good relationship and have always been friends," Gray told IrishIllustrated.com. "Throughout the recruiting process we talked and when this all happened with Nebraska he talked about me coming up for a game and taking an official visit.

"It's funny because (Notre Dame) is always a place I wanted to be at in the beginning."

Gray is the second high-profile commitment for Notre Dame since its 38-0 loss to USC on Saturday. Wide receiver Michael Floyd chose the Irish on Sunday.

What this means for Notre Dame is that despite the record, recruits see potential in the growth of the program. It also shows how good of a recruiter Corwin Brown is, as the Irish have cobbled together the No. 1 recruiting class in the country according to Rivals.com.

And despite the start, Weis is confident the players who have committed -- including Bishop Dwenger wide receiver John Goodman and Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist -- won't back out.

"I can't tell you how many of these (committed recruits) have said 'Don't worry about me, coach, I'm all in.' That's a repeated comment," Weis said. "Do I feel bad for them? Sure. But I feel worse for the guys that are here right now. Especially the guys that are going out the door.

"But I think almost to a man, these guys are saying don't worry about me, coach, I'm all Notre Dame. Go worry about the next guy. Don't worry about me."

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Michael Floyd Commits

Notre Dame picked up another wide receiver oral commitment over the weekend as wide receiver Michael Floyd chose the Irish, according to Scout.com.

Floyd, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound five-star recruit from Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, Minn., is Notre Dame's 20th commitment for the Class of 2008. Floyd chose the Irish over Florida, Ohio State and Minnesota, among others.

"It feels real good knowing that I have a school now," Floyd told Scout.com. "I'm going to help them bring this back and I'm going to get a great degree."

Floyd isn't the only one excited about his non-binding commitment. Wide receiver John Goodman, an Irish oral commitment from Bishop Dwenger, became good friends with Floyd after the two roomed together during summer football camp at Notre Dame.

"When I got to know him more and more I knew he loved the place," Goodman said. "Yesterday I was talking to him at the game and everything and we were sitting together and messing around and having fun. I didn't think it would come this early. I thought he was going to do it at the All-American game."

Goodman and Floyd fill a need for the Irish as well. David Grimes and D.J. Hord will be seniors next year and wide receiver is a spot where Notre Dame can never have enough talent.

"It's cool cause Notre Dame needed receivers obviously and we're good friends," Goodman said. "We're going to try to get through all of it together."

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Looking for a pick-me-up, ND fans?

We're taking time out from the regularly scheduled "What's wrong with Notre Dame now?" moment to bring you back to last season.

We here at Insights happily recommend the book "Saturday Rules," by Austin Murphy, which chronicles the 2006 football season with a fairly large dose of Notre Dame. (Full disclosure: We know Murphy a bit and are acknowledged in the back of the book)

The book will remind you of happier times in South Bend -- although the focus does go to the three losses, as well. Plus, what we picked up from reading the book is how much different Charlie Weis' philosophy on coaching (and moreover, the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick way) is from other teams around the country (USC -- definitely. Boise State, which actually had a fourth-string quarterback design part of the famed "Statue Left" play -- Uh huh.).

Here's one example, with quotes from Carroll and Weis taken from the book:

Carroll (who gives players who are struggling the book 'The Inner Game of Tennis,' by Tim Gallwey, to read): "We're always trying to find things that individual players do in a special manner. Then, we try to fit it in and allow them to demonstrate what's unique about their nature and their style...We try to use them in ways that best express their ability. I think it took us a while to really start to display and exhibit the true nature that this group has."

Weis (from Murphy's book and Weis' own book, "No Excuses"): "Bill's (Parcells) coaching philosophy with the players was to pressure them hard--stay on them, never relax, never let up. Even when things went well he would still tell his assistant coaches to keep the pressure on. Players never knew where they stood with Bill, and that was exactly how he wanted it. He wanted them uneasy."

Have you read the book? What are your thoughts? Midway through this season, we couldn't help but read it and then see things from last year in a different light.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Our Top 25--Week 9

The craziness that is the 2007 college football season continued to move and shake this week as our No. 3 (South Florida), No.7 (South Carolina), No. 8 (California), No. 18 (Tennessee) and No. 21 (Cincinnati) all lost to unranked foes.

As Pete Carroll said before his team headed to South Bend to dismantle Notre Dame: "On we go."

As always, want to rip one of our selections? Praise us? Got a question? Drop it in the box below or e-mail us at [email protected].

Team                     Record       Last Week's Rank

1. Ohio State            8-0                    1

2. Boston College     7-0                    2

3. LSU                       7-1                    4

4. Oklahoma             7-1                     5

5. Virginia Tech        6-1                     6

6. USC                       6-1                     9

7. Oregon                  6-1                     13

8. Florida                   5-2                     12

9. South Florida         7-1                      3

10. West Virginia        6-1                    10

11.  Kansas                  7-0                    15

12. Arizona State        7-0                     16

13. Missouri                 7-1                     17

14. Hawaii                   7-0                      14

15. South Carolina      6-2                       7

16. California              5-2                       8

17.  Michigan               6-2                      23

18. Virginia                  7-1                     UNR

19. Kentucky               6-2                       11

20. Georgia                  5-2                      20

21. UCLA                     5-2                      UNR

22. Texas                     5-2                        24

23. Rutgers                 5-2                        UNR

24. Auburn                  5-3                         19                                           

25. Boise State            6-1                        UNR

Dropped out: No. 18 Tennessee, No. 21 Cincinnati, No. 22 Illinois, No. Texas Tech.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette