Notre Dame's seniors motivated to keep season going
Notre Dame's men’s basketball team is gearing up for their second round NCAA tournament game against West Virginia. A win on Saturday would set a new standard of excellence in the program.
Getting a chance to make it to the Sweet Sixteen is nothing new for Steve Vasturia and VJ Beachem. They know they're nearing the end of their careers at Notre Dame and that is motivating them and their fellow players.
“We’re in one of the great runs, if not the best run in program history and to get to one tomorrow and to get to San Jose, and get to the second weekend, you know your program is kind of in elite status," Head Coach Mike Brey said.
For Vasturia and Beachem, they have a chance to become the senior class with the most wins in the post-season. Or their college careers could come to an end.
“I don’t try to think about that too much and I just try to play the way I’ve always played as hard as I kind and at the end of the day, try to get a win and do everything in my power," Vasturia said.
“You just got to cherish every moment, cherish every possession and just go from there. We love the position that we are in. Playing against a great team, we just want to make the most of it," Beachem said.
Their teammates want to make the most of the time they have left with their seniors.
“That’s something I like to motivate our guys with, we don’t want our seniors to go out this way, we want them to play as long as they can because we know when we’re seniors we’re going to want the same thing with the younger guys," junior Bonzie Colson said.
“We don’t want to stop playing with these guys. We’ll definitely miss them but we’re trying to play as long as we can with them, you know every day we got to come in focused and I think we definitely use that as motivation," junior Matt Farrell said.
Despite all the success the seniors have had, they have not made it to the Final Four. It's something the team hasn't done since 1978.