Notre Dame Basketball: John Mooney Was Named As A Captain By Mike Brey

On Thursday, Mike Brey announced that junior forward John Mooney will be a captain for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the rest of the season. Mooney is having a breakout season of sorts as he is averaging 11.6 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game. He’s had enough double doubles so far this season that it kind of reminds you a bit of a young Bonzie Colson.

Mooney has been a big voice for the Irish on the floor, but also helping along the young guys. Notre Dame is an extremely young team that has needed and will continue to need a lot of guidance this season — especially as they roll into ACC play.

Notre Dame had that type of leadership in Elijah Burns, and definitely needed someone to step up. John Mooney stepped up, and he was rewarded with the position and responsibility of being a captain.

Mike Brey had this to say about John “Mutton” Mooney:

“It’s more of what he’s doing off of the floor, in his voice. In a lot of our team meetings, I’ll come in and I’ll ask their feedback. I’ll ask, ‘What do you guys think? What do you think we need to do better?’ Johnny is the first guy to give feedback. The one thing about Johnny that you like is emotionally, he’s really steady throughout a game, and I think that can help as we endorse him officially as a captain now.”

Mooney and the Irish will look to turn things around after that heartbreaking loss to the UCLA Bruins as they get set to play the Purdue Boilermakers in the Crossroads Classic on Saturday in Indianapolis.