Notre Dame Basketball: Juwan Durham expected to return for fifth year in 2020-2021 season

During a press gathering, Mike Brey said that he will ask Juwan Durham and Nikola Djogo to return for a fifth year for the 2020-2021 season.

Equally important to the invite, is that Juwan Durham expects to return to Notre Dame next year — so he wants to.

The Irish will definitely need Durham next season — especially since they will be losing Rex Pflueger, John Mooney, and T.J. Gibbs to graduation. Durham’s 6’11” frame is just something the Irish don’t restock very easily, and this somewhat helps to ease the losses in recruiting over the last couple of years.

Juwan started his career with the UConn Huskies in 2016. As a freshman, he played sparingly — but he did it in 28 games. Durham then transferred to Notre Dame and had to sit out a year (because he’s not Justin Fields). Over the past two years, Durham has played in 54 games and averaged almost 17 minutes a game, 7 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, and 2.2 blocks... per game.

It goes without saying that Notre Dame will need a lot more from Durham next season — but I’ll say it anyways. With the shooters that the Irish will bring back, a solid and athletic big man like Durham should allow Notre Dame to run a fairly prolific offense without sacrificing anything on the defensive end.