LWA's Nash key role player for Irish

The three-plus year progression for Notre Dame senior forward Tyrone Nash has been both steady and positive. The Lawrence Woodmere Academy graduate went from a seldom-used forward his freshman season to a key starter on an Irish team that is still hoping to earn a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament when the selections are announced Sunday.

"I'm trying to get better every day," said the 6-8 forward, who is averaging a career high in points (9.6 points) and rebounds (5.9) this season. "Even as a senior, I have a lot of room to get better."

Nash had 13 points and shot 3-for-6 in Notre Dame's 83-77 Big East Tournament semifinal loss to Louisville on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Although Nash has had his share of big moments this season, including 15 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Georgetown and an 18-point, six-rebound effort against Georgia, he insists he's just one small part of a larger effort. The Queens native said it's "a blessing" to be a part of a team that has a chance to do something special.

"It's a testament of how much film we watched this season," Nash said. "We just tried to take away our opponents' strengths and expose their weaknesses."

Nash is part of a senior-laden team that includes Big East player of the year Ben Hansbrough, Tim Abromaitis, Carleton Scott and Scott Martin. Nash and the rest of Notre Dame's seniors have taken the fourth-ranked Irish (26-6) to new heights.

"We just try to impose our will for 40 minutes," Nash said. "A lot of teams try to compete with us and teams really can't withstand 40 minutes of our will."

Notre Dame's vault to the upper echelon of college basketball took place long before the season began, according to Nash. "It's something that started back in the summertime," he said. "The leaders we have, the seniors, we really concentrated on our defense and having a memorable senior year."

The accomplishments of Hansbrough and Mike Brey, who was named the conference's coach of the year, notwithstanding, the Irish might not be sitting pretty on selection Sunday without Nash.

Brey said of his versatile senior forward: "Here's a guy who didn't play for a year and a half and then has gotten into our rotation. He's the ultimate inverted big guy who can come out and handle the ball. And then you look down on the other end and he's playing defense against a 280-pound guy."