Notre Dame basketball: Bonzie Colson's career deserved better ending

The way Notre Dame’s basketball season went isn’t really anyone’s fault. But it still hurts to see Bonzie Colson‘s remarkable career end like this.

Now, before I get into my thoughts on Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson, a player that started out for the Irish the same year I entered graduate school, I want to make clear what I’m saying.

Specifically, my objective here isn’t to point fingers at anyone for the Irish’s unfortunate 2018 campaign and how it turned out for their unique star.

I’m not really blaming Mike Brey for the way this season turned out.

After all, it’s not his fault that injuries struck this team as hard as it did, with Colson missing more than half the season with an injury to same foot that plagued him in yesterday’s season-ending loss to Penn State and Matt Farrell also missing time.

And though the responsibility of recruiting and stocking the team with talent falls to him, not many teams are built to withstand what Notre Dame went through this year.

They would’ve easily been a tournament team if not for those misfortunes.

Also, I’m not going to pile on the supporting cast.

While perhaps Irish fans expected more from Rex Pflueger, what can you really say about it? He’s an energy guy, not a scorer. He still has work to do, and again, helping carry a team isn’t really what his role should’ve been in a perfect world.

Besides, Martinas Gebin stepped up big time as a starter as the season progressed, and T.J. Gibbs made huge strides in his sophomore season.

Faulting anyone’s effort or production in this case just isn’t quite fair, though the end result is what it is.

I just wish Bonzie Colson’s career didn’t have to end that way: hobbling onto the floor with 35 seconds left in a blowout loss just to be on the Purcell Pavilion floor one last time.

Then again, if you think about it, what other way would he choose to go out in this situation?

Anyone who’s watched Notre Dame basketball over the past few years has come to adore this man. You just can’t help yourself.

https://twitter.com/NDmbb/status/971579893103415297

He started out as this undersized forward who worked his way onto the floor with defense, rebounding and penchant for making interior baskets that you thought he had no business making.

Everything about his game looked quirky and awkward, but by God, he just kept showing up and making plays. You couldn’t deny it.

And once he got the chance to be a leader for the Irish, he never looked back.

He turned into a double-double machine. Against everything you expected, he turned himself into a legitimately dangerous perimeter scorer. He swatted away shot after shot from and grabbed board after board over larger matchups.

And he and Farrell formed one of the hardest-working underdog 1-2 punches I’ve seen on a basketball court. When you talked to them in person about it, as I did last season, their perfect mixture of humility and pride about how they kept consistently outperforming expectations was simply awesome to witness.

Notre Dame basketball: Bonzie Colson deserved better end to college career

By Khari Thompson | Mar 18, 2018

The way Notre Dame’s basketball season went isn’t really anyone’s fault. But it still hurts to see Bonzie Colson‘s remarkable career end like this.