Notre Dame held an open practice on Thursday evening for about an hour and it was the first real glimpse at the 2017-18 Irish.

- Transfer Juwan Durham is a large human. Very long and quicker than I thought he would be. He definitely looked a little lost out there but he's going to be a nice defensive presence when he figures out the rotations on defense.

Durham has also a nice little 15ft jumper. It's not a staple of his offensive game but it's consistent enough now that he can turn it into a weapon over the next year.

- Freshman DJ Harvey is an athletic body Notre Dame quite frankly hasn't had. He can get up in the air but has a smooth jumper. Harvey was definitely lost as heck during some of the scrimmage portions of the practice and he's going to put in the time to learn the offense. His ability to shoot from all over the court is going to help but he ruined spacing a few times on the night.

-Austin Torres, Matt Farrell and Bonzie Colson are Austin Torres, Matt Farrell and Bonzie Colson. Nothing new with them. Farrell was stroking from deep and seemed to have more control over the ball aka less turnovers. It was quick viewing but he wasn't as reckless as before.

- Rex Pflueger was more vocal than last year. His shot wasn't falling for the most part but he was attacking the rim on a more consistent basis.

- Nikola Djogo could be the x-factor this season. The 6-foot-7 guard/forward will give Notre Dame energy and athleticism off the bench. He wasn't totally comfortable within the offense as he passed up on a few shots. Assistant coach Ryan Ayers let him know about it.

- John Mooney and Elijah Burns seemed to know the offense and took care of the basketball. Burns is a physical presence and Mooney is more comfortable on the outside. Nothing earth shattering there. Not sure where they fit into the rotation but I would imagine both will need to give minutes.

- Mike Brey mentioned on Power Hour that TJ Gibbs was down over 15lbs. It's noticeable. He's much quicker. He was playing more confident and was extremely vocal on the defensive end of the floor. I think the quickness is really going to add a dimension to his game he was sometimes missing last year in terms of playing passing lanes and getting the first step on offense.

- Martinas Geben also looked confident and was leading vocally. He was on the young guys and was helping give Durham some pointers. He hit a couple nice turn around buckets. Geben also seemed a little more active on the glass. We will see if that carries over to the season.

- Notre Dame was pushing the tempo on Thursday and it was very noticeable. They were pushing off makes and misses. I don't think they are going to be North Carolina fast but I think it's going to be something Brey can go to with more confidence this year.