Zach Auguste does not travel, still enrolled

Irish junior forward Zach Auguste did not travel to Georgia Tech and did not play in Notre Dame’s 62-59 win over the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday night due to an academic matter, according to Irish head coach Mike Brey.

“It’s an academic matter,” Brey said to reporters after the win in Atlanta. “He’s handling it. That’s all I’m going to say about it. Ask me about basketball.”

Auguste is tied for second on the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game and is second with 6.4 rebounds per game. After starting 13 games as a sophomore, the 6-foot-10, 240-pounder had started the first 17 games for Notre Dame (16-2, 4-1 ACC).

Brey told reporters afterward that Auguste is still practicing with the Irish and Auguste’s potential return is out of Brey’s control.

Irish freshman Martinas Geben earned his first career start in place of Auguste against the Yellow Jackets, but he only logged six minutes and didn’t record a point or rebound. Fellow freshman forward Bonzie Colson played a season-high 22 minutes and pitched in with 10 points and four rebounds. Colson had scored eight total points in the last five combined games, including three consecutive games in which he did not play.

“We’ve found another weapon on the frontline that we can use,” Brey said in his post-game radio interview.

Freshman forward Austin Torres tallied one rebound in 12 minutes.

Notre Dame’s second semester began Tuesday with the first day of classes.

ESPN’s Andy Katz reported Wednesday afternoon that Brey said in a text message that Auguste is not suspended “but back at school dealing with an academic matter.”

Notre Dame hosts Miami on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion. Brey said he doesn’t know if Auguste will play against the Hurricanes.

“I don’t have enough info on it yet,” Brey said. “I’ll have a little more info on it [Thursday].”

Brey holds his weekly teleconference Thursday afternoon in South Bend.