February 13, 2001

By Steve Richardson

Irish look to be NCAA bound under Brey's direction

Notre Dame is about to end its 11-year drought of NCAA Basketball Tournament appearances thanks to the blending or returning players, a transfer and the development of a six-man rotation by first-year Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. Brey inherited four returning starters, including the Big East Player of the Year, forward Troy Murphy. Talented Oklahoma transfer, forward Ryan Humphrey, also was waiting in the wings.

Still, Notre Dame, ranked in most pre-season Top 25s, was in rather unaccustomed territory. The pressure built. The Fighting Irish dropped non-conference home games to Indiana and Miami of Ohio. And they briefly fell below .500 in Big East play with road losses at Syracuse and Seton Hall.

"We were never as good then as people said we were," said Brey, former head coach at Delaware. "We had to go through some things. But I think we are mentally tougher than we were earlier in the season."

Notre Dame (15-5 overall, 7-2 in the Big East) has won six straight league games, including road games at Georgetown and Pittsburgh. And the way the ending schedule sets up-three home games against the tougher teams and road games as lesser weights West Virginia, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and struggling UConn--Notre Dame should make the NCAAs.

Brey, a former assistant coach for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, first had to get a couple of points across to his new team: protect your home court and play defense. The Irish have won all their Big East home games.

"We have learned who we are as a team, especially on the defensive end, we have to get our hands dirty," Brey said. "All of them are offensive minded and talented. And when they would miss a shot, they would be upset. Now, they get just as upset when they don't cut a guy off and he makes a shot." Brey has developed "six starters", who basically play most of the minutes. And he has solidified his relationship with the 6-11, 245-pound Murphy, who was recruited by John MacLeod and is playing for his third coach in South Bend. Murphy averages 23.1 points and 9.2 rebounds a game.

"I have taken a lot of feedback from him," Brey said. "I ask him a lot of questions about the league and other teams. He has been a great resource for me. You think you know the teams. Then you ask him and he gives you another angle I didn't think of."

The situation with Humphrey, a Tulsa high school player who played two seasons at Oklahoma, but transferred to Notre Dame because of his good relationship with previous Notre Dame coach Matt Doherty, could have "been touchy," according to Brey. Humphrey wanted to play further out on the floor, a reason he left OU.

"I know his reasoning coming out this way," Brey said "I told him, "I don't know if I can get you out at small forward for 30 minutes (a game).I don't know if that is the best for the team. But he has been a great addition."

Coach of the Year candidates

National Coach of the Year nominations for jobs well done....... Al Skinner, Boston College: The Eagles have won more games this season (17-2) than the previous two seasons combined and are in first place in the Big East Conference East Division. The Eagles were 11-19 last season and picked as an also-ran in the league this season. Boston College will make its first NCAA Tournanent since 1997.

Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets appear headed to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996 under first-year Georgia Tech coach Hewitt, who moved over from Siena. Georgia Tech defeated UCLA and Kentucky during the non-conference and has knocked off Maryland, Virginia and Wake Forest in ACC play.

Larry Eustachy, Iowa State: There's a new sheriff in town in the Big 12 Conference. Some believe Iowa State was only a couple of bad calls away from making the Final Four last season. And despite the loss of standout forward Marcus Fizer to the NBA after his junior season, Iowa State is in the driver's seat for the Big 12 Conference title after defeating Kansas last Monday for the fourth straight time.

Bill Self, Illinois: Wherever goes he wins, wherever he wins he leaves. He has accepted the Larry Brown creed. But Self, who took Tulsa to the Final Eight last season, should be sticking around Illinois a little while. The Illini, last Monday beat Michigan State to move into the Big Ten lead. Self has basically the same group of players as Illinois had last season (when the Illini finished fourth) playing harder and more organized.

Tip-ins

Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody recorded his 100th career victory over Buffalo last week....Indiana's interim coach Mike Davis directed the Hoosiers to back-to-back Big Ten victories on the road last week (Ohio State, Penn State) for the first time since the 1992-93 season...North Carolina's Matt Doherty is the second ACC head coach to guide his team to a No. 1 ranking in the AP poll during his first season at a league school. Bill Guthridge directed the Tar Heels to the top spot during the 1997-98 season. Fordham coach Bob Hill says he going to move to campus and start 6 a.m. practices, like Temple coach John Chaney does. The reason? His players are missing classes and not following directions. George Washington coach Tom Penders said it is still tough to play Coach John Chaney. "Playing Temple I would rather have a root canal. Temple is still a very good basketball team...I agree with Phil Martelli (Coach of St. Joseph's) You have to make at least 10 3s against them, because they present themselves. Keep your turnovers and down and defend them."