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Notre Dame Basketball: Top 10 Players Of The Mike Brey Era

By Mychal Hunter

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 19: Bonzie Colson #35 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish plays against the Northeastern Huskies during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Consol Energy Center on March 19, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 19: Bonzie Colson #35 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish plays against the Northeastern Huskies during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Consol Energy Center on March 19, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM – MARCH 27: Chris Thomas #1 of Notre Dame advances the ball during the NCAA Tournament against Arizona at the Arrowhead Pond on March 27, 2003 in Anaheim, California. Arizona defeated Notre Dame 88-71.(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

2. Chris Thomas, 2001-2005

I probably shouldn’t say this, but Chris Thomas is my personal favorite on this list. The kid was just unreal to watch play the game of basketball.

Thomas would eventually become the Notre Dame career assist leader and the only player in program history to record 2000 points and 800 assists. To put those numbers into perspective for you (I like doing that if you can’t tell), Matt Farrell, who some (me) would consider to be a fantastic college point guard, totalled 1097 points and 417 assists for his career.

Thomas came to South Bend as Coach Brey’s first big recruiting win. Ryan Humphrey was the biggest early win, but Thomas was the first huge prize on the recruiting trail.

He was the Indiana State Mr. Basketball (the first Mr. Indiana to play at ND) and a McDonald’s All-American. He also chose Notre Dame over Duke and Michigan State, another reason to love him.

As a freshman, Thomas hit the ground running, averaging 15.6 points and 7.6 assists to go along with 2.2 steals and was named Big East Rookie of the Year.

During his sophomore and junior campaigns, Thomas took on more of a scoring responsibility and pushed his averages to 18.7 and 19.7 points per game. His assist numbers took a bit of a hit, but he was still one of the best point guards in the country.

Before his senior season, Thomas had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair some torn cartilage. His senior year numbers were a bit down at 14.2 points and 6.7 assists, but his career averages closed out at a sparkling 17.1 points, 6.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He shot 87 percent from the free throw line and 36 percent from behind the arc for his career.  He is fourth on the Notre Dame scoring list and fourth in NCAA history with 833 career assists. He is the Fighting Irish’s all time leader in steals, and second in three point field goals made with 302.

Chris played professionally overseas from 2005-2012.