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

5. Ben Hansborough, 2009-2011

I am going to say right now that I realize this may be a controversial choice. Matt Carroll averaged more points in his best season. Demetrius Jackson averaged more assists in his best season. That is all well and good.

I watched the games.

Sometimes you cannot quantify value based on a box score. That said, in the day of analytics and advanced metrics, we try to.  Hansborough provided a ridiculous 8.8 offensive win shares in his two seasons at Notre Dame. To give a little perspective on offensive win shares, Trae Young, the stud Oklahoma freshman from last year, recorded a 1.9 OWS for the the season he just had.

The Mississippi State transfer came to South Bend as a good player. What he became was something else entirely and further speaks volumes to Coach Brey’s ability to either coach his players up or straight up develop talent.

During Ben’s senior season, he averaged 18.4 points, 4.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals and shot 43.5 percent from deep on his way to becoming the Big East Player of the Year. He was also named a 2nd team All-American. The Irish went 27-7 that season and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Ben went undrafted in the 2011 NBA draft, but did play professionally until 2015. He also had a stint at Western Kentucky as an Assistant Coach.