Notre Dame Basketball: There is every reason to be hopeful for 2019-2020

A young Notre Dame basketball team took its lumps last season, but with Mike Brey at the helm, there is every reason to believe in the Irish this season.

Notre Dame basketball Head Coach Mike Brey has long been lauded as the type of coach who achieves the most without the same talent of the blue bloods of the college football world. Brey has been the type of coach who wants to get old and stay old. Experience is where Brey hangs his hat as a head coach.

Unfortunately for Brey and the Irish, there wasn’t much significant experience to lean on in 2018-2019. The Irish had perhaps the youngest team Brey has ever coached, at least while at Notre Dame.

To make matters worse, the little bit of experience Notre Dame did have went through a great deal of turmoil during the 2018-2019 season. Notre Dame’s lone senior, Rex Pfleuger went down with a torn ACL. Junior Temple Gibbs struggled with consistency and the pressure of being the alpha dog in the Notre Dame backcourt. John Mooney performed admirably, but also had his struggles with consistency throughout the season.

It was going to be a trying season full of growing pains for the Irish, but the speed bumps along the way were too much to handle.

But the Irish return the same team from last year, including Rex Pflueger, who should be completely healthy by the beginning of the regular season.

Perhaps more importantly, the Irish will be under direction of one of the best coaches in college basketball–one who knows the lay of the land, one who has become a mastermind at developing his players, and one who coaches hope.

The Irish may not land the top talent every year, but they do enjoy the luxuries of having experience, perseverance, and cohesion. Let’s hope they ride those luxuries to a successful season in 2019.