Thoughts On Notre Dame Men’s Basketball: Present and Future

It has been trying times for Mike Brey’s Notre Dame basketball program over the last several years, but the arrow is still pointing up.

I fully admit I am an optimist when it comes to Notre Dame athletics and really sports in general, but I also consider myself a realist when diagnosing present and future performance. Mike Brey has been in South Bend for two decades, and has dealt with with just about every shortcoming and disadvantage a college basketball fan can think of.

Notre Dame is anything but a traditional college basketball power. Notre Dame is a high academic, religious institution in a world where most top notch college basketball student-athletes care about the the athlete over the student. He’s dealt with a conference affiliation change — joining quite possibly the greatest college basketball conference ever. You can see where I am going with this. For all intent and purposes, Mike Brey and Notre Dame Men’s Hoops has been a tremendous program: 3 Sweet Sixteens, 2 Elite Eights, and many players that will be entrenched into the college basketball hearts for a long time.

All that said, the program is not without its warts. Since the Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell injury-riddled senior seasons that saw the program barely miss the tournament, it’s been a struggle. Brey has seen players transfer out — most noticeably D.J. Harvey and Matt Ryan. He has seen many players struggle to stay healthy — also Harvey, but Durham, Carmody, Pflueger, etc. He has seen some of his most important recruits not develop into the star players many fans envisioned — Pflueger, Gibbs, sophomore class still a TBD. That last one is something he isn’t used to after hitting on most of his players in recent memory.

Brey is also not perfect. He tried to capitalize on recent tourney successes by going for the big fish — and he essentially struck out. He landed only Harvey in 2017 and a top-notch ranking class in 2018 with Laszewski, Goodwin, Hubb and Carmody, but completely whiffed in 2019.

For the record, his 2020 and 2021 classes coupled with former top 75 recruit Cormac Ryan waiting in the wings bring hope, but recruiting has been incomplete to say the least — and at Notre Dame you can afford to miss. The ACC is too good of a basketball conference.

Maybe the biggest disappointment over the last 2 seasons — this year and last — is the lack of offensive shooting success. T.J. Gibbs has regressed since his sophomore year, as he has taken on an expanded role — and Pflueger is mostly a defensive specialist.

The sophomore class brings really solid play in spurts, but it is inconsistent and the shooting prowess of Nate Laszewski, Hubb and Goodwin has yet to materialize. I mentioned yesterday trying to get Durham and Mooney off the court at the same time, because while it was an exciting proposition, it is time for the experiment to end. Start Goodwin or Las and find a different way to utilize Durham in the game plan. Unfortunately, another piece to the puzzle in Carmody is likely out for the season again — one more step back.

I understand the frustration of fans that feel the team should be performing better — and like I have pointed out, injuries and youth are not the only reasons for the struggles. Mike Brey, like any coach, can learn from failures. He has been at Notre Dame for a long time and a college coach a lot longer than that. I have full faith that the best coach in Notre Dame history can turn this program back around.

He’s proven he can win without landing the 5-star talent and one and done’s like Duke, Kentucky, etc. He has also proven he can land top 50-100 talents and groom them into stud upperclassmen. Brey loves to stay old. Playing these young guys as much as he has, is not what he wants to do. However, it is time to adjust to the times, just like the transfer portal has forced Brey and other coaches to adjust to the college basketball landscape.

Many people are giving up on this team because last year was hard to watch, and this year — and in particularly yesterday — has been a struggle at times. I am here to tell you to be patient and have faith that Brey and his staff can figure it out. I don’t think they will stand idly by while the years just pass them over, and if you really look at the team and players coming, there is hope to get this figured out and figured out soon.

Maybe this year’s squad won’t be a tournament team, but it was wishful thinking to think they were. Winning 20-ish games and getting close to .500 in ACC play should be realistic goals for the staff and fans, while next year we can start expecting more. And for what is is worth, I don’t think this staff is just going to let the same team role out next year while Gibbs, Rex and Mooney walk out the door with only two freshman and Ryan coming in. I fully expect a late addition to the 2020 class and/or another grad or normal transfer to enter the mix for the future.