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3 Best Coaches in Notre Dame Men’s Basketball History

By Daniel Morrison

SOUTH BEND, IN - JANUARY 19: Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach and current ESPN college basketball analyst Digger Phelps speaks to the crowd after being inducted in the Notre Dame Ring of Honor during halftime of the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Purcel Pavilion on January 19, 2014 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Virginia Tech 70-63. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - JANUARY 19: Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach and current ESPN college basketball analyst Digger Phelps speaks to the crowd after being inducted in the Notre Dame Ring of Honor during halftime of the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Purcel Pavilion on January 19, 2014 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Virginia Tech 70-63. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame has had some solid hoops coaches over the years.

Notre Dame is a football school. There’s no denying that. Eleven National Championships, seven Heisman winners, and over 100 All-Americans. This leaves basketball, the other major college sport, as a bit of an afterthought in South Bend.

That being said, basketball has a long and proud history at Notre Dame. That’s true of both the men’s and the women’s games.

The men’s team has an all-time winning percentage on .646, and has accumulated over 1,800 wins. That’s 8th all-time. They have 36 NCAA Tournament bids, and 2 National Championships. In the early 1970s, Notre Dame was the only team that could beat UCLA, ending their 88 game winning streak.

There has also been a long list of great players who played for the Fighting Irish. In recent memory players like Luke Harangody, Ben Hansbrough, Bonzie Colson, and Troy Murphy have led the Irish. Historically, players like Austin Carr, Leo Klier, and Edward Krause proved their worth for the Notre Dame basketball team.

In total, Notre Dame has produced Three National Players of the Year as well as one National Freshman of the Year. Eleven players have been consensus All-Americans, while another two were John Wooden All-Americans. One player, Adrian Dantley, has even made the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

A program doesn’t have that much overall or individual success without a long history of excellent coaching. That coaching will be how the program brings in elite recruits, develops their skill set, and then puts them in the best position to win games, and championships. Notre Dame basketball has had great coaches, which fans of the university’s sports teams have tended to overlook because of the fame of their football coaches. That’s really not fair, and the basketball coaches should be recognized.

It’s true that the women’s team has received more love than the men’s team recently, as they’ve been the main threat to UConn’s dominance in the past decade. However, for this, we’ll focus on the men’s team.

So, here are the top three coaches in Notre Dame Men’s Basketball history:

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