Aug. 30, 2004

Notre Dame, Ind. – Seniors Jordan Cornette (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Chris Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind.) and juniors Torin Francis (Boston, Mass.) and Chris Quinn (Columbus, Ohio) will serve as captains of the Notre Dame men’s basketball team for the 2004-05 season. Cornette and Thomas served as captains during the 2003-04 campaign. Only eight other players in the 99-year history of the Irish basketball program have been two-time captains. Thomas, a second-team all-BIG EAST selection and Associated Press honorable mention All-America honoree, led the Irish in scoring and assists averaging 19.7 points and 4.7 assists. Along with Francis, he is a preseason candidate on the John R. Wooden Award Preseason All-America Team top 50 list. He is Notre Dame’s career assist leader (638) and has been the team’s leader in that category all three seasons. Heading into his final season, he stands eighth all-time in scoring with 1,783 points and is the only player in Notre Dame history to score more than 1,700 points and dish off 600-plus assists. Thomas has started all 99 games of his Irish career and has scored in double figures in 85 of those contests. Cornette averaged career bests of 5.8 points and 6.0 rebounds during last season and started 27 of 32 contests. He led the Irish with 63 blocked shots and currently ranks third all-time on that list with 155 and fourth all-time in blocks per games (1. 6). Cornette scored in double figures in five games during his junior season and registered two double doubles. He was the recipient of the Wendell Smith Award as MVP of the Notre Dame-DePaul game. In last season’s matchup between the two teams, an 82-69 Irish victory, he scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Francis played in just 20 games before a back injury required him to have surgery on March 8. Prior to the injury, he was averaging 14.2 points and 8.8 rebounds. For the second straight year, he led the team in double doubles (seven) and scored 20-plus points in five contests. Despite playing in just 10 conference games, he was selected to the BIG EAST honorable mention team. Quinn was Thomas’ backcourt mate and Notre Dame’s second leading scorer last season as he averaged 14.3 points per game. He started 25 of 32 contests, including 20 of the final 21 games. Quinn reached double figures in 22 of the final 27 games and in 25 contests overall. He scored a career-high 25 points on two occasions (versus Quinnipiac and Boston College) and netted 20-plus points in five games. Quinn also ranked second in assists (4.8).