Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Men's Basketball Hosts Loyola (Chicago)

Nov. 21, 2000

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Date: Wednesday, November 22, 2000

Place: Joyce Center (11,418), Notre Dame, Ind.

Time: 7:30 p.m. EST

Radio: Host Communications Inc. (Jack Lorri, Jack Nolan) originates the Notre Dame Radio Network (includes WNDV-1490 AM and WNDV-92.9 FM in South Bend, WNTS-1590 AM in Indianapolis, WGL-1250 AM WGL 1570 AM in Ft. Wayne, WEFM-95.9 FM in Michigan City, WGOM-860AM in Marion, WVHI-1330 AM in Evansville, WLUV-1520 AM in Rockford, Ill., KATD-990AM in San Francisco, Calif., WDEL-1550 AM in Wilmington, Del., and KIND-1010AM in Independence, Kan.).
All radio broadcasts can also be heard through the World Wide Web at www.und.com.

Television: WYCC-TV 20 (John Fitzgerald-play-by-play, Jerry Harkness-color and Dave Klusendorf-sideline) to be seen in the Chicago.

IRISH ITEMS FOR THE LOYOLA GAME:
Notre Dame (1-0) opened the Mike Brey coaching era at Notre Dame by recording one of its most impressive season-opening victories as the Irish beat Sacred Heart 104-58. The 104 points were the most in a season and home opener since a 104-56 victory over St. Joseph’s (Ind.) in 1983-84. Saturday night’s win was the largest margin of victory for an Irish team at the Joyce Center since beating Rice by 44 points (105-61) on Dec. 6, 1978.

The Irish enter tonight’s game ranked 14th in the Associated Press poll and 15th in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. Notre Dame started the season tied for 15th in the AP Poll and was 17th in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. It marked the first time since the 1989-90 campaign that the Irish began the season as a ranked team when they were 19th in the first AP poll of the season before dropping from that ranking the following week.

Notre Dame and Loyola (Chicago) will be meeting for the 31st time this evening with the Irish leading the series 28-2. Notre Dame has won the last three meetings, the last time between the the schools occurred in December of 1996 with the Irish holding earning a 70-62 victory at the Rosemont Horizon.

Loyola (Chicago) lost its season opener 64-60 on the road at Stephen F. Austin. The Ramblers were led by Schinn Kerr who scored 13 points.

RECAP OF SACRED HEART:
Troy Murphy recorded his 33rd double double and scored 30-plus points for the 13th time in his career as he he netted 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the season opener. Murphy, who also tied his career-high with five assists, was one of four players in double figures. Senior Ryan Humphrey scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his debut in an Irish uniform, while Matt Carroll added 17 points and Martin Ingelsby chipped in 15. Both also had six assists in the game. Ingelsby hit for five three-pointers in the contest, hitting a personal best from beyond the arc. He was perfect five-for-five in the game from three-point and made all five of his three-pointers in the first half.

Notre Dame shot 57.1 percent from the field for the game after hitting a sizzling 65.5 percent in the first half. The Irish owned the advantage on the boards as they outrebounded the Pioneers 48-33. Brey’s squad nailed 30 of its 38 attempts from the charity stripe (.789). The Irish also dished off 25 assists in the game – a 0.78 assist-to-basket ratio. Notre Dame also committed just 13 turnovers in the contest.

POLL POSITION:
Notre Dame stands 14th in this week’s Associated Press Poll and is 15th in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. This is the highest ranking for an Irish basketball team in the two basketball polls since the 1985-86 campaign. Heading into the ’86 NCAA tournament, the Irish were 10th in the AP Poll and 11th in what was then the United Press International (UPI) ranking. Notre Dame was eliminated in its first game of the NCAAs after dropping a 90-83 decision to Arkansas-Little Rock.

HEAD COACH MIKE BREY:
Mike Brey was named the 17th head coach in the program’s history on July 14, 2000 following five seasons (1995-2000) as head coach at the University of Delaware. Brey’s earned his first victory as Irish head coach on Saturday night. The win marked the 100th of his coaching career. He has an overall record of 100-52 for a .658 winning percentage. He guided the Blue Hens to a 99-52 record during his tenure while earning berths in three postseason tournaments. Under Brey, Delaware appeared in two NCAA tournaments (’98 and ’99) and played in the National Invitation Tournament in his final season. His .658 winning percentage among Division I coaches with five years as a head coach stands second only to Tom Izzo of Michigan State (.716). Prior to his arrival in Newark, Del., he spent eight seasons (1987-95) on the Duke sidelines along Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and before that stint was an assistant coach at DeMatha High School under legendary coach Morgan Wootten from 1982-87.

NOTRE DAME vs. LOYOLA (CHICAGO):
Tonight’s game is the 31st meeting between the two teams. Notre Dame holds a 28-2 advantage in the series and has won 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two schools. The last meeting occurred in December of 1996 at the Rosemont Horizon with the Irish earning a 70-62 victory. The Irish are 6-1 against Loyola all-time at the Joyce Center and are 20-1 all-time in home games. The lone win for the Ramblers at the Joyce Center came on Jan. 24, 1993 (70-58).

COMMON OPPONENTS:
Notre Dame and Loyola (Chicago) have two common opponents on their 2000-01 schedules this season – Tennessee Tech and Canisius. Loyola plays Tennessee Tech on Nov. 27 while the Irish meet the Golden Eagles on December 17. The Ramblers travel to Buffalo, N.Y. to play the Golden Griffins on Dec. 2, while the Irish play host on Dec. 19.

IRISH IN SEASON OPENERS:
Notre Dame has an all-time record of 78-18 (.813) in season openers. Since 1992-93, the Irish are 8-1.

500TH GAME AT JOYCE CENTER:
Notre Dame played its 500th game at the Joyce Center on Saturday night against Sacred Heart. The Irish are 386-114 all-time at the Joyce Center for a .772 winning percentage since it began play in the inaugural 1968-69 season. The Irish were 16-4 (.800) at home in 1999-2000, marking the third time in school history they had 16 victories (the most at the Joyce Center). Notre Dame also recorded 16 wins at the Joyce during the 1976-77 and 1982-83 campaigns.

NEW IRISH STAFF:
Joining first-year head coach Mike Brey on the Notre Dame sidelines this season are associate coach Sean Kearney, assistant coaches Anthony Solomon and Lewis Preston, and director of basketball operations Rod Balanis. Kearney spent the previous nine years, including five seasons as the top assistant to Brey, at Delaware, while Solomon, a former guard at Virginia, had been on the staff at Clemson for the past two years after serving on the staffs at several institutions, including Virginia, Richmond, Manhattan, Bowling Green and Delaware. Preston, who played at Virginia Military Institute from 1989-93, was an assistant coach on the staff at Coastal Carolina after enjoying a four-year stint playing professionally in Europe. Balanis had been on the staff at Colgate University since 1996, serving the last three years as an assistant coach. He played collegiately at Georgia Tech (1988-93) and his high school ball at DeMatha under Wooten and Brey.

BREY AND MENTOR KRZYZEWSKI REACH MILESTONES ONE DAY APART:
First-year head coach Mike Brey earned his 100th career victory (in 152 games as a head coach) against Sacred Heart on Nov. 18. That win came just one day after his former mentor, Mike Krzyzewski, earned his 500th win at Duke on Nov. 17. Brey was an assistant under Krzyzewski at Duke from 1987-95.

FOLLOWING TROY ON THE WEB:
Follow All-American Troy Murphy on the world wide web at www.und.com/troymurphy. The site includes biographical information, statistics, pictures, a weekly diary, a listing of awards and honors and links to articles on the web which have been written on Irish junior. For more information on the site, contact the Notre Dame Sports Information Office at (219) 631-7516.

NOTING THE WINS A YEAR AGO:
Notre Dame’s 22 wins during the 1999-2000 campaign marked the most for an Irish team since the 1986-87 season when that squad finished with a 24-8 mark and advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament. It also marked the 19th time in school history that an Irish team had won 20 or more games. Notre Dame had not posted back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.

MURPHY AND THE WOODEN WATCH:
Troy Murphy is one of the Preseason Top 50 candidates for the 2000-2001 John R. Wooden All-America team. Murphy, a member of the 10-member squad last season, has been designated as one of the top 25 vote-getters. He and Duke senior Shane Battier are the only two previous candidates among the list of 50. The Award Committee will release a Midseason Top 30 list with the 10-member Wooden Award All-America team announced on March 27, 2001. From that squad, one member will receive the Wooden Award Trophy as the nation’s ?Most Outstanding Collegiate Basketball Player.? The announcement will be made on April 6, 2001, and will be shown on a one-hour telecast on Fox Sports Net.

NAISMITH WATCH:
Troy Murphy is listed as the second-leading vote-getter among 30 preseason candidates announced for the 2000-01 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The preseason candidates including Murphy are: Shane Battier (Duke), Lonny Baxter (Maryland), Charlie Bell (Michigan State), Carlos Boozer (Duke), Cory Bradford (Illinois), Eric Chenowith (Kansas), Jarron Collins (Stanford), Juan Dixon (Maryland), Joe Forte (North Carolina), Jason Gardner (Arizona), Tony Harris (Tennessee), Udonis Haslem (Florida), Brendan Haywood (North Carolina), Casey Jacobson (Stanford), Richard Jefferson (Arizona), Joe Johnson (Arkansas), Ken Johnson (Ohio State), Kaspars Kambala (UNLV), Jason Kapono (UCLA), Mike Kelley (Wisconsin), Terence Morris (Maryland), Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky), Kenny Satterfield (Cincinnati), Brian Scalabrine (Southern California), Jamaal Tinsley (Iowa State), Jason Williams (Duke), Loren Woods (Arizona), Michael Wright (Arizona) and Vincent Yarbrough (Tennessee).

MURPHY GOES HAWAIIAN:
Troy Murphy’s travels took him twice to Hawaii within a two-week span in the August and early September. The Irish junior participated in the Pete Newell Big Man Camp just before returning to campus for the start of the school year and met up with former Notre Dame standout and 1997 BIG EAST Player of the Year Pat Garrity. Murphy made a second trip across the mainland when he played for the USA Men’s Select Team on Sept. 2 in Honolulu against the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team. The game was televised by NBC and Murphy finished with four points and three rebounds.

INGELSBY RETURNS TO STARTING ROLE:
Senior Martin Ingelsby returned to his role as Notre Dame’s starting point guard in the season opener against Sacred Heart. A starter in his first two seasons, Ingelsby lost his starting job in the seventh game of the season a year ago and averaged just 14.8 minutes and 4.8 points per game. Ingelsby responded to his return as an Irish starter with 15 points nailing a career-high five three-pointers. He hit on all five of his three-point attempts from beyond the arc in the first half. Ingelsby also finished with six assists and just one turnover in the contest.

HUMPHREY SHINES IN IRISH DEBUT:
Ryan Humphrey, who transferred from the University of Oklahoma prior in the fall of 1999 and sat out all of last season, had 19 points and nine rebounds in his official regular-season debut in an Irish uniform. Humphrey’s first two points at Notre Dame player came on a dunk 2:37 into the contest. He connected on seven of 10 shots from the field and played a total of 26 minutes.

THE ALL-AMERICAN POST ALL-AMERICAN NUMBERS:
Troy Murphy recorded his 33rd career double double on Saturday night when he scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the season opener. The junior forward’s 31 points also marked the 13th time in 65 career contests that he scored 30-plus points in a game.

CARROLL NETS DOUBLE FIGURES FOR 19TH TIME IN HIS CAREER:
Sophomore Matt Carroll hit for double figures for the 19th time in his career as he finished with 17 points in 26 minutes. Carroll was five-for-eight from the field, including two three-pointers. He also was a perfect five-for-five from the free throw line and dished off six assists while committing just two turnovers.

UNSELFISH IRISH:
The most telling statistic from Saturday night against Sacred Heart – the 25 assists the Irish dished out against the Pioneers. Notre Dame had 32 field goals in the contest which translates into a 0.78 assist-to-basket ratio. The Irish also committed just 13 turnovers, resulting in a 0.52 assist-to-turnover ratio and a turnover every 2.67 minutes. Last season, Notre Dame had more turnovers (656) than assists (643).

MOVING UP IN THE BIG EAST:
Notre Dame’s 8-8 mark in BIG EAST play last season marked the first time since the Irish joined the conference in 1995-96 that the team did not have a losing mark in league play. Notre Dame was 4-14 in 1995-96, 8-10 in both 1996-97 and 1998-99 and 7-11 in 1997-98. Notre Dame had never been two games above the .500 level in BIG EAST play until last year’s team began with a 2-0 record.

NEW KIDS ON THE BIG EAST BLOCK:
Mike Brey and Miami’s Perry Clark are the two new coaches in the BIG EAST this season. Hired by their respective schools within eight days of each other, Clark was named head coach of the Hurricanes on July 6 after 11 years at Tulane, while Brey was introduced as Notre Dame’s 17th head coach on July 14.

THREES ARE HEAVEN FOR IRISH:
Notre Dame hit for a school record 287 three-pointers in 1999-2000, shattering the mark of 178 set by the 1993-94 Irish team. Last year’s squad also set the single-season record for most three-point attempts with 752, eclipsing the old mark of 472 established in 1993-94. Notre Dame hit on 14 of 23 three-point field goal attempts in its win over Pittsburgh on Jan. 22. The 14 three-pointers set a school single-game record, topping the old mark of 13 set against Syracuse on Jan. 21, 1998, and Dayton on Jan. 9, 1993. Jere Macura accounted for four of those threes along with Martin Ingelsby (three), Troy Murphy (two) and David Graves (two). On Feb. 23, 2000 against Providence, the Irish tied the school record with 14 three-pointers as Matt Carroll and Graves each had five.

TRIPLE THE PLEASURE FOR GRAVES AND CARROLL:
David Graves’ 83 three-point field goals last season set the Irish single-season mark. The previous mark of 80 was set by Ryan Hoover during the 1993-94 season. Matt Carroll was second behind Graves with 64 three-pointers on 183 attempts. Graves and Carroll combined for 51.2 percent of Notre Dame’s three-point arsenal.

IRISH SHOW TRIPLE THREAT AGAIN:
Notre Dame’s three-point shooting appears alive and healthy again this season as the Irish canned 10 three-pointers (on 20 attempts) in the season opener against Sacred Heart. Martin Ingelsby led the way with a personal best five in the game. Notre Dame began the contest by hitting on eight of their first nine from beyond the three-point arc. Last season, the Irish averaged 7.8 three-pointers per game.

BIG EAST DIVIDE:
With the addition of Virginia Tech, the 14-team BIG EAST Conference has been split into two divisions. BIG EAST teams will once again play a 16-game conference schedule. Annually, teams will meet each divisional opponent on a home-and-home basis and will play four games against teams from the other division. Notre Dame has been designated to the West division, which also includes: Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Syracuse and West Virginia. The East division members are: Boston College, Connecticut, Miami, Providence, St. John’s, Villanova and Virginia Tech. The Irish play Boston College, Connecticut, St. John’s and Virginia Tech in the single games this season.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT TO CHANGE:
For the first time in the history of the BIG EAST Conference, every team will not advance to the league’s postseason tournament. The top six teams in each division will qualify for the 2001 AT&T BIG EAST Championship in Madison Square Garden on March 7-10. First-round tournament games will featue cross-divisional matchups (the No. 3 seeds will play No. 6 seeds and the No. 4 seeds will play the No. 5 seeds). The top two teams in each division will be awarded first-round byes.

MURPHY MOVING UP IRISH SCORING CHARTS:
Troy Murphy became the 40th player in Notre Dame history to score 1,000 points on Jan. 29, 2000 when the Irish defeated St. John’s. He started the season 16th on the all-time scoring list, but his 31-point performance against Sacred Heart in the season opener moved him into 13th with 1,389 career points. He moved ahead of Monty Williams who finished his Irish career with 1,371 points, Murphy 22 points to pass Daimon Sweet who currently hold down the 12th spot on the career scoring list. He became the second-youngest player in Irish history to score 1,000 points at 19 years and 272 days old. Former Irish All-American Adrian Dantley (1973-76) was 18 years and 355 days old when he scored his 1,000th point. Murphy also joins Dantley as the only Irish sophomores with 1,000 points. He scored his 1,000th point in his 48th career game – the fifth-fastest among Notre Dame’s 39 previous 1,000-point scorers. All-time leading scorer Austin Carr (1968-71) needed just 35 games, while Dantley needed 44. It took John Shumate (1972-74) and Bob Arnzen (1966-69) 46 games to score 1,000 points.

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE FOR MURPHY:
Among active Division I players according to STATS Inc. Troy Murphy is tied for first in career double doubles with 33. He has scored in double figures in 64 of 65 career games he has played and has registered double figures in 52 straight contests heading into tonight’s matchup with Loyola. The only time Murphy has failed to score in double figures was against Syracuse on Dec. 29, 1998.

HOME COOKIN’:
Eight of Notre Dame’s first 10 games of the season are at home and only one of those games is on the opponents’ home floor. Following tonight’s game, Notre Dame meets Cincinnati on Sat., Nov. 25 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., but then plays its only official road contest before January on Dec. 2 when the Irish travel to Nashville, Tenn. to play Vanderbilt. That is the only road game scheduled before Notre Dame begins BIG EAST play on the road at Syracuse on Jan. 2. In between road games at Vanderbilt and Syracuse, which will span exactly one month, the Irish will play five straight home game in the friendly confines of the Joyce Center.

LIGHTS, CAMERA ACTION:
Notre Dame will make nine national television appearances during the 2000-01 season as the Irish will be featured three times on CBS and six times on ESPN. It is the most regular-season telecasts since the 1988-89 campaign when that Notre Dame squad also had nine of its games nationally televised. The national lineup is as follows: Indiana (Tues., Dec. 5 on ESPN), at Syracuse (Tues., Jan. 2 on ESPN), at Seton Hall (Mon., Jan. 8 on ESPN), at Kentucky (Sat., Jan. 13 on CBS), St. John’s (Mon., Feb. 5 on ESPN), at Rutgers (Wed., Feb. 14 on ESPN), Seton Hall (Sun., Feb. 18 on CBS), at Connecticut (Mon., Feb. 26 on ESPN) and Georgetown (Sun., Mar. 4 on CBS).

LET THE HYPE BEGIN:
Notre Dame began the preseason ranked in the top 25 of nearly every preseason publication. Listed below are those predictions: Athlon , Sweet 16 projection in NCAA tournament, Basketball News, 29th, Blue Ribbon, 17th, CBS Sportsline, 22nd, ESPN Magazine, 15th, ESPN.com, 16th, Fox Sports,com, 14th, Lindy’s, 17th, Slam Magazine, 20th, The Sporting News, 17th, Sports Illustrated, 17th and Street & Smith’s, 20th.

Here are the preseason honors for Irish All-American Troy Murphy: Associated Press, First Team, Athlon, First Team, Basketball News, First Team, Basketball Times, First Team, Blue Ribbon, Player of the Year, First Team, Dick Vitale, First Team All-Rolls-Roycer, The Sporting News, First Team, Street & Smith’s, First Team.

IRISH ARE AP’S FINEST:
The University of Notre Dame is the only Division I-A institution currently ranked among the top 20 teams in Associated Press standings in the sports of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.

The Irish currently stand 11th in football (8-2 record), while also rating fifth in women’s basketball and 14th in men’s basketball in the AP this week. It marks the first in Notre Dame’s athletic history all three of those Notre Dame teams have been ranked in the top 20 in the same week.

Those rankings also qualify in several other ways:

  • It’s the highest ranking for the Irish in football since Notre Dame stood ninth heading into the ’98 regular-season finale at USC.
  • It equals the hightest ranking for the Noter Dame women’s basketball program.
  • It’s the highest ranking for an Irish team since the 1985-86 season.

All told, Notre Dame is nationally ranked this week in seven different sports. In addition to football and men’s and women’s basketball, here’s where Notre Dame teams stand:

  • First in women’s soccer as the Irish (20-0-1) head into a quarterfinal matchup with Santa Clara on Friday night. afternoon.
  • 18th in women’s swimming (current 6-1 record) heading into competition Nov. 17-19 at the Indiana Invitational.
  • 20th in men’s cross country as the Irish finished ninth at the NCAA championships in Ames, Iowa on Monday.qualified for the NCAA championships after finishing third at the NCAA District IV meet Saturday in Ypsilanti, Mich.
  • 20th in volleyball (25-5 and 11-0 in the BIG EAST) after winning the BIG EAST tournament championship and finshing as the regular-season conference champion.
  • In other rankings, Notre Dame stood 19th in the U.S. News & World Report ratings of national universities in its fall 2000 standings — and the Irish are heading into fall NCAA competition after finishing 21st in 1999-2000 in the Sears Directors’ Cup standings.

BASKETBALL LUNCHEONS SET:
Three luncheons featuring Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Mike Brey and his Irish players have been scheduled during the 2000-2001 season: Monday, Dec, 4, 2000 (the day before the Notre Dame-Indiana game), Monday, Jan. 22, 2001 (the day before the Notre Dame-Syracuse), Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001 (the day before the Notre Dame-Boston College game).

All three luncheons, which begin at noon, will feature Brey, members of his squad, video presentations and other special guests. The Dec. 4 luncheon also will feature Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw.

Tickets are $16 each. Tickets are available by mail by writing Athletics Business Office, 112 Joyce Center, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Checks should be made payable to University of Notre Dame. No telephone reservations will be accepted. For more information, call 219-631-7246.

BASKETBALL TICKET SALES:
Season-tickets for the 2000-01 Notre Dame men’s basketball season are sold-out. A limited number of single-game tickets for contests against Tennessee Tech (Dec. 17), Canisius (Dec. 19), Vermont (Dec. 21), Long Island (Dec. 29) and Rutgers (Jan. 6) are still on sale. All 3,200 student season-tickets allotted for the upcoming campaign also have been sold, a figure that has doubled from the 1,600 sold for the 1999-2000 season. Remaining tickets for the Tennessee Tech, Canisius, Vermont, Long Island and Rutgers cntests can be purchased at the ticket office in the Joyce Center or by calling 219-631-7356.

WNTS TO BROADCAST 12 IRISH BASKETBALL GAMES:
WNTS Radio 1590 AM in Indianapolis, Ind., will broadcast 12 Notre Dame men’s basketball games during the 2000-01 season in the Indianapolis market as part of the Notre Dame Basketball Network originated by Host Communications. WNTS 1590 AM, which is owned by S&M Broadcasting Company, Inc., has been broadcasting its signal in the Indianapolis area since 1974.

The men’s basketball games on WNTS this season include: Nov. 22 vs. Loyola (Chicago) at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5 vs. Indiana at 9:00 p.m., Dec.19 vs. Canisius at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 21 vs. Vermont at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 2 at Syracuse at 7:00 p.m., Jan. 8 at Seton Hall at 7:00 p.m., Jan. 16 vs. Pittsburgh at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 23 vs. Syracuse at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 5 vs. St. John’s at 7:00 p.m., Feb. 14 at Rutgers at 9:00 p.m., Feb. 21 vs. Boston College at 7:30 p.m., and Feb. 26 at Connecticut at 7:00 p.m.

KEVIN WHITE RADIO SHOW:
A weekly half-hour talk show featuring first-year athletics director Kevin White debuted Aug. 27 on Chicago’s ESPN Radio 1000. “The Kevin White” is scheduled to aird from 11:00-11:30 p.m. for 30 consecutive Sundays on ESPN radio (1000 AM in Chicago, www.espnradio1000.com). The show also can be heard in 35 states. White will welcome to the show a series of guests and prominent figures associated with college athletics, including administrators, coaches and media members.

IRISH LIFE SKILLS PROGRAM HONORED AS ONE OF NATION’S BEST:
The Notre Dame CHAMPS/Life Skills Program has been identified as one fo the best in the nation by the NCAA Division I-A Athletic Directors’ Association. Notre Dame received one of four program of excellence award at the Association’s Sept. 25 awards dinner in Dallas. Honored along with Notre Dame were Arizona State University, the University of Iowa and Michigan State University. Notre Dame’s Life Skills Program currently is under the direction of Bernard Muir, associate athletic director for student-athlete welfare.

In existence since August 1996, Notre Dame’s Life Skills Program is committed to the total development of the University’s student-athletes. It fosters the cultivation of skills that allow for their maximization on and off the playing field. The program develops and implements events and activities which are designed to facilitate learning in five key areas: academic excellence, athletic success, carer preparation, community involvement and personal development. By the time a Notre Dame student-athlete graduates, he or she will have participated in approximately 40 hours of required skill building and development workshops in each key area. All freshmen and their parents participate in orientation sessions designed to assist in the transition into the University and to inform them about the Life Skills Program as well as other support services.