Nov. 8, 2000
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs.
CALIFORNIA MIDWEST ALL-STARS
Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Place: Joyce Center (11,418), Notre Dame, Ind.
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
SCOUTING THE IRISH: Under first-year head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame enters the 2000-01 campaign ranked in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today rankings. The Irish are tied for 15th in the AP poll and are 17th in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. It is the first time since 1989-90 that the Irish will start the season as a ranked team when Notre Dame began the season 19th in the AP Poll the first week of the campaign before dropping from that ranking the following week.
Brey inherits an Irish squad that returns four starters from last year’s 22-15 squad which finished as the runner-up at the National Invitation Tournament. Junior All-American Troy Murphy (Morristown, N.J.), Notre Dame’s first consensus All-American since Adrian Dantley in 1974-75 and 1975-76, headlines the list of returning starters for the Irish. Murphy, a leading contender for national player-of-the-year honors and the 2000 BIG EAST Player of the Year, averaged 22.7 points and 10.3 rebounds. The first player in league history to lead the conference in both scoring and rebounding in the same season, the Irish forward has scored in double figures in 63 of the 64 games he has played in during his career.
Junior forward David Graves (Lexington, Ky.), a two-year starter and Notre Dame’s second-leading scorer the past two seasons, returns after averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds. He set the Irish single-season three-point field goal mark a year ago with 83 from beyond the arc. As a team, Notre Dame shattered the single-season three-point field goal record with 287.
Joining Murphy in the frontcourt will be senior forward Ryan Humphrey (Tulsa, Okla.) and junior forward Harold Swanagan (Hopkinsville, Ky.). Humphrey sat out last season after transferring from the University of Oklahoma, while Swanagan, who started 34 of 37 contests, was Notre Dame’s fourth-leading scorer as he averaged 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Senior Martin Ingelsby (Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore Matt Carroll (Horsham, Pa.) are the veterans in the Irish backcourt. Ingelsby, who will be the Irish floor general, looks to return to the starting spot he occupied as a freshman and sophomore. He averaged just 14.8 minutes per game a year ago, but will be asked in Brey’s offense to play 34-35 minutes per game. Carroll started all but seven games a year ago and was the third-leading scorer at 9.8 points per game. Like Graves, he has a deadly three-point game as he was second on the team in that category as he connected for 64 three-point field goals as a rookie.
Sophomores Jere Macura (Split, Croatia) and Ivan Kartelo (Split, Croatia) give the Irish depth up front. Both played in all 37 contests a year ago with Macura, a forward, averaging 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds, and Kartelo, a center, netting 2.5 points and grabbing 2.3 rebounds per game.
Junior walk-on guard Charles Thomas (Flint, Mich.) begins his third year with the Irish, while senior forward Hans Rasmussen (Portland, Ore.), who left the team in December of 1998, has rejoined the team and will be eligible to play at the conclusion of fall semester final exams.
Notre Dame welcomes three freshman to the fold — guards Torrian Jones (Fairless Hills, Pa.), Chris Markwood (South Portland, Maine) and center Tom Timmermans (Driehuis, Netherlands). Jones is expected to see considerable playing time in the backcourt, while Markwood’s status is uncertain after undergoing surgery on Sept. 29 which indicated a condral defect in his left knee. Timmerman, the third European player to dot the Irish roster in two seasons, will see time behind Swanagan and Kartelo.
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. 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 .656 winning percentage among Division I coaches with five years as a head coach stands second only to Tom Izzo of Michigan State (.714). 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.
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 GOES FOR CAREER WIN 100: When first-year head coach Mike Brey coaches his first game on the Irish sidelines at the Joyce Center against Sacred Heart on Nov. 18, a victory against the Pioneers not only means his first win at Notre Dame, but also the 100th of his coaching career.
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 has 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.
IRISH WELCOME HUMPHREY: Ryan Humphrey, who transferred from the University of Oklahoma prior to the fall of 1999 and sat out all of last season, will finally get his chance after an 18-month absence from basketball. As a sophomore in 1998-99, Humphrey was a third-team all-BIG 12 selection as a sophomore after averaging 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.
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 of 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.
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 HEADS INTO CAMPAIGN 16TH IN CAREER SCORING: 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. Murphy heads into his junior season with a career total of 1,358 points, which places him 16th in school history. John Paxson (1979-83) is 15th with 1,366. 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.
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).
MURPHY HEADS INTO CAMPAIGN 16TH IN CAREER SCORING: 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. Murphy heads into his junior season with a career total of 1,358 points, which places him 16th in school history. John Paxson (1979-83) is 15th with 1,366. 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.
LET THE HYPE BEGIN: Notre Dame begins 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, 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: Notre Dame is the only school in the country to have its men’s basketball, football and women’s basketball teams all ranked in the Top 20. While the Irish men’s hoop team begins the season tied for 15th, the women’s basketball team is sixth, while the football team is 11th.