July 3, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey has signed a two-year contract extension to continue as coach of the Fighting Irish men’s basketball program through the 2008-09 campaign.
Brey, who begins his third season at the Irish helm with the start of the 2002-03 season, signed an original seven-year contract when he was hired on July 14, 2000, as Notre Dame’s 17th head men’s basketball coach. He has a two-year 42-21 record for a .667 winning percentage. A 15-year veteran of the college ranks both an assistant at Duke (1987-95) and head coach at Delaware, he has led Irish teams to back-to-back NCAA tournament berths in each of his first two seasons for the time since the 1989 and 1990 championships. Prior to Brey’s arrival, Notre Dame’s last NCAA tournament appearance was in ’90.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to extend Mike’s contract, wherein he will be the men’s basketball coach at Notre Dame for a long time,” says Notre Dame director of athletics Kevin White.
“We couldn’t be more excited with the direction of the program, from the on-court successes the last two seasons, to our return to being a factor in the NCAA tournament, to what Mike and his staff have accomplished from a recruiting standpoint. We are extremely confident in Mike’s leadership. He will continue to make the Irish a significant player within the BIG EAST Conference and nationally.”
“Two years ago we felt Notre Dame would be a great fit for us and, after being here for two years, it’s been an even better fit both for me and my family,” says Brey.
” Our program is on the way back to where we all want it to be, and I’m excited to be part of it.”
Brey is the only coach in the program’s 96-year history to lead his teams to back-to-back 20-win seasons and consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in his first two seasons. He owns a 141-73 mark (.659) in seven years as a head coach, with four of his seven teams advancing to NCAA competition and five post seasons appearances overall (one NIT).
Notre Dame is one of 12 schools to win at least one NCAA tournament game in each of the last two seasons — as Brey’s Irish teams have advanced to the second round in consecutive years.
In his first season, he guided the Irish to a 20-10 record and program’s first BIG EAST regular-season title, as Notre Dame captured the West Division crown with an 11-5 record, the most conference wins since joining the league in 1995-96. The Irish finished 19th in the final Associated Press ranking (and were ranked as high as 10th at one time of the season) for its first ranking on a national basis since ’89.
During the past 2001-02 campaign, the Irish finished with a 22-11 record and 10-6 mark in the West Division, good for second place in the final regular-season standings. Notre Dame earned a first-round bye in the conferences post season tournament and advanced to the semifinals of the championship for the first time after posting its first-ever victory in the quarterfinal round.
Since his arrival at Notre Dame, Brey has led Notre Dame to a 21-11 mark in BIG EAST play during the regular season for a .656 winning percentage. In the last two-year period (2000-02), the Irish have more BIG EAST wins (21) than any other league school. Notre Dame is the only league school to register 10-plus victories in each of the last two years and is the only school to earn a bye in the first round of the last two league championships. Also, Notre Dame and Boston College are the only BIG EAST schools to earn NCAA bids in both ’01 and ’02.
Brey’s 21 BIG EAST wins after only two seasons rank as the third-best total in conference history. Only four other BIG EAST coaches, including current St. John’s mentor Mike Jarvis, have posted a better winning percentage in their first two seasons.
Under Brey, Notre Dame has been one of only four schools to have a player selected in the first round of the NBA draft each of the last two years. In last week’s draft, Ryan Humphrey, a second-team All-America selection by Basketball News, was chosen as the 19th pick overall, which followed Troy Murphy’s 14th overall selection in 2001.
Three players from the 2001-02 team garnered all-conference honors, with Humphrey earning first-team all-BIG EAST accolades and freshman point guard sensation Chris Thomas copping third-team honors as well as taking home the league’s rookie-of-the-year honor. David Graves, who finished his career as the school’s career three-point field goal and steals leader, earned honorable mention recognition.
Thomas capped off his remarkable freshman campaign by earning national freshman-of-the-year accolades from Basketball Times and Basketball News.
Murphy, a consensus All-American in 2001, was the BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year in Brey’s first season as well as a unanimous first-team selection.
A Rockville, Md., native and 1982 graduate of George Washington University, Brey played and coached at De Matha High School under legendary mentor Morgan Wootten. Following a five-year assistant coaching stint at De Matha, Brey spent eight seasons as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski at Duke in helping lead the Blue Devils to six NCAA Final Fours and two national championships (’91 and ’92) during that period.
Brey’s first head coaching stint was at Delaware where he compiled a 99-52 record during his five seasons at the Newark, Del., school and helped his teams to two NCAA tournament appearances (’98 and ’99) as well as regular-season and tournament titles in those same seasons.