Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Notre Dame Men's Basketball Meets #21 Alabama in Nokia Sugar Bowl Basketball Classic

Dec. 24, 2001

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IRISH ITEMS FOR ALABAMA GAME – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team (9-1) meets its first ranked opponent of the 2001-02 season when the Irish face 23/21 Alabama (9-2) in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic. Notre Dame heads into the contest sporting its best record since the 1985-86-79 campaign when that Irish squad began the season with a 9-1 mark. A win this evening would give Notre Dame its best start since the 1978-79 season when that Irish squad began the season with a 12-1 mark. Tonight’s contest ends a five-game road stretch for the Irish who have not played at home since an 86-49 victory over Army on Nov. 28. Notre Dame already has played seven of its first 10 games on the road. This will be just the second meeting between the two schools who are better known for their battles on the football gridiron. The only contest played between the two teams was on December 29, 1955 in the first round of the Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans as the Irieh prevailed with an 86-60 victory over the Crimson Tide before eventually earning the tournament crown. Notre Dame has played in four Sugar Bowl tournaments and has been victorious in three of those championships. The Irish claimed titles in 1954, 1955 and 1992, while also finishing as the runnerup in 1969. Coach Mike Brey’s squad heads into the contest riding a two-game win streak. Notre Dame earned an 84-73 road win at Canisius on Sat., Dec. 22, which marked the first outing for the Irish in two weeks. Prior to the matchup with the Golden Griffins, Notre Dame was a one-point winner, 70-69, at Miami of Ohio on Dec. 8. Only a one-point loss (76-75) at Indiana separates the Irish from a perfect season. The Irish are outscoring their opponents by an average of 23.7 points per game and have recorded four wins of 37 or more points. Notre Dame is averaging 85.0 points per contest, while limiting its opponents to just 61.3 points per game. They are shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three-point range, while holding its 10 opponents to 37.7 percent shooting and 31.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Irish also are have made 74.9 percent of their free throw attempts (158-211) and own a +8.0 rebounding advantage on the boards. All five Irish starters are averaging double figures with senior Ryan Humphrey leading the team in both scoring andd rebounding as he is averaging 21.5 points and 9.1 rebounds. In addition he ranks as the team leader for the second straight season in blocked shots (3.63). Humphrey recorded his fourth double double of the season against Canisius as he scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Chris Thomas is second in the Irish scoring column with 16.2 points per game, while leading the team in assists (6.8), steals (2.6) and minutes played (34.0). Senior David Graves is third in the scoring and rebounding columns with averages of 15.5 and 5.0, respectively. Junior Matt Carroll is averaging 11.5 points and 4.3 rebounds, while Harold Swanagan is netting 10.6 points and grabbing 7.1 rebounds, both career bests. Swanagan and Humphrey are both shooting better than 60.0 percent from the field. Swanagan is hitting 66.7 percent of his shots (40-60), while Humphrey has made 61.4 percent of his shots attempts (70-114).

RECAP OF CANISIUS GAME – Notre Dame trailed at half for the third straight game, but outscored the Golden Griffins 51-38 in the second half to come away with 84-73 victory in its fourth straight road game. Notre Dame’s starting five scored all 84 of its points as the Irish were led by David Graves’ 20-point performance. Ryan Humphrey recorded his fourth double double in eight games as he tallied 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Matt Carroll finished with 18 points as he connected on 11-of-12 from the free throw line, while Chris Thomas added 17 points, five rebounds and six assists. Harold Swanagan had 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Notre Dame shot 50.0 percent from the field and 79.5 percent from the free throw line as the Irish connected on 35-of-44 from the charity stripe. The Irish held the Golden Griffins to 43.1 percent accuracy from the field and owned a 40-27 rebounding advantage. The Irish had just four turnovers in the second half after turning the ball over 10 times in the first 20 minutes of play. There were ties in the first half and 10 lead changes. Notre Dame took the lead for good at the 17:29 mark and used an 11-1 burst over a four-minute stretch in the second half to break open the game. The Irish scored their final basket of the contest with 4:35 remaining, but converted 13-of-14 from the charity stripe in the final 2:39 of the contest to ensure the victory and its ninth win of the season. Last season, all five starters scored in double figures in two games – Indiana and Tennessee Tech.

HEAD COACH MIKE BREY – Mike Brey is in his second year as the Notre Dame head coach and seventh in the collegiate ranks. He 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 where he led the Blue Hens to an overall record of 99-52. In his first season with the Irish, he guided Notre Dame to a 20-10 record and 11-5 BIG EAST mark in claiming the league’s West divisional championship, the first conference title in school history. In addition, he helped Notre Dame earn an NCAA tournament berth for the first time in 11 seasons as the Irish advanced to the second round for the first time since 1989. Notre Dame’s 19 wins during the regular season under Brey a year ago represented the most wins by an Irish coach in his first season. He also became just the second coach in school history to take his team to the NCAA Tournament in his first year as a head coach and the only first-year coach to lead his team to a first-round victory. John Dee also made the tournament in his first season in 1964-65, but lost in the first round to finish 15-12. Brey has an overall record of 128-63 (.670) as a head coach and is 29-11 (.725) at Notre Dame. The 9-1 start by the Irish is the second time one of his teams began the season by winning nine of its first 10 games. He earned his first victory as Irish head coach on Nov. 18 with a 104-58 triumph over Sacred Heart, which also marked the 100th of his coaching career and came in the 152nd game as a head coach. While at Delaware, Brey guided the Blue Hens to 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 (2000). 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.

BREY LOOKING FOR BEST START IN COACHING CAREER – Notre Dame’s 9-1 start matches the best start ever for Mike Brey as a head coach. In Brey’s final season at Delaware (1999-2000), the Blue Hens won nine of their first 10 games before dropping two straight en route to a final 24-8 campaign. A win today would be the best start ever for Brey in his seven seasons as a head coach.

THE CAPTAINS – Seniors David Graves, Ryan Humphrey and Harold Swanagan will serve as Notre Dame’s tri-captains for the 2001-02 campaign. Both natives of the state of Kentucky, Graves and Swanagan hail from Lexington and Hopkinsville, respectively. Graves averaged 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds last season, while Swanagan netted 4.1 points and 3.4 rebounds. Humphrey was the second-leading scorer and rebounder for the Irish a year ago with averages of 14.1 points and 9.0 rebounds.

SERIES RECORD – This will be just the second meeting ever between the two schools on the basketball court. The only matchup occurred at the Sugar Bowl Tournament in 1955 with the Irish prevailing 86-80 in the contest.

BREY 1-0 ALL-TIME VERSUS ALABAMA – Mike Brey is 1-0 all-time against Alabama. Brey’s 1999-2000 Delaware squad defeated the Crimson Tide 76-66 in the opening round of the Bank One Fiest Bowl Classic in Tuscon, Arizona on December 29, 1999.

OFF TO A QUICK START – Notre Dame’s 7-0 start was its first since the 1979-80 campaign when the Irish were undefeated in their first seven games to achieve a No. 3 ranking before losing 86-80 on the road against second-ranked Kentucky and then dropping a 67-59 decision to San Francisco. That ’79-’80 squad finished the season with a 22-6 mark. Notre Dame is 9-1 for the first time since 1985-86.

7-0 START IS THIRD BEST IN SCHOOL HISTORY – Notre Dame’s 7-0 start equaled the third best in school history. The Irish also were 7-0 in 1976-77 and 1979-80. The two best starts by Notre Dame teams were in 1945-46 (13-0) and 1973-74 (12-0). Those Irish squads finished 17-4 and 26-3, respectively.

THERE IS AN END IN SIGHT – Tonights game against Alabama in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic marks the end to a five-game road stretch for Irish who have yet to play a home game during the month of December at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame will make its only appearance at the Joyce Center in December on Dec. 30 when it plays host to Colgate at 2:00 p.m. The Irish last played a home game on Nov. 28 whewn they defeated Army 86-49.

A PERFECT NOVEMBER – With its win against Army on November 28, Notre Dame finished the first month of the season with a perfect 6-0 slate. It’s the most wins ever by an Irish team in the month of November and the second time in the program’s history that Notre Dame has played six games during that month. The Irish played six games in the month of November during both the 1999-2000 and 1998-99 campaigns and finished with 4-2 and 2-4 marks, respectively.

WINNING BIG – Notre Dame’s margin of victory through the first 10 games of the season has been by an average of 23.7 points per game. Only three wins (UT-Chattanooga, Miami-Ohio and Canisius) have been decided by less than 27 points. Notre Dame’s have included have included a 42-point victory over New Hampshire, a 40-point win over Hawaii Pacific and 37-point margins against Monmouth and Army. Notre Dame has beaten six teams by 27-plus points and eight of its nine victories have been by 10-plus points. Its closest margin of victory was a one-point win (70-69) over Miami-Ohio in Oxford, Ohio on Dec. 8.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL – Notre Dame is averaging 19.4 assists and 12.2 turnovers for a 1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio. Irish opponents are the other hand are averaging 12.50 assists per game and 15.10 turnovers for a 0.83 assist-to-turnover ratio. Notre Dame been under 10 turnovers in three games this season and committed just 11 turnovers or less in six of 10 contests. The Irish committed just seven turnovers against Miami-Ohio, which included just one in the final 20 minutes of the contest. The seven turnovers were the fewest by an Irish team since a January 29, 1995 contest at the Joyce Center against Boston College when that Notre Dame team had just seven in a 74-68 victory. Including that game and the Miami-Ohio contest, that covered 199 contests. Against Canisius in its last outing, Notre Dame had 10 first-half turnovers, but only committed four in the second half to finish the game with 14.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS – Notre Dame’s Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic title marked the fourth time the Irish have captured the championship of an in-season tournament and the first in 10 years. Previously Notre Dame won the title of the Sugar Bowl Tournament in 1954, 1955 and 1992.

90 AND COUNTING – Heading into tonight’s game against Alabama, Notre Dame has hit at least one three-pointer in 90 straight games, which dates back to the 1998-99 campaign. The last time the Irish did not make a three-pointer was in a 101-70 loss to Connecticut in the Hartford Civic Center as Notre Dame finished 0-7 in the contest from three-point range.

CONFERENCE CALL – Notre Dame’s 13-game non-conference schedule features teams from 11 different conferences – America East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Ivy League, Metro Atlantic Athletic, Mid-American, Northeast, Pacific West, Patriot League, Southeastern and Southern. The Irish will play teams from two of those conferences twice – the Patriot League (Army and Colgate) and SEC (Alabama and Kentucky).

STEPPING UP TO THE LINE – As a team, Notre Dame hit 68.8 percent of its free throw attempts during the 2000-01 campaign. This year, the Irish have connected on 74.0 percent from the charity stripe (158-211). Against Miami, Notre Dame was 12-of-13 from the line for a season-best 92.3 accuracy. In their last four games, the Irish are 92-115 for an 80.0 percent accuracy.

HOT STUFFERS – Ryan Humphrey and Harold Swanagan have been nearly unstoppable from the field as each is shooting better than 60.0 percent from the field. Humphrey has made 61.4 percent of his shots (70-114) from the field, while Swanagan has connected on 40 of his 60 shot attempts (66.7 percent). In three of the eight games Humphrey has played, he has shot 80.0 percent from the field. Humphrey was 12-of-15 from the field against Army and Hawaii-Pacific and eight-of-10 from the field versus Monmouth. Against Tennessee-Chattanooga, he hit eight-of-13 from the field for 61.5 percent.

BOMBS AWAY – Matt Carroll was six-of-six from three-point range against Tennessee-Chattanooga, matching the school record for three-point field goal percentage. Previously David Rivers and Martin Ingelsby each went five-for-five from three-point range. Carroll is the first Irish player to hit all six of his attempts in a game from downtown.

PICKING UP THE HAWAIIAN HARDWARE – Ryan Humphrey was named the Most Valuable Player of the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic. He averaged 24.0 points and 6.3 rebounds, while shooting 73.7 percent from the field in helping the Irish to three wins and the tournament title. Humphrey registered a career-high 31 points against Hawaii Pacific in his first game of the season. Also earning all-tournament honors for the Irish were David Graves, Matt Carroll and Chris Thomas. Graves averaged 15.0 points per game, including nine three-point goals, and registered his fourth career double double against Tennessee-Chattanooga (13 points, 10 rebounds). Carroll averaged 16.7 points and hit 12 three-pointers, including a six-for-six performance against the Mocs. Carroll set a career-high and became the first Irish player in school history to hit six three-point goals in a game without a miss. Thomas averaged 10.3 points and 8.0 assists, including a career-high 13 in the Hawaii Pacific game.

FROM DOWNTOWN – The Irish are 74-of-180 (.411) from three-point range this season for an average of 7.4 three-point goals per game. The school record for three-pointers in a season is 287, set in 1999-2000, an average of 7.8 per game.

THOMAS IN CONTROL – Notre Dame’s 1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio, can be attributed to the play of freshman ponts guard Chris Thomas who has already dished off 68 assists (6.8 per game) and has committed just 20 turnovers for a 3.40 assist-to-turnover mark. He is averaging a turnover every 17.00 minutes played. Thomas went two consecutive games (Cornell and Hawaii Pacific) without turning the ball over, while finishing with a total of 19 assists. He dished off a personal best 13 assists against the Sea Warriors, the second 10-plus assist performance of his career after dishing off 11 in his collegiate debut against New Hampshire.

MINUTEMAN – Heading into this season, Harold Swanagan had averaged just 18.3 minutes per game in the 97 career contests he had played in during his first three seasons. This season, Swanagan is playing an average of 27.9 minutes (a career best) – 9.6 more minutes than the average of his first three campaigns. His average would probably be higher had it not been for an injury in the season opener against New Hampshire which limited his playing time to just nine minutes in the contest. Against Indiana, he tied his career-high by playing 38 minutes of the contest.

GOING THE DISTANCE – Chris Thomas played all 40 minutes in back-to-back against Indiana and Miami-Ohio. He leads the team in minutes played (340) for an average of 34.0 minutes per game. He has played 30-plus minutes in all 10 games with this season. Thomas played a season-low 30 minutes against DePaul on Dec. 1.

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE – Ryan Humphrey registered his fourth double double in the eight games he has played in Notre Dame’s last outing against Canisius as he scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Humphrey posted back-to-back double doubles in outings against Indiana and DePaul. He had 18 points and a career-high 16 boards versus the Blue Demons and then posted 23-point and 12-rebound performance against Indiana. Humphrey registered his first double double of the season against Hawaii Pacific (his first game of the season after missing the first two contests) as he scored a personal best 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He had 10 double doubles in 2000-01 and now has 24 in his career.

TERRIFIC TORRIAN – Sophomore Torrian Jones certainly ranks as Notre Dame’s most improved player of the year and has proven to be a real spark for the Irish in the lineup. The second-year player currently is averaging 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. In outings against Monmouth and Army, he grabbed 16 rebounds in 36 minutes for an average of 2.3 rebounds per minute. In the Monmouth game, Jones tied his career-high (established against Hawaii-Pacific) with seven points and a career-best 10 rebounds. He played 22 minutes versus Miami and had six points and two rebounds in addition to an assist, steal and a block. Jones had the game-winning block at a three-point shot attempt by Miami-Ohio with four seconds to play in the game.

DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE – Harold Swanagan registered his second double double of the season and fifth of his career when he had 18 points and 16 rebounds against DePaul. Swanagan’s first double-double of the of the season was against UT-Chattanooga as he had 19 points and 10 boards. David Graves also has a double double to his credit as he had 13 points and 10 rebounds versus UT-Chattanooga.

MOUNTING THE COMEBACK – The Irish have trailed at the half in each of their last three games. In Notre Dame’s first seven games of the season, the combined time the Irish had trailed in those contests was under seven minutes. Heading into its eighth game of the season at Indiana, Coach Mike Brey’s squad had never trailed at the half. Against the Hoosiers, Notre Dame found itself trailing by at 10 at the break after falling behind by as many as 14 in the first half. The Irish never led in the contest, but was able to pull within one with 21 seconds to play before the final one-point outcome. Notre Dame briefly held a one-point lead against Miami-Ohio early in the contest, but did fall behind by as many as 13 in the first half. The Irish trailed by six at the intermission and gained the lead, which it never relinquished, with 6:19 left in the contest. Notre Dame trailed by two at the half against Canisius, but outscored the Golden Griffins 51-38 in the second half.

MAKING THE EARLY COMPARISONS – While it is early in his rookie season, Chris Thomas already has a couple of noteworthy accomplishments to his credit. With his 24-point effort against New Hampshire and 22-point performance in the Cornell game, he became the first Irish freshman to score 20-plus points in each of his first two games. He is also just the second Notre Dame player to record two consecutive 20-point outings in the first two games of his career. Only Austin Carr, who finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,560 career points, recorded back-to-back 20-point games in the first two games of his career. As a sophomore in his first season (1968-69), Carr opened up his career with point totals of 20 vs. Kings College, 26 vs. UCLA, 22 vs. Wisconsin and 30 vs. St. Louis in his first four games.

TRIPLE THE PLEASURE – It only took one game for freshman point guard Chris Thomas to do what no other Irish player had done previously in the program’s 96-plus year history – a triple double. Thomas scored 24 points, dished off 11 assists and made a school and Joyce Center record 11 steals against New Hampshire. The Irish rookie shot nine-of-18 from the field and five-of-nine from three-point range in 34 minutes of action.

GRAVES IN THE GROOVE – With classmates Ryan Humphrey and Harold Swanagan not in the game against New Hampshire, tri-captain David Graves had one of the top performances of his career as he tossed in a game-high 26 points (third highest point total of his career), grabbed five rebounds and made a career-high seven steals all in just 27 minutes of action on the court. He hit 10-of-16 shots from the field and was three-of-six from three-point range. Graves is averaging 15.4 points and 4.8 rebounds this season.

MACURA FINDS HIS MATCH – Irish head coach Mike Brey made the decision at the start of the preseason to have forward Jere Macura become more of an inside player, which has seemed to benefit the junior’s play as he has registered back-to-back career-high outings in his first two games. Macura made the most of his two starts in the first two games of the season. Against New Hampshire, he had a then career-high 14 points, while also grabbing six rebounds in 26 minutes of action as he connected on six-of-nine shots from the field in the contest. Macura then followed that up with a career-high 16-point outing against Cornell. In addition, he also grabbed eight rebounds in the contest. Last season, Macura had just one double-figure game (10 points at Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J.) after scoring in double figures five times as a freshman. Currently, he is averaging 7.0 points and 4.3 rebounds.

STEALING THE SHOW – Notre Dame had a school record and Joyce Center record 26 steals against New Hampshire, bettering the old mark of 22 set against Vermont on Dec. 21, 1976. Chris Thomas led the Irish with 11 (a school record), while David Graves had a career-high seven steals which would have tied the old mark set by Ray Martin in 1974. Notre Dame already has 35 more steals than their opponents (87-52).

JORDAN GETS INTO THE ACT – While freshman Chris Thomas certainly made his mark in his first even games, Notre Dame’s other rookie, Jordan Cornette, also has played well. The 6-9 forward logged 29 minutes against New Hampshire in the season opener and had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. His playing time increased when Harold Swanagan went out of the game with a knee injury, which left the Irish with just two frontline players – Macura and Cornette. Against Cornell, he started in place of Swanagan and played 29 minutes while scoring three points and grabbing six rebounds. Cornette has played in nine contests (did not see action against Indiana) and is averaging 14.7 minutes per game.

WING-ING IT – The perimeter play of outside shooters David Graves and Matt Carroll give the Irish a deadly three-point shooting arsenal. The duo made 127 (57.9 percent) of Notre Dame’s 219 three-point field goals in 2000-01 and attempted 323 of team’s 570 shots from beyond the arc. Carroll shot 40.9 percent from three-point range, while Graves made 37.8 percent of his attempts. Graves has made 26 of his 55 attempts this season (47.3 percent), while Carroll is 17-of-47 (36.2 percent). Add freshman Chris Thomas to the mix because the Irish rookie is shooting 46.2 percent from behind the arc (24-52). Of the 74 three-pointers the Irish have made this season, the three have combined for 67 of those from beyond the arc (90.5 percent). Ryan Humphrey is a perfect three-for-three from long range.

IRONMEN – David Graves and Harold Swanagan have played in all 107 contests during their Irish careers – neither one has missed a game. They saw action in 30 games as freshmen and juniors and played in 37 contests in their sophomore season. Graves has earned 88 starting appearances during his three seasons, while Swanagan has made 58 starts.

BLOCK PARTY – Notre Dame set the single-season team record for blocked shots last season with 178 in 30 games for an average of 5.93 blocks per game. The previous mark of 145 was set by the 1991-92 Irish team. Notre Dame had 110 blocks during the 1999-2000 campaign. Ryan Humphrey led the Irish with 79 blocks, the second-highest individual single-season mark in school history and ranked 18th in the nationally with 2.7 blocks per game. Humphrey has blocked 28 blocks for an average of 4.00 blocks per game this season. As a team, Notre Dame has blocked 60 shots (6.00 per game).

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS – Notre Dame ranked 10th nationally in field goal percentage defense last season as Irish opponents shot just 39.3 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from three-point range. Only one opponent, Indiana, shot above 50.0 percent from the field against the Irish. Notre Dame’s field goal percentage defense has been impressive again this season as the Irish have held six of their nine opponents to under 37 percent shooting from the field. Notre Dame has held four opponents to under 32 percent – New Hampshire (31.5), Monmouth (31.7), Army (29.5) and DePaul (29.6). Notre Dame has not had an opponent shoot better than 50.0 percent in 35 straight contests.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE – Notre Dame’s defense has limited its opponents to just 61.3 points per game with only four opponents – Tennessee-Chattanooga, Monmouth, Miami-Ohio and Canisius – scoring more than 60 points. The Irish are outscoring their opponents by 23.7 points per game. The Irish played their first two games of the 2001-02 campaign at home and came away with convincing victories over New Hampshire (95-53) and Cornell (78-48). The 103-point opponent point total in the two games is the lowest by an Irish team to start the season since the 1985-96 campaign when Notre Dame allowed 105 points in wins over St. Joseph’s of Indiana (79-49) and Butler (87-56).

MR. INDIANA – Freshman point guard Chris Thomas is the first Mr. Basketball from Indiana to attend Notre Dame. He played in the McDonald’s All-American game and was a fourth team Parade All-American honoree. He led his Pike high school team to the Class 4-A state championship as a senior after averaging 23.3 points, 5.7 assists and 3.7 steals. Thomas is the 12th McDonald’s All-American to attend Notre Dame.

MILLER TIME – Dan Miller, a 6-8, 223-pound guard/forward from Mt. Holly, N.J, has transferred to Notre Dame from the University of Maryland following three seasons. He has one year of eligibility remaining with the 2002-03 campaign. Miller was a former McDonald’s and Parade All-American at Rancocas Valley High School.

JERSEY #1 TO BE WORN FOR FIRST TIME AT NOTRE DAME – Freshman point guard Chris Thomas becomes the first player in the 96-year history of the Notre Dame men’s basketball program to wear jersey #1.

DANNY WHITE ADDED TO IRISH ROSTER – Head coach Mike Brey has added guard Danny White to the Irish roster for the 2001-02 season. White, the son of director of athletics Kevin White, played for Towson University, before transferring to Notre Dame in January of 2001. He will be eligible to play against Alabama on Dec. 27.

IRISH INK THREE IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD – Notre Dame signed three players to national letters of intent on Nov. 14 – 6-3, 230-pound forward Rick Cornett (Country Club Hills, Ill./Homewood Academy), 6-10, 220-pound forward Torin Francis (Roslindale, Mass./Tabor Academy) and 6-1, 175-pound guard Chris Quinn (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman). Cornett averaged 17.9 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked per game in 2000-01 while leading his prep team to the Illinois Christian School state title for the second consecutive year. In addition, he was a member of the Illinois Warriors AAU team which captured the 17-and-under national crown in 2001. A two-year starter at Tabor Academy, Francis averaged 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots last season as his squad captured its second straight New England Prep school championship. A member of the BABC AAU squad, he helped that team to a runner-up finish at the Nike Showcase in Orlando, Fla. Quinn averaged 18.5 points, 6.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds during his junior year. He set the single-season school assist record with 155 in 26 games while committing just 29 turnovers and was named the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division Player of the Year. All three have participated in the Nike All-America camps.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION – Notre Dame once again will receive tremendous exposure with seven nationally-televised games on CBS, ABC and ESPN. Four of those appearances will be at home at the Joyce Center. Last season, Notre Dame was featured nine times on national telecasts during the regular season, the most since the 1988-89 campaign. Notre Dame will play twice on CBS (both at home against Kentucky and Providence), once on ABC (vs. Syracuse) and four times on ESPN (at Indiana, at Syracuse, home versus Georgetown and at Rutgers).

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 Show” is scheduled to air from 11:00-11:30 p.m. for 30 consecutive Sundays on ESPN radio (1000 AM in Chago, 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.

MEN’S BASKETBALL LUNCHEON DATES 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, 3, 2000 (the day before the Notre Dame-Indiana game), Friday, Jan. 18, 2002 (the day before the Notre Dame-Kentucky game) and Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2002 (the day before the Notre Dame-West Virginia game). All three luncheons, which begin at noon, will feature Brey, members of his squad, video presentations and other special guests. The Dec. 3 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 219-631-5031.

SOLD-OUT – Notre Dame played its first home game to a sold-out Joyce Center (11,418) as the Irish played on a football weekend. The basketball contest was played following the pep rally.