Nov. 4, 1999
Date: Friday, Nov. 5, 1999
Place: Joyce Center (11,418), Notre Dame, IN
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
FRIDAY’S GAME: The University of Notre Dame basketball team plays its first of two exhibition games tonight against the International Select All-Stars. The team is comprised of former college players and international performers. The club is sponsored by International Sport Management of Merrillville, Ind., and tonight’s game is the first for team in this year’s tour.
The Irish also play an exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m. EST against Marathon in the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame opens the regular season at 8:30 p.m. EST on Tues., November 16, at Ohio State in the first round of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament. That game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The Buckeyes advanced to the NCAA Final Four last season.
The first regularly-scheduled Irish home game is at 2:00 p.m. EST on Sun., November 21, against St. Francis (Pa.).
Notre Dame begins its fifth season of BIG EAST play at 7:30 p.m. EST on Wed., January 5, against defending national champion Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center.
The BIG EAST home opener is at 7:30 p.m. EST on Wed., January 12, against Boston College.
HEAD COACH MATT DOHERTY: Notre Dame head basketball coach Matt Doherty enters his first year in charge of the Fighting Irish program and his first season as a collegiate head coach.
Doherty previously served as an assistant coach at Kansas for seven seasons from 1992-99 as the Jayhawks advanced to the NCAA tournament in each year with the Jayhawks, including a trip to the 1993 Final Four.
Doherty previously served as an assistant coach at Davidson for three seasons from 1989-92.
Doherty is a 1984 graduate of North Carolina and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1982 NCAA title. Doherty became just the second player in Atlantic Coast Conference history, joining North Carolina’s Walter Davis, to accumulate 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists in a career.
MURPHY HONORED BY BIG EAST: Notre Dame sophomore forward Troy Murphy (Morristown, N.J.) was named first team preseason all-BIG EAST for the 1999-2000 season by the league coaches. The honor was announced at BIG EAST Conference Media Day on Wed., October 25, 1999, and was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
Also named to the first team was: Khalid El-Amin of Connecticut, Johnny Hemsley of Miami, Erick Barkley of St. John’s and Etan Thomas of Syracuse.
The second team was Kevin Freeman of Connecticut, Isaac Hawkins of Pittsburgh, Bootsy Thornton of St. John’s, Jason Hart of Syracuse and Marcus Goree of West Virginia.
The preseason player of the year was El-Amin and the preseason rookie of the year was Ajou Deng of Connecticut.
PRESEASON HONORS FOR MURPHY: Murphy earned 1999 BIG EAST rookie-of-the-year honors last year after averaging 19.2 points per game and 9.9 rebounds to lead the Irish in both categories.
In addition to the BIG EAST honors, Murphy has already garnered a number of preseason accolades heading into the 1999-2000 campaign, including:
- Second Team All-America, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
- Second Team All-America, Basketball News
- Honorable Mention All-America, Athlon
- Ranked second in country among centers, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
- Ranked fourth in country among power forwards, Lindy’s
- Ranked 11th in country among power forwards, The Sporting News
- First Team All-BIG EAST, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
- First Team All-BIG EAST, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
- First Team All-BIG EAST, The Sporting News
- First Team All-BIG EAST, Lindy’s
- Best NBA Prospect in BIG EAST, Lindy’s
- Best Rebounder in BIG EAST, The Sporting News
- All-Windex Team (The kids can really clean the glass), Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
CARROLL SPENDS SUMMER WITH USA TEAM: Notre Dame freshman guard Matt Carroll (Horsham, Pa.) spent the summer as a member of the USA Basketball Junior National Team that played in the FIBA World Championships, which were held in Portugal in August. The United States won the silver medal in the event.
Carroll played in seven of the eight games the United States played and scored a combined 16 points to go along with three rebounds and four steals. He scored eight points in the United States’ opening round win over China.
TICKETS ON SALE: Tickets are currently on sale for the 1999-2000 basketball season.
Season tickets for all 18 home games are priced at $154 (plus $15 for handling per order) and available in the bleacher seats.
A special four-game Saturday package is available and includes the Vanderbilt (Dec. 4), Pittsburgh (Jan. 22), St. John’s (Jan. 29) and Connecticut (Feb. 12) games. That package is priced at $30 (plus $15 for handling per order).
Single game tickets are now on sale at $15 for the lower arena (when available) and $8 for bleachers.
IRISH ON ESPN: Notre Dame will make a minimum of three appearances on ESPN this season and one on ESPN2. The Irish game against Ohio State in the first round of the preseason National Invitation Tournament will be televised on ESPN2 (Nov. 16 at 8:30 p.m.). If Notre Dame advances to the semifinals and finals of the tournament, those games will be televised on ESPN.
Notre Dame games scheduled for ESPN are: Sat., February 19, at Seton Hall, 9:00 p.m. EST, Sat., February 26, at Miami (Fla.), 7:00 p.m. EST, Wed., March 1, vs. Syracuse, 9:00 p.m. EST.