Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Notre Dame Ready for 1998-99 Campaign

October 15, 1998

THE 1998-99 SEASON: The University of Notre Dame basketball season kicks off the 1998-99 season today with media day activities. Notre Dame begins official practice on Tuesday, October 20, at 2:30 p.m. EST in the Joyce Center. With Notre Dame students on fall break, the Irish will hold two-a-day practices from Wednesday, October 21, through Friday, October 25, and again on Sunday, October 25. Notre Dame will hold one practice on Saturday, October 24.

The Irish will hold its first public appearance on Friday, October 30, with a Blue-Gold Scrimmage in the Joyce Center. The scrimmage is open to the public and free and will begin at approximately 8 p.m. EST after the pep rally for the next day’s Notre Dame vs. Baylor game.

Notre Dame will open its preseason exhibition game on Monday, November 2, at 7:30 p.m. EST in the Joyce Center against One World Basketball and then plays Team Fokus on Sunday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. EST.

The Irish kick off the regular season on Friday, November 13, at 7:30 p.m. against Miami of Ohio. Last season, Miami of Ohio had a 17-12 record and advanced to the championship game of the Mid-American Conference tournament.

Notre Dame opens its fourth season of competition in the BIG EAST Conference on Tuesday, December 8, when it travels to Providence for a 7:30 p.m. EST game. The first BIG EAST home game of the season is on Tuesday, December 29, against Syracuse at 7:30 p.m.

IRISH OFF TO ALASKA: The Notre Dame basketball team will spend its Thanksgiving holiday in Alaska playing in the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. Notre Dame will make the 3,760 journey to the 49th state on Tuesday, November 24, and play Duke in the first round of the event on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26 at 8 p.m. Alaska time, which will be 12:00 a.m. EST Friday. Notre Dame will play either Fresno State or Alaska Anchorage in the second round of the event on Friday, November 27, and either Cincinnati, Iowa State, Southern Utah of St. Mary’s (Calif.) on Saturday, November 28.

The games will mark the third series of regular season basketball games played by Notre Dame outside the Continental United States. Notre Dame played in the Maui Classic in Hawaii in 1993 and in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii in 1966.

BIG EAST MEDIA DAY: The BIG EAST Conference will hold it annual Media Day on Wednesday, October 28, at the New York Hilton on 1335 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The event begins at 10:30 a.m. EDT with remarks by BIG EAST Commissioner Mike Tranghese and continues with player and coach interviews from all 13 BIG EAST schools from 10:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT with lunch to follow. To RSVP for the event, please call the BIG EAST office at 401-453-0660.

MURPHY RECOGNIZED BY BASKETBALL NEWS: Notre Dame freshman Troy Murphy (Delbarton, N.J.) has been selected as the newcomer of the year in the BIG EAST Conference by Basketball News in the publication’s annual preseason yearbook. Murphy was named his team’s most valuable player last spring at the prestigious Capital Classic in Washington, D.C., where he had 18 points and 21 rebounds in the postseason game.

TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE: A variety of options are available for Notre Dame fans who wish to purchase tickets this season. Season tickets in the upper arena for all 18 games (two exhibition plus regular season) are now on sale for $154.00. A premier mini-package season ticket is also available and contains tickets for the Indiana (Dec. 1), Seton Hall (Jan. 19), Providence (Jan. 30), Georgetown (Feb. 10), West Virginia (Feb. 21) and Boston College (Feb. 28) games. The mini-package is available for $60.00 for upper arena seats. Single game tickets for non-mini-package games are available. For more information, call the Notre Dame ticket office at 219-631-7356.

IRISH RADIO NETWORK: Host Communications, Inc., originates the Notre Dame basketball radio network for the 11th year in 1998-99. Jack Lorri will once again handle play-by-play duties and this season will mark his 30th year of announcing Irish games. Jack Nolan handles the color commentary.

WMAQ-AM radio will carry Notre Dame basketball games in the Chicago market for the next two seasons as part of the network originated by Universal Sports America, an affiliate of Host Communications, Inc. The two year-agreement guarantees a minimum of 15 games will be carried in 1998-99, pending the release of a final schedule for the Irish.

WMAQ-AM (670), with its 50,000-watt clear channel signal, covers a larger geographic area than any other radio station in Chicago. WMAQ’s other sports properties include the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Blackhawks – and WMAQ is also affiliated with CNN Radio.

Others stations on the network include: WNDU 1490 AM and 92.9 FM in South Bend and WLUV 96.7 FM and 1520 AM in Rockford, Ill.

1998-99 Notre Dame Basketball Roster(with updated height and weights)
No. Name P Hgt Wgt Cl Hometown High School22 Dennis Carroll F 6-5 207 Sr. LaGrange, IL Lyons Township21 ** Jimmy Dillon G 6-2 171 Jr. Philadelphia, PA Holy Ghost Prep12 Mike Edwards F 6-5 195 Fr. South Bend, IN Adams34 David Graves F 6-5 211 Fr. Lexington, KY Lexington Catholic55 *** Phil Hickey C 6-11 272 Sr. Wellsboro, PA Wellsboro24 * Martin Ingelsby G 5-11 171 So. Philadelphia, PA Archbishop Carroll11 B.J. Kloska G 6-3 194 So. Elkhart, IN Marian35 Tom Krizmanich G 6-4 198 So. Warsaw, IN Warsaw10 Matt MacLeod G 6-4 181 Jr. Granger, IN St. Joseph3 Troy Murphy F 6-9 225 Fr. Morristown, NJ Delbarton25 Peter Okwalinga F 6-8 215 So. Nairobi, Kenya Greensteds School43 Skylard Owens F 6-4 210 Jr. Shreveport, LA Loyola College Prep44 * Todd Palmer F 6-6 220 Jr. Harrington Park,NJDon Bosco Prep15 * Paul Rainey G 6-1 191 Sr. Hattieville, AR Wonderview33 * Hans Rasmussen F 6-9 219 So. Portland, OR Central Catholic42 Harold Swanagan F 6-6 242 Fr. Hopkinsville, KY University Heights Academy20 * Leviticus Williamson F 6-6 194 So. Spring, TX Spring4 *** Antoni Wyche G 6-5 196 Sr. Ballston Lake, NY Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons
* - denotes number of monograms won

Head Coach: John MacLeod
Assistant Coaches: Fran McCaffery, Parker Laketa, Billy Taylor