Ever since Irish coach Mike Brey arrived before the 1999-2000 season, making the NCAA Tournament has always been the underlying theme to every season. Empty brackets hung in the locker room all season, neither the players nor the coach shied away from talking about March Madness and anything less than a trip to the Big Dance was considered a disappointment.
Not this year.
There will be no brackets, and any talk of making the NCAA Tournament has been replaced with a team-first approach and a more elementary goal of “getting better everyday” will be the motivational force this season.
An influx of young players coupled with the disappointment of narrowly missing the tournament the last two seasons has led to an attitude adjustment within the program.
Brey and the players outlined their hopes and expectations for the season Wednesday during basketball media day. They hope to thrive in year that publicly brings the lowest expectations since Brey’s arrival.
“The only tournament we are worried about making is the Big East Tournament,” said Brey, well aware that four of the 16 conference teams will not qualify.
Practice will open Saturday with more questions than Brey has faced in six seasons.
How much will the team miss four-year starter Chris Thomas?
Can senior forward Torin Francis return to the form that made him a potential NBA pick after his freshman season?
Will senior point guard Chris Quinn emerge as good enough playmaker to give Notre Dame another winning record in Big East play?
How much will the four freshmen be asked to contribute and will they deliver?
“With this team, more than any team, you can’t have preconceived notions or a preseason plan like ‘this is what we are doing offensively or this is what we are doing defensively,’” Brey said. “They’ll tell and we will have to adjust definitely more than any year I’ve been here to what personalities and skill levels is kind of exposing itself.”
Even with all the questions one thing is certain. The Irish will fly well under the college basketball radar to start the season. Sporting News has them picked to finish eighth in the 16-team Big East.
“We’re not picked as one of the top teams of the Big East and that’s fine,” said junior guard Colin Falls, who averaged 12.6 points a game last year and emerged as one of the top three-point shooters in the league. “That kind of gives us a chance to settle into our own and establish an identity under the radar before the Big East season and hopefully by the time that season starts, we’ll be rolling.”
Maybe the two keys to Notre Dame this season will be the play of senior captains Quinn and Francis.
Quinn thrived last season as a complement to Thomas, averaging 12.6 points on dead-eye three-point shooting, and he will be expected to be the face of the program this season both offensively and through leadership.
“Point guard is more my natural position,” said Quinn, who averaged 12.6 points last season. “It’s a position I have played pretty much my entire life so it is something I look forward to. It’s been different without him on the floor but we’ve been doing all right.”
Francis is also back for his senior season after testing the NBA waters this offseason. Francis’ averages of 9.3 points and 7.8 rebounds were career lows last season.
Adding more questions to the mix will be the usefulness of freshmen Ryan Ayers, Zach Hillesland, Kyle McAlarney and Luke Zeller.
Brey indicated all should get a chance to play, leading to the question as to where all the minutes will come from.
Rick Cornett will likely split time with Francis in the post and Rob Kurz, Russell Carter and Omari Israel will compete for minutes as well. Israel will start behind the others after having his knee scoped recently to remove some “floating debris.”
Questions abound with this year’s Irish. How they are answered will she some light on the direction of the program.
“Certainly we are not on anybody’s radar,” Brey said. “But I think that is probably a very good thing, especially for this group.”
