By Mark Allen, Domer Sports Report
Notre Dame Men's Basketball
Season Preview
Expectations for the 2008-2009 edition of the Notre Dame men’s basketball team are sky high. But, unlike past seasons, the expectations are not only from within the program, but also on the outside.
Many publications and websites have the Irish ranked high going into the season. For example, rivals.com, in their rundown of the top teams, has the Irish coming in at No. 5. ESPN has Notre Dame as their No. 11 team.
Notre Dame’s cause and hopes are bolstered by the fact that two of their starters are also Big East Conference first teamers. The two players are senior Kyle McAlarney and junior Luke Harangody. Harangody also garnered Big East Player of the Year honors.
Head Coach Mike Brey
The Irish, of course, are coached by Mike Brey. Brey is entering his ninth season with Notre Dame in 2008-09. He is a two-time Big East Coach of the Year winner, which says a lot. His record at Notre Dame is 167-86 (.661). In 13 years as a head coach, Brey is 266-138 (.658), which includes a five-year stint at Delaware. Prior to Delaware, Brey was a top assistant at Duke, where he was a great recruiter.
Brief Review of 2007-08
Last season can be considered successful. How it ended, can be considered frustrating. The Irish finished the 2007-08 season with a very good, 25-8, record. They were tied for second in the Big East Conference with a 14-4 record. The Irish, though, lost to Marquette in the conference quarterfinals. They made it to the second round of the NCAA’s where they were blown out by Washington, 61-41.
Backcourt
Projected Starters: Tory Jackson, Kyle McAlarney, Ryan Ayers
Off the Bench: Jonathan Peoples
The Irish return one of the Big East’s most dynamic backcourt duos in Kyle McAlarney and Tory Jackson. They are also vastly underrated, nationally. Notre Dame played 33 games last season and both guards started all of them. Talk about experience!
Jackson (Junior, 8.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 5.8 apg) will be running the point. He is ultra-quick and is a very good ballhandler. Last season, he led the conference in assists. He can penetrate with his quickness. The Irish will need him to do so in order to feed the big men for close in shots or to have them kick it back out for open threes.
On a team that has to emphasize better defense if it wants to go deep into season-ending tournaments, Jackson is Notre Dame’s best defender. He was first on the team in steals (58) and ranked sixth in the Big East.
1 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
dave dddddd 8 months ago
i am really looking forward to this year because we are supposed to be pretty good, but our preseason schedule might be one of the hardests i have even seen. Not only do we have to go the big east but we also have to travel to UCLA and there is a possiblity we have to play Texas and UNC depending on how we do in the maui invitational. there is a legit chance that we could lose 10 games this season and still be a top 15 team.
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