Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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hensive and amicable manner marked by mutual respect. We part ways as friends and colleagues and look forward to the success of both conferences.��� Every road trip over the last month was part of a farewell tour for Notre Dame, which never won a regularseason title in the esteemed league, although it captured the then ���Western Division��� in 2001. The Big East was formed in 1979. Notre Dame joined in all sports other than football and hockey in 1995. Fighting Irish athletics director Jack Swarbrick originally planned on his stable of sports competing in the Big East next season before moving them to the ACC beginning in 2014���15. The rapid unraveling of the Big East forced Swarbrick to work out an early exit to the ACC for next fall, which became official March��12. It was initially reported it would cost Notre Dame $2.5 million to leave the Big East, but ultimately it did not have to pay anything because the school agreed not to seek any of the league���s exit and entrance fee revenue of about $110 million accumulated in the past few years. ���Notre Dame and the Big East jointly agreed that it would be best for Notre Dame to depart at the same time,��� a university release said. Based on the same legal course that guided the Catholic 7���s departure, Swarbrick believed the financial penalty for leaving before the 27-month exit agreement was minimal. A joint statement from the presidents of the seven Catholic institutions breaking away was also released March��8. ���We are grateful to Commissioner Michael Aresco for spearheading an agreement that truly represents the best path forward for each of our great institutions and the thousands of student-athletes who compete for our schools annually. It is a great credit to Mike, our colleagues, and all involved that we were able to work through a host of highly complex and time-sensitive issues in such a short period of time. We are pleased that we reached this amicable and mutually beneficial separation by approaching each issue with a spirit of cooperation and shared respect.��� Along with retaining the Big East name, the seven Catholic schools and new members will take with them the Big East Championship contract with Madison Square Garden in New York City. Disappointing End For Scott Martin The Fighting Irish went 8-4 to close out the regular season following sixthyear swingman Scott Martin���s knee injury. The Valparaiso, Ind., native was optimistic that he���d return in some capacity, but that hope was officially snuffed out Feb. 28 when head coach Mike Brey announced Martin was shutting it down. Notre Dame replaced Martin���s 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per league game with senior forward Tom Knight (6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per outing), senior center Garrick Sherman (4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game) and freshman forward Zach Auguste (3.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per league contest). Fellow freshman