Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 MAY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED MEN'S BASKETBALL BY TODD D. BURLAGE M ike Brey has always kept his cool and a positive perspective, even during those inevitable stretches that every coach faces when Murphy's Law rules. But after losing seven games this season by three points or fewer, even Brey — who just completed his 20th season as the Irish head coach — had his moments through words and actions when it appeared enough was enough. In an exclusive interview with Blue & Gold Illustrated, Brey discussed a variety of topics, including the impact COVID-19 is having on his program and what his team will look like next season when the players eventually return to campus. Most pressingly, Brey dis- cussed his future with the program. Already the coach with most wins in Irish men's basketball history, when Brey, 61, takes the sidelines for the 2020-21 season, his 21 years on the job will also make him the lon- gest-tenured men's basketball coach in program history, passing both George Keogan (1923-43) and Dig- ger Phelps (1971-91), each of whom lasted 20 years. Brey signed a three-year contract extension in 2018 that he expects will keep him on the Irish bench through the 2024-25 season, and for 25 years total. "I have every intention of finish- ing this thing out and getting to 2025," Brey said when asked what his future with the program holds. "And at that point, I'm not saying I wouldn't coach again, but maybe you're not coaching here anymore, maybe you're not doing that." Brey has built up plenty of equity during his two decades at Notre Dame. A one-time national and four-time conference coach of the year, Brey has led the Irish to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, two Elite Eights and the 2015 ACC Tournament championship. Presumably, Brey will leave Notre Dame on his own terms, even if his team hasn't been to the NCAA Tour- nament since 2016-17 and has lost 21 straight games to top-25 teams. "It is worth my while to finish out this contract on a lot of fronts," Brey said. "One would be financially how this thing is set up. Another is to finish this race strong for when this thing ends in 2025. I want to lead this program to a Final Four before I'm outta here." Back-to-back recruiting cycle hic- cups for Brey in 2019 and 2020 on the heels of signing his celebrated 2018 class also brought some speculation that the coach might be losing energy and interest in putting in the long hours to find new players, a notion that Brey un- equivocally dismissed. "If I lose that passion, want- ing to compete recruiting- wise, I'll be the first one to get out because then that's a sign it's time to go," Brey said. "I know from looking around, when the energy in recruiting changes from the head guy, that's usually the end of it. "And our recruiting is a little different, it gets a little bit surgical how we do it. Who's a good fit for this place academically and the culture? The pool is always a little smaller to pick from." But with program momen- tum trending in the right di- rection after a six-game im- provement in the win column this year (14 to 20) from 2018- 19, Brey said he's going to keep fighting on the recruiting trail and keep "coaching like hell" on the sidelines. "Sometimes here you've got to get a little bit creative," he said. "And I still have the energy to do it." ISOLATION UNCERTAINTY This time each year for the last 25 years, Brey is either pounding the pavement out recruiting and/or working with administrators to bring high school prospects to campus for official visits during the spring months. This year? "I'm sitting here in my office, look- ing across campus, and it's a ghost town. There is absolutely nobody around," Brey said on March 25, about two weeks after the coronavirus pandemic caused in-person classes to be canceled at Notre Dame and the NCAA to place a temporary morato- rium on all recruiting activities. With traditional recruiting on hold, Five More Years Head coach Mike Brey expects to remain on the Irish bench through the 2024-25 season Junior guard Dane Goodwin, who ranked fourth on the team with an aver- age of 10.8 points per game in 2019-20, will be among the top returning players for the Irish next season. PHOT0 BY KEN MARTIN