Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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a season that ended with a 76-58 loss to Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament's round of 64, he sang a different tune. "Our AD [Jack Swarbrick] should have his jersey retired to get this done," Brey said. "Jack Swarbrick was on the front of this for three years now, and to land on our feet in the ACC with all the other stuff that may have happened to us … it's a grand slam." The Irish never managed to win a regular season or Big East Tournament title in their 18 years in a league where Brey said his program forged its identity. Now they hope to hit the ground running in the retooled ACC, which also welcomes fellow former Big East members Pittsburgh and Syracuse this year, and Louisville in 2014-15. "What this league will become will be the best basketball conference ever," Brey said. The ACC Tournament has been held in North Carolina (Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte); Atlanta; Landover, Md.; Washington, D.C.; and Tampa, Fla. With the league's expansion, cities such as Chicago and New York might one day join that list. For now, the new Big East has a 12-year deal through 2026 to continue playing at Madison Square Garden in New York. That agreement, however, is based on the conference meeting certain benchmarks. The Barclays Center in nearby Brooklyn might be an option for the ACC, which is still interested in one day playing its championship at MSG. "We'll have to wait and see on that," ACC commissioner John Swofford told ESPN in Amelia Island. "We really don't have all the information yet as far as future opportunities. We don't want to prematurely make a decision without having a full scope of information we want to have." At Notre Dame's awards banquet in April, Brey was confident the ACC would end up at "The World's Most Famous Arena." "We've got to get the Garden," he said. "The ACC Tournament has got to get the Garden, and I think within three years there's a good chance we'll be up there." For the Notre Dame coaching staff, this summer includes a heavier prep workload in terms of breaking down opponents' film. Brey said he didn't even look at film of Georgetown and Pittsburgh last year because "you know what's coming at you." His assistants have all been assigned a handful of ACC teams to compile a complete study package for Irish players during the offseason. The move also affects recruiting with Brey working to bring in a 2014 class focused on big men. "I'm intrigued about the footprint we'd like to get into," he said. "The Carolinas and Georgia, since we're down there, let's look down there a little more. We've actively done that. The thing I'm interested about is, [after being] here 13 years, you've battled the Big Ten so much. "Kids grow up with those Big Ten blinders. We couldn't beat the Big Ten [in recruiting]. Now that we have the ACC to sell, I'm wondering if some kids that are just so Big Ten brainwashed will go, 'Wait a minute, Notre Dame is an hour and a half from home, two hours from home, but they're playing in the ACC? I'm thinking differently.'" ✦