Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 NOV. 6, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Yes, Both Teams Will Make The Big Dance By Tyler Horka Both Notre Dame basketball teams are at a bit of a crossroads heading into the 2021-22 season. Not all crossroads are created equally. Mike Brey enters his 22nd year in charge of the men's team. Niele Ivey enters her second in charge of the women's team. With two decades of experience separating them, the duo faces the same ques- tion: is it NCAA Tournament or bust? Leashes are getting shorter and shorter for NCAA head coaches in any sport. If Ivey has an- other season around .500, her seat will undoubt- edly get pretty hot. The Notre Dame administra- tion can't afford to let a proud program keep plummeting just a few years removed from winning the national title. Brey, meanwhile, runs the risk of missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season. Talk about hot seats if the Irish finish with a record below .500 for the third time in the last four seasons. Brey and Ivey cannot afford to miss out on the Big Dance this season. They just can't. Which is why they won't. Both Notre Dame basketball teams will punch their March Madness tickets. Will it be easy? No. Will either team win the ACC? Almost assuredly not. But in both cases, each team returns a core group of players from the 2020-21 season who are hungry to play postseason basketball. Neither roster is the most talented in the conference, but that's not to say neither roster has any talent at all. Brey's team has a ton of experience. Ivey's has a mixture of potential bud- ding superstars and seasoned veterans. The respective head coaches just need some things to come together, and they will. No, Both Programs Remain A Year Away By Todd D. Burlage Let's preface this by saying that I have nothing but respect for Irish men's basketball coach Mike Brey and women's coach Niele Ivey. Brey is a terrific university ambassador and a heck of a coach who lifted this program to new heights. And in her second season on the Irish bench, Ivey is finding her footing while trying to regain the pro- gram momentum and success realized under two- time NCAA champion head coach Muffet McGraw. For Brey, his program hasn't made the NCAA Tour- nament since 2016-17 after making it in seven of the prior eight seasons, while the Irish women have missed the Big Dance the last two years after winning the national title in 2017- 18 and finishing runner-up to Baylor in 2018-19. After a disappointing 11-15 record last year, Brey performed a thorough staff overhaul to provide a fresh perspective and increased player accountability. For the women, five wins in six games last January had them at 8-5 and on track for a tourney bid before five losses in the final seven games kept them out. If the men — who are picked eighth in the ACC — are to get back in the NCAA Tournament, finding familiarity with two new bench coaches is the greatest challenge. For the women — who are picked to finish sixth in the ACC — better consistency in a league that features more parity than it ever has is top priority for a tourney run. Brey and Ivey are equipped to overcome these challenges and return to the NCAA Tournament this season. But because of the depth and talent of the ACC, both of these Notre Dame programs remain a year away from a tourna- ment invite. Point ✦ Counterpoint: CAN EITHER THE MEN'S OR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM RETURN TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT? IVEY BREY Even all the way back as a middle school stu- dent growing up in Seattle about 20 years ago, Tony Simeone knew that sports broadcasting was the only career path he wanted to follow. He also realized that finding his place in this highly com- petitive business wouldn't be easy. That childhood dream for Simeone came true in October when he was selected as the new radio play-by-play broadcaster for Notre Dame men's basketball. A 2011 Pepperdine graduate, Sime- one, 32, takes over for legendary uni- versity broadcaster Jack Nolan, who retired at the end of the 2020-21 season after 39 years as a member of the Notre Dame men's basketball broadcast team. In addition to his basketball play- by-play duties, Simeone will also host the weekly "Inside Notre Dame Bas- ketball" show with Irish head coach Mike Brey. Well-rounded and no stranger to Notre Dame athletics, Simeone has spent the last five years predominately in a production role with Fighting Irish Media where his duties included working as the host of "The Brian Kelly Show," the studio host during Fighting Irish football games for the Notre Dame Radio Network, and as a hockey broadcaster on NBCSN for Notre Dame games. Blue & Gold Illustrated recently caught up with Simeone to discuss his new job with Irish men's basketball, his road to it, and replacing a local broadcasting legend. BGI: It took you awhile to land your dream job, how excited are you about this opportunity? Simeone: "I look at this transition as a real in- flection point for me and the culmination of really about 10 years of professional work trying to get to this point, and 15 or 20 years going back to high school and middle school dreaming about being a broadcaster. "I think if you get to be 'the voice' of a team, that's one of the big goals when you get into sports broadcast- ing." BGI: You spent five years working closely with Jack Nolan, what about him stands out to you? Simeone: "The first thing that comes to mind about Jack is that he was a great co-worker. I worked with him on a bunch of different projects for five years and I think he was a great example in how to be a professional. "It's a fine line to walk when you have to be objective but understand that you are also repre- senting the teams you follow." BGI: Is there anything in particular you hope to take away from those lessons? Simeone: "I saw Jack host shows with both Coach [Brian] Kelly and Coach Brey maybe after difficult losses where he was outstanding at put- ting the program in the right light, just a great ambassador for Notre Dame athletics. "I think I have the unique advantage of having seen how he operated so I know how to at least do my best to emulate all of the great traits he put forth in front of me." BGI: How satisfying is it having your career plan hold together so neatly? Simeone: "I learned that is not as easy as you walk across the stage at graduation and some- body hands you one of these jobs. So, for it to kind of pan out the way it has is rewarding. "And for it to happen at Notre Dame, I think is extra special just because I learned a ton here in the last five years working in a production ca- pacity. It's obviously an amazing institution with amazing athletic traditions." BGI: How anxious are you to get started? Simeone: "I'm really excited. Once we get on the road and start doing a couple of basketball games each week, that will be when it sinks in that this is a pretty incredible opportunity to be the voice of Notre Dame's men's basketball." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … TONY SIMEONE, THE NEW VOICE OF IRISH MEN'S BASKETBALL SIMEONE