Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/705594
ably on the hardwood. The combi- nation of success by the men's and women's success the past two years is tops in the country. Through his first 14 seasons at Notre Dame from 2001-14, head coach Mike Brey was lauded as a stellar regular-season coach but a postseason bust. Yet the last two sea- sons his Fighting Irish are the lone men's team to advance to the Elite Eight, and the six NCAA Tourna- ment wins during that span (three each year) are the most ever in a two-year period in school annals. As for Muffet McGraw, now enter- ing season No. 30 for the Irish, she led the "rebuilding" squad to a 33-1 ledger before a freakishly good three- point shooting effort by Stanford (11 of 20 beyond the arc) propelled a 90-84 victory by the Cardinal to end Notre Dame's run of five straight Fi- nal Fours. A SHOCKING REMINDER Running back Greg Bryant was one of the crown jewels as a Rivals five-star recruit in Notre Dame's No. 3-ranked recruiting class of 2013. Growing up in a less privileged envi- ronment, Bryant took pride in grow- ing as a Notre Dame student-athlete, but suspension and academic ineligi- bility hastened his departure first to ASA College in Miami before decid- ing on the University of Alabama- Birmingham (UAB). In the wee hours of May 8, Bryant was killed from a gunshot wound in Delray Beach, Fla., after leaving a nightclub. It was yet another re- minder of how fragile any day can Junior point guard Demetrius Jackson spear- headed a second straight run to the Elite Eight before turning pro. Notre Dame is the lone men's team to advance that far the past two years. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND