Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/76097
The Notre Dame men's basketball team RECRUITING ON THE RISE was coming off a 25-8 season and its sec- ond straight NCAA Tournament appear- ance when Jack Swarbrick was hired as athletics director in July 2008. He immedi- ately wanted to catch a glimpse of the inner workings of Brey's program. "As the coaches here will tell you, I like to be at practice," Swarbrick said. "That's the classroom. It's hard to evaluate a coach on game day, but you can at practice. I love the way he approached teaching the game at practice. Not a lot of dramatics; it's not a lot of yelling, but it's really very clear instructions, very clear expectations. "A lot is vested in the team — they've got to make it here; they've got to take owner- ship. All of those were elements of being a great teacher for me. It really was the first few practices I attended, as we built a rela- tionship, that I could see that." Relationships are important to Brey, and he's drawn to personalities, he said, that you can "have a beer with" once their time in South Bend comes to a close. Beer is always a little tastier when it's consumed in celebration, and Brey and his staff were beginning to see victories on the recruit- ing trail around 2005 as well, when the Irish boasted a top-25 haul with four-star players such as forward Luke Zeller, shoot- ing guard/small forward Ryan Ayers, and prospects with high ceilings such as point guard Kyle McAlarney and forward Zach Hillesland. The following year, Notre Dame landed forward Luke Harangody and point guard Tory Jackson. Harangody would finish his career second on the program's all-time scoring list with 2,476 points, just 84 shy of Austin Carr's record of 2,560 (although Carr accomplished that mark in just three seasons from 1968-71). Along with the physical traits needed to excel at the college level, Brey believed they all possessed what was necessary to thrive at such a unique and demanding place such as Notre Dame. "When Tory [Jackson] and Luke [Ha- rangody] showed up as freshmen, we had Colin Falls and Russ Carter as seniors," Brey recalled. "That was a key year for us, key year for me. I think we got a little tougher mentally and physically. Those two freshmen really were a key to making us tougher at a time we needed to be. "Since then I think our recruiting has changed a little bit. We've probably gotten a little more athletic. We've been able to get into that crop that has helped us. The one thing that has been a constant through those six years, too, is we've had great leadership. "We don't get the one-and-dones, but these four- and five- and sometimes sixth- year guys, those guys take the baton from who was before them and really lead. "I've had guys to help me sell my stuff in the locker room when I'm not around. Chris Thomas did it. Tory Jackson did it. [Current Irish assistant] Martin Ingelsby did it, and Scott Martin is doing it like it's a clinic." AUGUST 2012 92