Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79478
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE Young Irish make inconceivable strides, but run out of magic in postseason anything in 2011-12. The Fighting Irish lost Big East Player of the Year and point guard Ben Hansbrough and forward Tyrone Nash to gradu- ation, along with forward Carleton Scott to a failed attempt to land with an NBA team with a year of eligibil- ity remaining. As a result, the Big East Preseason T BY WES MORGAN he way the Big East Confer- ence coaches looked at it, there was no way the Notre Dame men's basketball team would be in contention for Coaches Poll pegged the harmless Irish to finish ninth. It didn't matter that Notre Dame was coming off a 27-7 season and would be guided by reigning National Coach of the Year Mike Brey. He just didn't have the horses to do much this season. The only truly proven commodity Brey did have was fifth-year senior forward Tim Abromaitis, who was considered to be a surefire Big East first-team selection by year's end. Abromaitis was suspended by the NCAA and had to sit the first four games of the season because of a violation as a sophomore (he ap- peared in two exhibition games be- fore Brey made the decision to red- shirt the Connecticut product, and neither realized at the time that isn't allowable after a player's freshman year). Two games after his return to the team, he tore his ACL during a practice Nov. 25 and was lost for the season. It was a crushing blow for an Irish squad that was 4-2 and trying to find its identity with forward Scott Mar- tin, who struggled mightily on of- fense for the first half of the year, the only other senior. Abromaitis, who has averaged 13.7 attack with 12.5 points per game, and he also led the Irish with 8.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Junior forward Jack Cooley, who was named the Big East's Most Improved Player, paced a balanced the non-conference slate following Abromaitis' injury, pounding Bry- ant, Maine, Dartmouth and Sacred Heart, while being pushed around by Gonzaga and Indiana. Brey tinkered with the starting lineup every night, and by season's end the Irish had suited up nine different starting five combinations. An immediate sign of hope came Notre Dame went 4-3 to finish LIFE AFTER ABRO in the form of sophomore guard Alex Dragicevich's 22-point out- burst against then-No. 22 Pittsburgh in the Big East opener at Purcell Pa- vilion. The first-year starter, though he eventually lost the spot to fresh- man Pat Connaughton, connected on four three-pointers in the 72-59 throttling. "It's more about just getting com- points and 4.8 rebounds per game duirng his Irish career, went on to win his third Big East Scholar-Ath- lete of the Year award. His teammates, though it took some time, learned how to play with- out him. 48 APRIL 2012 spots [in the lineup], guys have been on the bench, we're shuffling lineups and this is a great win for us." Notre Dame turned around and fortable," Dragicevich said at the time. "You can't look at the Pitt game differently than the IU game or the Dartmouth game. Every game you get better as a team and better indi- vidually. Coach [Brey] has been doing a really good job 'jelling' us because guys have been in spots and out of squad starting three underclassmen was grounded. The Irish turned in a clunker at home against defending national champion Connecticut on Jan. 14. The 67-53 loss to the 17th- ranked Huskies snapped a 29-game home winning streak in South Bend. "It was a pretty good run," Brey was put right back it its place, it ap- peared, in a 71-55 loss at Cincinnati. Three days later, the team rebounded with a 67-65 double-overtime win at No. 11 Louisville. Junior forward Jack Cooley poured in 18 points and snagged 10 rebounds in an effort that had Irish fans thinking this team might be a disruptive force in the Big East after all. A 60-49 win over upward-trending South Florida had the Irish at 3-1 in the league. Again, however, a Notre Dame said. "Amazing when you think about it. I'm really proud of our over- all body of work at home. So, you get a chance to start another streak." His words were prophetic. BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED