Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The ‘Other’ Program Men’s basketball is ranked 29th by ESPN over past 50 years By Lou Somogyi There are choices to make in all realms of life. Democrat or Republican? Cash or credit? Tastes great or less filling? In the NCAA, it’s often: “Is your sports identity going to be as a football school or a basketball school?” ESPN.com recently completed its “50 for 50” survey on the 50 greatest men’s college basketball programs from 1962-2012. Among the 309 schools that qualified to be in the list, only four “football schools” made it into ESPN’s basketball top 30 over the past 50 years: Michigan (13th), Ohio State (15th), Texas (26th) and Notre Dame (29th). In no way does it cement the notion that achieving prosperity is mutually exclusive, or that in given years a school cannot thrive in both. During the 2006-07 academic year, the University of Florida made history by becoming the first school to win national titles in both sports while defeating Ohio State for the title both times. The following year, Kansas finished 12-1 and No. 7 in football and won the NCAA Tournament in basketball with a 37-3 record. Throughout most of the 1970s, Notre Dame’s football and basketball programs were ranked in the top 10 — winning the national title in football and advancing to the Final Four in basketball in 1977-78 — and in 1989 Michigan won the Rose Bowl in football as well as the national championship in men’s basketball. However, when one reviews the 10 greatest football and basketball programs in terms of winning percentage, the demarcation is clear: Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc., will always be known primarily for football. North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Louisville and Indiana, etc., will be renowned foremost in basketball. Points in this elaborate survey (see the top 50 in sidebar) included NCAA Tournament success, upsetting No. 1-4 seeds, being a No. 1 seed, conference titles, overall winning percentage, NIT titles, first- or second-team All-Americans and top‑10 NBA draft selections. Points also were deducted for probation or NCAA rules violations. The Starting Five & Digger Among the features in the “50 for 50” article was assembling an all-time starting five for each school from that span, plus three men off the bench and the head coach. The starting five that Blue & Gold Illustrated had was the same one ESPN used: Shooting Guard: Austin Carr (1968-71) — The No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, Carr posted a scoring average of 34.6 points per game, second only to LSU’s Pete Maravich (44.2) in NCAA annals. Particularly impressive is Carr shot 52.8 percent from the field during his career, while Maravich was at 43.8 percent. The 6-3 Carr also averaged 7.3 rebounds per game. Furthermore, Carr holds the NCAA Tournament records for career scoring average (41.3 in seven games) and in one game (61 versus Ohio U in 1970). Small Forward: Adrian Dantley (1973-76) — The two-time consensus All-American averaged 25.8 points and 9.8 rebounds during his career while shooting 56.2 percent from the floor, and he was the leading scorer for the 1976 U.S. Summer Olympics team that won the gold medal. The six-time NBA All-Star was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Power Forward Troy Murphy (1999-2001) — Murphy joins Carr and Dantley as two-time consensus All-America picks, and he was also a two-time Big East Player of the Year. He joins Luke Harangody as the only Notre Dame players to score at least 2,000 points (2,011) and grab at least 900 rebounds (924) in their careers, but Murphy did it in only three years. He shot 49.6 percent from the floor while averaging 21.4 points per game. Center John Shumate (1972-74) — The linchpin of a dramatic era in which the Irish were the 1973 NIT runner-ups (when the NCAA Tournament took only 25 teams) and posted a No. 3 finish in the 1974 UPI poll with a 24-2 regular-season mark that included victories over Final Four teams UCLA, Marquette and Kansas, plus road victories against Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State and South Carolina. A two-time first-team All-American, he averaged 22.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game while shooting 61 percent from the floor. Point Guard David Rivers (1984-88) — This was a challenging selection between All-Americans Rivers and John Paxson (1979-83). Although Paxson had the better pro career, Rivers had to start from day one at Notre Dame. He and Pat Garrity (1994-98) are the only two players ever to lead the Irish in scoring all four seasons. Rivers directed four straight NCAA Tournament bids, highlighted by the 1987 Sweet 16 after coming back from a life-threatening injury in a vehicular accident. His career scoring average of 17.4 points per contest is second only to Carr among Irish guards the past four-plus decades. Head Coach Richard “Digger” Phelps (1971-91) — Mike Brey will challenge Phelps’ career record of 393-197 (.666 winning percentage), but Phelps boast eight Associated Press top-10 finishes. Since 1958, Notre Dame has advanced beyond the Sweet 16 only twice: the Final Four in 1978 and the Elite Eight in 1979. Three Off The Bench ESPN chose three power forwards that are difficult to dispute — LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92), Pat Garrity (1994-98) and Luke Harangody (2006-10). Our choices would have been one swingman, one guard and a third big man. Kelly Tripucka (1977-81) — This 6-7 swingman and three-time All-American was the centerpiece of the greatest four-year run in Irish hoops, even earning regional MVP honors as a freshman when he helped lead the Irish to the Final Four. He shot 54.8 percent from field during his career and was one of the greatest big-game performers in the program’s history. It is non-negotiable to leave him out. John Paxson (1979-83) — He had relatively modest numbers (12.2 career scoring average), especially compared to Chris Thomas (2001-05) at point guard, but he was more consistent and steady, notably with a 52.6 shooting percentage from the floor. Pat Garrity (1994-98) — You can flip a coin among Garrity, Ellis and Harangody. Ellis was the best player, but the Irish floundered when he missed 24 games as a sophomore and junior for academic reasons. No one at Notre Dame ever had to carry an undermanned program the way Garrity, the 1997 Big East Player of the Year, did for four years when the future first-round pick averaged 22.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest. Harangody, who averaged 19.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his career, and classmate/point guard Tory Jackson provided a toughness that helped Notre Dame get back into the NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence. ESPN’s 50 Top Programs Since 1962 In the 50 seasons from 1962-2012, the good news is Notre Dame was invited to the NCAA Tournament 27 times. The bad news is its overall record was (including consolation games) 23-31 (.426 winning percentage). It was ousted in the first round 10 times and in the second 13 times. Only four times (1978, 1979, 1987 and 2003) did it win at least two consecutive contests in the Big Dance. Still, the Irish were good enough to rank 29th among 309 programs over the past 50 years, highlighted by the glory years from 1968-81 that began with the Austin Carr era and ended with the graduation of the esteemed Kelly Tripucka, Orlando Woolridge and Tracy Jackson triumvirate in 1981. • From 1962-69, Notre Dame was ranked 70th. • In 1970-79, it elevated to seventh with six Associated Press top-10 finishes in 10 seasons and the program’s lone Final Four (1978). • It dropped to 32nd from 1980-89. • The nadir was 1990-99 — 207th with six losing seasons. • From 2000 to the present, it has climbed back to 48th. Top 10: North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Louisville, Indiana, Syracuse, Connecticut and Arizona. 11-20: Michigan State, Georgetown, Michigan, UNLV, Ohio State, Villanova, Marquette, Temple, Memphis, Purdue and Utah (tied for 20th). 22-30: Penn and Princeton (tied for 22nd), Cincinnati, Arkansas, Texas, Maryland, Murray State, Notre Dame and Western Kentucky. 31-40: Oklahoma and Gonzaga (tied for 31st), Illinois, Xavier, Houston, Brigham Young, Missouri, Kansas State, Weber State, Florida and St. John’s and St. Joseph’s (tied for 40th). 43-50: North Carolina State, Davidson, DePaul, UTEP, Alabama, LSU, San Francisco and Boston College.