Notre Dame men’s basketball notebook: Gotham Classic schedule set, Mike Brey has assistant coach hiring timeline

On3 imageby:Patrick Engel07/21/22

PatrickEngel_

Notre Dame men’s basketball’s three games in the 2022 Gotham Classic have been officially scheduled. The Irish will play on-campus contests against Southern Indiana Nov. 16 and Bowling Green Nov. 22 before a matchup with St. Bonaventure Nov. 25 in Belmont Park, N.Y., per a Thursday announcement.

The final game is the event’s headliner and will be played at UBS Arena, home of the NHL’s New York Islanders. Notre Dame has appeared in the Gotham Classic twice before, most recently in 2018 and first in 2013.

Notre Dame and St. Bonaventure last met Dec. 22, 1994, a game the Irish won 57-54 in South Bend. They hold a 5-2 all-time lead in the series. The Bonnies went 23-10 overall and 12-5 in the Atlantic 10 last year, ending their season with a loss to Xavier in the NIT semifinals. All five starters, though, entered the transfer portal to use the COVID-19 bonus season and landed at high-major programs.

PROMOTION: Sign up for just $1 for your first year at Blue & Gold

The Irish have not played Bowling Green since Feb. 14, 1972 – a 92-65 home victory. They lead the all-time series 5-2, with all seven meetings coming between 1960 and 1972. Notre Dame has never faced Southern Indiana, which is entering its first season as a Division I program.

Eight of the 11 non-conference slots on the schedule are now filled. Notre Dame will reportedly host Radford Nov. 10 and Youngstown State Nov. 13. The Irish host Michigan State Nov. 30 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and host Marquette Dec. 11 to start and home-and-home series. They will play Georgia Dec. 18 in Atlanta as part of the annual Holiday Hoopsgiving event, as reported by the South Bend Tribune and confirmed by BlueandGold.com last month.

This season was originally going to be the final year of a three-game series between Notre Dame and Kentucky, but that contest – set for a neutral site – has been pushed back. The Irish won the first two meetings, 2020 at Kentucky and 2021 in South Bend.

Notre Dame will fill out the rest of its schedule as it fills a vacancy on staff.

Assistant coach and former Irish forward Ryan Humphrey left the program after six seasons to take the same position at Oklahoma in late June, opening a spot on the bench.

Director of basketball operations Pat Rogers has assumed the position for the time being. He has been on the road recruiting with head coach Mike Brey, associate head coach Anthony Solomon and assistant Antoni Wyche during both July live evaluation periods. Brey hopes to have his search completed by Labor Day at the latest.

“Once we get off the road next week and [the team] gets out of here, we can concentrate on it,” Brey said Tuesday.

Brey flew to Augusta, Ga. for Nike’s Peach Jam AAU tournament Tuesday, shortly after Notre Dame’s final summer practice ended. The event runs through Sunday, and just about every college coach stops by some point during it. This year, it’s a chance for Brey to have preliminary conversations with possible assistant hires in addition to watching recruits.

“When I walk in the gym in Augusta, not only am I watching prospects, but bumping some assistant candidates too,” Brey said. “It will be a great four days to get a lot of work done on both fronts. We’ve had a lot of people reach out.”

Humphrey was Notre Dame’s big man coach, a role Solomon has taken in his absence. Experience coaching forwards is not necessarily a prerequisite for the hire, though. Brey is open to all coaching backgrounds and experience levels.

“A year ago, we came back with experience with [Solomon and Wyche],” Brey said. “You can maybe come back a little younger. That has been on my mind.”

Notre Dame has officially brought on former Northwestern guard Ryan Greer as development and recruiting coordinator, the same role Rogers was hired into last year before his spring bump to director of basketball operations. It’s the first coaching job for Greer after he earned his undergraduate degree this year.

Greer previously helped run workouts for NBA agent Mark Bartelstein’s clients at Priority Sports & Entertainment. There, he met former Irish players Kieran Piller and Kyle McAlarney, who are now Priority employees. He’s also a former high school teammate of Notre Dame forward Nate Laszewski.

“Kieran and Kyle said, ‘Absolute star, great workout guy,’” Brey said. “He’s kind of a new guy to get them in individual workouts. They respect him, because they know he did all the stuff for Mark Bartelstein’s pros.”

You may also like