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Mike Brey & The Notre Dame Basketball Notebook

Notre Dame seniors with head coach Mike Brey, from left to right: Liam Nelligan, Matt Gregory, Austin Torres, Bonzie Colson, Martin Geben and Matt Farrell.
Notre Dame seniors with head coach Mike Brey, from left to right: Liam Nelligan, Matt Gregory, Austin Torres, Bonzie Colson, Martin Geben and Matt Farrell. (Notre Dame Basketball Twitter)

Should Notre Dame win Wednesday night as anticipated against the hapless Pitt Panthers — 0-14 in ACC play after scoring only seven first-half points at Virginia on Saturday — it will mark the 100th victory achieved by this year’s senior class, a first by a four-year group at the school.

The 2014 quartet of Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell, Martin Geben and former walk-on Matt Gregory (graduate student Austin Torres also will be honored on Wednesday) already have the most wins (99), but reaching the triple-digit milestone would be a unique accomplishment. A sixth senior who joined the roster this year, guard Liam Nelligan, also will be recognized on Wednesday.

The Irish were 32-6 with them as freshmen and 24-12 as sophomores while advancing to the Elite 8 both times. Last year they were 26-10 and reached the ACC Tournament championship contest after winning it two years earlier.

“They’ve been spoiled — they’ve earned it,” said Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey. “Those guys have all been part of spoiling themselves and spoiling all of us.

“I think it’s very fitting that they’re the all-time winningest class, and I have a lot of respect for how they’ve hung in there this year with some of their comrades in the senior class not available at times. They continued to set a great tone, kept us plugging and helped some of the younger guys in the program feel that we still have a chance.”

Of course, the definition of “winningest” can become skewed or even misleading. Is it measured by win total or win percentage?

For example, Tyrone Willingham is often referred to as the “winningest” first-year football coach at Notre Dame after finishing 10-3 his first season in 2002.

Yes, he had the most wins, but that .769 winning percentage was not as good as the 9-1 ledgers (.900) of Ara Parseghian (1964) and Terry Brennan (9-1) in their first seasons, or Frank Leahy’s 8-0-1 (.944) in 1941 when fewer games were played.

The current senior class is 99-40, a highly laudable .712 winning percentage. Yet the 1981 graduating class that featured Kelly Tripucka, Orlando Woolridge, Tracy Jackson, current Florida State director of athletics Stan Wilcox and Gil Salinas was 92-26, a .780 figure.

As freshmen in 1977-78, that aforementioned game won three NCAA Tournament games (Houston, Utah and DePaul) to reach the Final Four. As freshmen in 2014-15, this freshman class won three games in the ACC Tournament (Miami, Duke, North Carolina) to win the league crown.

Those two tournament runs rank as the greatest extended men’s basketball feats in school history since World War II. Which was better? It’s in the eye of the beholder.

This is always a debatable topic, but what is not in question is this class’ hardwood achievements at the school will remain everlasting.


Developmental Doings

When signed in 2014, the trio of Colson, Farrell and Geben was not ranked among the top 50 basketball classes. The group then served as another testament to the developmental process under Brey and his staff.

Colson became an All-American and was destined for a second such honor this year before an injury at the turn of this season. How he has comported himself since then is just as impressive to Brey.

“Most great players when they get hurt kind of are into themselves a little bit,” Brey said. “That doesn’t make them bad guys — one of the reasons they’re great is because they’re into themselves. He has been so giving to his teammates in hoping and talking … it’s not normal but it’s unbelievably appreciated because I think when he grabs a Johnny Mooney or an Elijah Burns and Nik Djogo, man they really feel good about him taking them aside and giving them confidence.”

Farrell morphed into an honorable mention All-ACC selection as a junior and one of the nation’s most improved players. Meanwhile, in 16 league games as a senior, Geben has averaged 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest after appearing to be destined for the basketball scrap heap two years ago.

“To step in with Bonzie being out and doing what he’s doing, I just think he’s the best candidate for Most Improved in this league,” said Brey of Geben.

“They weren’t McDonald’s All-Americans. They were four-year guys that were going to hang in there and get better with us, and it’s neat to see as seniors they’ve played their best.”

Fifth-year senior Torres was brought in with minimal expectations but has enhanced the program’s identity of maximizing one’s skills within a team framework. Brey already is prepping him for a career in coaching.

“He really sells our culture and our standards and reminds our guys of that,” Brey said. "He continues to sell the message when I’m not around … He’s always known who he is. He’s never come in to meet with me about getting more jump shots … He knows he’s an energy guy, a defender, a rebounder, a screener. To know that from your freshman year all the way through, it’s a relief. I’m really proud of him.”


Let Them Eat Cake

Brey couldn’t help but chuckle about the latest “Bracketology” this Monday from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi in which the Irish made the “Next 4 Out” category with Washington, Boise State and Utah.

That’s not to be confused with the “First Four Out” grouping with Syracuse, UCLA, Nebraska and Mississippi State. In other words, Notre Dame is striving right now to get to the next level of not quite making the tourney.

“We had a cake, we had a celebration today — a next-four-out cake,” said Brey with tongue firmly planted against his cheek. “You love being No. 75.

“To be honest with you, after what we’ve been through, to see that today, that and 55 degrees (weather in South Bend) really picked me up.”

The Irish head coach does note the team’s No. 31 ranking in the College Basketball Power Index, but with a No. 68 RPI ranking recognizes that “we certainly have more work to do.”

“When you get to the 10, 11, 12 seeds, they all have a lot of warts … we have too. But we have some things going for us. I’m not squinting [at making the NCAA Tournament bubble] as hard as I was in Boston, but I’m still squinting a little.”


Baseline Bits

• After the Pitt game on Wednesday, Farrell will leave with his family to attend funeral services on Thursday for his grandfather. From there, Farrell will meet the team in Charlottesville, Va., for a Friday practice prior to Saturday’s 4 p.m. tip-off versus the No. 1-ranked Virginia Cavaliers.

• Trailing 69-60 with 8:08 remaining last Saturday at Wake Forest, the Irish did not permit a Demon Deacons field goal the rest of the way en route to a 76-71 victory. Even though junior guard Rex Pflueger was somewhat limited while recovering from a back injury, his presence in the lineup aided the late defensive surge and closing 16-2 run.

“Having eight guys helps us — not seven — in that we can stay a little fresher defensively,” Brey said. “We have to play some zone just to buy some time where we are numbers of bodies wise. It was nice to see us be able to get stops when we really needed to. We haven’t done that enough to win close games.”

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