Agree completely. Some of Brey’s teams have played very good team bball that took them far above their individual talents. The disappointments have come in the tourney — why have Brey’s teams played so well at home against very good teams, even winning big games in the Big East tournament, only to lose to lower seeded teams in the NCAA tournament? Do his teams just play tight in the tourneys?
I was also at ND for Carr, Jones, Catlett and crew — what a fantastic time for bball at ND — but even Johnny Dee’s teams and Digger’s best team (Shumate, Brokaw, Dantley, Clay) faded in the tournament. I think Carr’s team senior year lost to friggin’ Drake. It seems ND just chokes in the tournament year after year, even when it has the talent to go deep. Maybe there’s just been a lack of a killer instinct.

His rank is based on win percentage, not number of wins, so longevity has nothing to do with it.

I hold coaches to standards commensurate with what they’ve been given to work with. Brian Kelly’s standard is far from absurd — he has top-notch facilities, his budget is among the best in the sport, he gets plenty of academic breaks for recruiting, and the admin is behind him 100 percent, so I expect him to win.

I want championship basketball at ND more than anyone else reading this site. But the fact of the matter is until ND decides to care, complaining about it on a message board is pointless.

He’s the 4th winningest coach because we’ve kept him around for 14 years!!! Think about these statistics:

** In the last 10 years, Mike Brey is 2-6 in the NCAA Tournament. Those 2 wins were against a #15 seed and a #12 seed. In that time, he’s 2-5 against teams LOWER SEEDED than us. And he’s 0-1 against HIGHER SEEDED teams.
** He’s won ONE TOURNAMENT GAME in his entire career against a higher seeded team.
** He’s been to 1 Sweet Sixteen in 14 years.
Those stats are mindbogglingly bad. Should I list the # of teams in D-1 that have been to the Sweet Sixteen in that time? How about 76 other teams…and those include powerhouses like St Mary’s, Fla Gulf Coast, Davidson, Cornell, LaSalle, Northern Iowa, Richmond, Kent St and Wisc-Milwaukee. Heck, Southern Illinois has been there 2 times in that time.

He hasn’t done lasting damage to the program but it’s an indictment that that’s the level we hold him too. I find it bizarre that you hold our football coaches to absurd standards, but don’t bury this guy for what has been a very mediocre career at ND. Fact is that going 11-5 in the Big East is irrelevant. Everyone else is coaching their teams for the tourney. And he’s not. Time for Brey to go.

And how in the heck did the ND women win the national title in 2001 before Diggins got there? (why did the elite blue-chipper Ruth Riley pick ND?)

All I know is that … men’s or women’s … people are getting it done at “academic institutions”. Why? Excellent coaches. I know it’s not just about the head coach, but we’ve given our coach 14 years in his “given environment”. We are getting worse! Gotta start somewhere. I’d start with replacing the head coach. What else can the AD do ensure opponents don’t dribble freely to the basket? Or have wide open three’s? Or prevent ND’s players from committing stupid turnovers down critical stretches of games? Or from being outscored at the outset of games or the second half by 10-0 margins because they’re not ready to play? Or to simply recruit better players???

Wisconsin is doing worlds better than ND … with essentially the same talent level. Why? Coaching. Can we please swipe Bennet from Virginia or the guy who’s got Wichita State on the verge of two Final Fours? Or Brad Stevens, when he figures out, ala Pitin,o that the Celtics aren’t his thing?

ND has LOTS to offer highly touted recruits

Perhaps, but in men’s hoops, they’re not offering much the blue-chippers (whose goal is a quick route to the NBA) necessarily want.

I’ll answer your question with a question — how do blue-chip women’s basketball recruits view the value of an education, particularly one like ND’s, versus the way blue-chip men’s basketball recruits view it?

Put it this way — if the WNBA paid the way the NBA does, Muffet’s job would be a hell of a lot harder than it is.

Not that she’s not an excellent basketball coach, because she is. But it wasn’t so long ago — prior to Skylar Diggins signing — that people were wondering if the game had passed her by after her teams went one-and-done in the NCAAs a couple times.