For the first 13 years under Mike Brey, Notre Dame never missed out on either the NCAA tournament or the NIT. With that kind of record, Brey’s luck was due to run out at some point. It came during the 2013-14 season, the Irish’s first in the ACC.
Even before the growing pains of playing in a new conference began, the Irish started 9-4, which is a step down compared to the other teams we’ve previewed so far, and lost leading scorer Jerian Grant for the season after he was declared academically ineligible. Things momentarily looked up after they squeaked by Jabari Parker and Duke in their first ACC contest. However, it was all downhill after that, and they finished 15-17. It was the first time they had ended with a record below .500 and missed out on a postseason tournament in 15 years.
Without Grant and the 19.0 scoring average he achieved before being forced to leave the team, the Irish struggled to find another go-to player. Eric Atkins, Pat Connaughton and Garrick Sherman all averaged between 13.5 and 13.9 points a game, which made for good balance. However, there was a big drop-off after that, and the results were predictable. Fortunately for the Irish, their best days in years lay straight ahead.