The only saving grace for Notre Dame in this year’s ACC Tournament was that its stay didn’t earlier than expected. It almost happened against Wake Forest in the first round but for a late run and Trey Wertz buzzer beater. Now, the Irish will dwell on its 101-59 second-round loss to North Carolina on Wednesday. No Irish team has suffered a bigger loss in a conference tournament, and it was one of the worst defeats in program history.
Now, Notre Dame faces a tough decision on whether to give Mike Brey a chance to dig himself out of this hole. While it’s not entirely his fault that the roster was so thin and it’s definitely not his fault that this season was played in the shadow of COVID-19, those excuses only give a coach so much leverage, even Notre Dame’s winningest coach ever. The reality is this 11-15 overall record was the Irish’s second below .500 over the past three years. It followed their third losing conference season in the past four years.
Only Juwan Durham and Nikola Djogo will be lost to graduation, so most of the majority of the core is set to return in the fall. Jack Swarbrick will have to decide whether Brey isn’t getting enough of this group or if it’s simply not talented enough to battle with the best of the ACC. Although at least one insider predicts Brey will return, we don’t know what Notre Dame’s athletic director is thinking behind closed doors. For all we know, Wednesday was the last in a long line of straws.
This is the time when any athletic director has to examine every single facet of a basketball program. Would the current group benefit better from a new voice being heard? Does recruiting need to drastically be overhauled? Will any incoming freshmen dramatically change fortunes for the better?
All of these questions will be answered over the coming weeks and months. For now, it’s time to let the latest disappointing season of Notre Dame basketball soak in. Once that happens, the real analysis can begin. Spoiler alert: It’s not going to be pleasant.
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