Tag: Mike Brey

Notre Dame commit Cole Certa heading to IMG Academy

Nice opportunity for him.

A month ago, Notre Dame received its first 2024 recruiting class commit in shooting guard [autotag]Cole Certa[/autotag]. He was recruited out of Bloomington Central Catholic in Illinois. But he has decided that that school is no longer sufficient to continue his athletic growth. He has announced that his final year before joining the Irish will be sent at IMG Academy, the famous sports prep school in Bradenton, Florida:

Certa, a three-star recruit weighing in at 6-foot-4 and 165 pounds, is heading to a school that has produced some quality talent. Among them are Purdue star and reigning national player of the year Zach Edey and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot. Several alumni also have gone onto the NBA, including Anfernee Simons, Dwight Powell, Josh Green and Jonathan Isaac. What’s more, Kyle Brey, son of former Irish coach [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag], is the coach of the varsity football team.

While Certa’s decision is a loss for the state of Illinois, it’s necessary for him to take the next step in his game. Here’s hoping it works out for him and eventually, the Irish.

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Micah Shrewsberry wants annual game to showcase Notre Dame in Indiana

Are you a fan of this idea?

Since being named Notre Dame coach, [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] has had Indiana at the front of his mind, and not only because he’s from there. Recognizing the state’s rich heritage and talent pool, he’s made it his mission to put the Irish on the same level of recognition as Indiana, Purdue and Butler. It’s not stopping with recruiting either.

In an appearance on “College Hoops Today with Jon Rothstein,” Shrewsberry mentioned how he wants at least one of those aforementioned teams involved with the Irish regularly:

This past season was the first without the Crossroads Classic, which had been held in December in Indianapolis for several years. On the Irish’s local media day before the season, [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] expressed relief the program didn’t have to deal with it anymore. The Irish finished below .500 all-time in that event, so his feelings were somewhat understandable.

But there’s a new sheriff in town, and Shrewsberry wants to embrace the Irish being part of the Hoosier State, not move away from it. It’s unknown when or if at least one of the former Crossroads Classic participants will be seen on the Irish’s schedule again. A game in Indianapolis probably is more likely to happen first. Whatever happens, Shrewsberry’s pro-Indiana approach could change things for the better in South Bend.

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Notre Dame’s all-time NBA first round draft picks

It’s been a while since the Irish have had someone called in the NBA draft’s first round…

It hasn’t happened since NBA draft night in 2015 when Jerian Grant was taken in the top-20 by the New York Knicks but it could very well be changing in a matter of months.

Notre Dame freshman guard [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] appears headed to the NBA draft after just one season with the Fighting Irish.  We can debate for hours if the move is the wisest for him but in doing so, he’ll likely become Notre Dame’s 21st former player to have his name called in the first round.

Who are some of the others?  Check out the list of every single Notre Dame basketball player to be selected in the NBA draft’s first round all-time below.

Notre Dame appearances at MLB ballparks through the years

The Irish have been well-represented during ceremonial first pitches.

This is an exciting week for Notre Dame. Not everyone can say they’ve been at MLB’s two oldest ballparks during the same week, but this year’s Irish will be able to make that claim. They’ll face Northwestern at Wrigley Field on Tuesday before meeting Boston College at Fenway Park on Friday. The best part for us at Fighting Irish Wire is that we’ve been credentialed for both games, so we’ll be reporting the action directly from these historic venues.

With these two games taking place during the final week of the regular season, we thought it would be nice to take a look back at Notre Dame figures making appearances at MLB ballparks over the years. We’re not talking about when the football team has played games there or former Irish players who have made the big leagues. We’re talking about when figures have made appearances on behalf of the university. If you have a really good memory, maybe you can recall at least one of these:

Mike Brey bids final farewell to Notre Dame campus

Thanks for the memories, Coach!

Say what you will about Notre Dame’s recent lack of on-court success. In a world where sports fans constantly ask what one has done for them lately, it understandably might have been easy to forget all the good [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] did for the program. But those accomplishments speak for themselves, and he knows he won’t be able to shed his former life easily. Case in point, Brey experienced campus one final time before beginning his next gig with the Atlanta Hawks:

One final look around campus, and one more cigar. There couldn’t be a more fitting way for Brey to officially close the book on his time in South Bend. We soon will find out fully if [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] is even a fraction as easygoing as Brey. Even if that’s the case, simply not seeing Brey at Notre Dame is something that will take some time to get used to, and his presence no doubt will be missed.

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NBA News: Mike Brey has found his next coaching job

Mike Brey is taking his talents to the NBA!

At one point we thought [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] was headed to South Florida to be their basketball coach.  Then we thought 2023-24 would be a year of television for Notre Dame’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach.  But reportedly it will be neither for Brey.

Instead, one of the more beloved coaching figures in recent college basketball history is taking his talents to the NBA.  According to Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune (and if anyone would know, it’d be him), Brey is set to join the Atlanta Hawks coaching staff where another former Duke assistant is currently the head coach, Quin Snyder.

Brey and Notre Dame went 483-280 from 2000-2023.  All the best in Atlanta, Mike.

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Notre Dame loses forward Ven-Allen Lubin to transfer portal

That exit door has gotten quite a workout recently.

Already lacking size, Notre Dame has lost yet another forward. This time, the transfer portal is responsible, and it’s Ven-Allen Lubin who is taking his talents elsewhere. Lubin released the following statement on social media Monday:

The Irish now are down to [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag], [autotag]Tony Sanders[/autotag], [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag], and incoming freshman [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag]. That means [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] needs to be very aggressive in the transfer portal, even if the Irish’s current targets mainly consist of guards. At this point, it will be an accomplishment just to get a team together.

Lubin’s first collegiate season and his only season in South Bend saw him average 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds a game. Despite preseason indications from [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] that Lubin would start, facial injuries during fall camp contributed to that not happening until February. So did an ankle injury that he suffered during a game and bother him over the course of a month. Ultimately, he started seven of the 28 games he played.

We respect Lubin’s decision and wish him well in his future endeavors, but it would be a lie to say that he’s leaving the Irish in a tougher spot than they already were. After this past season, we warned you of dark days ahead for the program. This latest news makes you wonder just how low things can go.

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List of transfer portal targets for Notre Dame

At least one of these players could suit up for the Irish next season.

Notre Dame had a horrible 2022-23 season, but no matter what happened, 2023-24 was going to present a challenge. Having barely enough returning players just to to be able to play 5-on-5 is a problem no program ever wants to deal with. Yet that’s where the Irish are after half the previous roster was made up of graduate students and two of their three incoming freshmen de-committed after [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] announced his departure.

The good news is the transfer portal is more active than ever before. Say what you will about what NIL has done to college sports, but new coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] has to be grateful that it has allowed the equivalent of free agency. With only [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] on the horizon, he’ll have to bandage up the Irish’s problems with transfers until he has one or two recruiting classes under his belt.

Nathan Erbach of the “Golden Homers” podcast has done a good job of tracking the existing college players who might make South Bend their home next season. Here are the players who reportedly have been connected to the Irish so far, a few of which either are about to visit campus or already have:

Micah Shrewsberry introduced as Notre Dame coach

The next era of Irish basketball has begun.

On a celebratory day at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame officially introduced [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] as its next men’s basketball coach. Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune wrote an awesome column about the day, and you surely will have some hope for the program’s future after you’re finished reading it. That hope was lacking desperately this past season as [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s tenure ended with as big of a whimper as you can imagine.

Shrewsberry has his work cut out for him as he has to fill half of the Irish’s roster before the 2023-24 season tips off, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For now, he has a little bit of time to soak this moment in. It’s the beginning of a new life for him and his family, and he gets to live it in his native state. Here’s are some of the images that surely will play over and over in his head for a long time, if not the rest of his life:

Watch: Notre Dame baseball coach Shawn Stiffler visits class

Put me in, Coach. I’m ready to play.

Last year, former Notre Dame basketball coach [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] popped up in random places around campus. It was part of an effort on his part to get students out to his team’s games. With Brey having departed though, someone in the athletic department needs to pick up the slack. Apparently, that someone is first-year baseball coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag], who crashed a finance class and was there to do more than just promote this weekend’s three-game series against North Carolina:

If this isn’t an invitation to literally everyone on campus to come to baseball practice, I don’t know what is. After watching this, I wonder if he would let me take batting practice even though I’m not enrolled at or employed by the university and I haven’t swung a bat in a long time.

I didn’t know I needed this to happen in my life, but I think I do now. Coach, if you’re reading this, mind if I make the two-hour drive to South Bend so this lefty hitter can continuously pull the ball weakly to the right?

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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