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SOUTH BEND — When former Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey gets rolling, it’s best to let him go.
And he’ll go.
On Thursday, June 11, Brey returned to campus, where he coached for 23 seasons, to participate in the Play Like a Champion Today leadership conference at McKenna Hall. During a 30-minute speech to high school administrators and coaches, Brey touched on his time as a high school coach and how he navigated an ever-changing college landscape during his time at Notre Dame.
Noie: Notre Dame basketball summer to-do list for Year Four under Micah Shrewsberry
Hoops Talk: An extended Notre Dame basketball chat to keep you cool this summer
His thoughts have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
“When he was named, and I found out he was a Villanova guy, but a Chicago Catholic, I called the assistant admissions director (at Notre Dame) and said how in the heck did we not get him? He had to go all the way (to Philadelphia). I hope we didn’t tell him he had to do the “Rudy” thing and go through Holy Cross. I’m still researching that one. Of course, Notre Dame opens against Villanova in Rome in men’s and women’s basketball, and I have a feeling that neither team will get a call with the Pope sitting on Villanova’s bench for both of those.”
“I was a high school coach. I was a junior varsity coach at DeMatha Catholic (Md.) High School, my alma mater, after leaving George Washington University. I was a physical education major, but there was a history (teaching) position open. That was going to be a little bit of a challenge. The head of the department gave me great advice. He said just stay one chapter ahead. You and I know there’s always three kids in every class that are three chapters ahead and they were calling me out many, many times."
“I always loved, in basketball, with a roster, you really got to know your players. Ten, 12, 15. You really got to know them. I used to tell them, I know you like Kyle Brey, my son. You get to the point, if you invest in them, and you spend time with them, you’ll know. I could watch them walk down the ramp to practice (in Purcell Pavilion) and you could go, Mmm, this is going to be interesting today. Not sure (about that guy). Something’s up. You have to invest in that to really get to know them.”
“You went around with five minutes to stretch, nobody does that anymore, the old circle stretch, now they’re all doing it on their own with all kinds of crazy Plyometrics and bands. I watch the NBA guys, it’s like yoga on steroids, man. We used to do the old stretch in a circle, and I always wanted to go around and bump everybody and kind of check the temperature. It may not be a basketball comment. It may be something about, hey, how did that test go? How’s school? Just the personal touch. I really made it a point, more so in college, to get with them.”
“I told my administrative assistant, that door (to his office), if any time a player comes through the hallway, make sure you get me off the phone or get me out like, hey, come in, and sit down. I never wanted to sit behind my desk. I wanted us to sit in the sitting area to communicate with them. It may not be anything about their jump shot or that they played really bad against Syracuse last night. I’ll deal with that later. Just that they knew there was access and a personal touch."
“I was always trying here to have, back in the day when you got (regular) mail, not e-mail, I want their mail delivered in the office so they’ve got to come through every day. I want them coming through so I can see them. I want to touch base with them. I want to check their temperature every day. As you go through a season, it’s a marathon and how you handle the ups and downs and positives. The personal touch, I loved that.”
“Your seniors move on and now the chemistry is going to change. You had upperclassmen, and a lot of times, they were the leaders and the voice and now they’re gone. You get that group together for the first time in April or May without those three or four or five seniors. I used to love to get on the (stationary) bike in the back of the weight room and just kind of watch. What are the dynamics? Who's the new voice? Is there a new voice? Do I have to help manufacture a new voice in that?"
“A great player for me, Pat Connaughton, is getting married (the weekend of June 12) and half of his teammates are groomsmen. Now I’m going to their weddings, and I look up there as they’re taking their vows and go, 'God, he was such a knucklehead when he was a freshman and he’s a man now. I’m so proud of him.’ I do slip in some stories when their wives aren’t around. Like, you really grew up, and I was ready to run you out of here. That’s what’s really neat about being in education, when your young people come back to you and say, Coach, appreciate it. What an experience."
“You learn early in your career, they hang on every word. You just can’t go off the cuff. I had a kid by the name of Luke Harangody, who was a great player from down in the Region. Big, wide-bodied guy. I'll never forget, one of my mistakes. We’re in the Big East Tournament, we’re in New York (and) Luke was heavy as a young guy, but it really didn’t matter. He was one of those big guys who could just hoop. I thought he was gone (from dinner) and they brought the desert trey through and I made a comment, ‘Give Harangody three pieces of that cheesecake.’ I turn around (and he’s there) and I go, ‘Oh, God.’ He was a freshman and that was painful. He probably had 20 (points) and 15 rebounds the next night he was so pissed off. They hang on everything you say and how you address them and they remember the darndest things."
“When you were going good, I used to be paranoid. Your young assistants would be like, 'We're rolling. Yeah.' And I’m like, how can we screw this up? Who could screw this up right now? You had to think, like, where's everybody’s frame of mind? We’ve been told we’re good for a month. In our coach’s meetings, whoever had your (opponent’s) scout would present, all right, man. Here’s what we’ve got to do. And I'd be like, hold it. How’s Connaughton today? Like, what’s the deal? Those sessions became way more important than how we were going to coach them.”
"I had a freshman by the name of Rob Kurz. On an 11-man team, he was the 11th man and I played 10 guys. He’s the only guy who didn’t play. He said to me about five years after he graduated, Coach, I don’t think you talked to me my whole freshman year. I was like, well, I didn’t have anything to say because you weren’t going to play, but you were on scholarship and I had the assistants make sure they worked you out and eventually, you were going to be a really good player, which he was. That was a little bit like, I couldn’t trick him anymore. You’re not getting in the game unless four guys get hurt. I love you, you’ve got a bright future and we’re going to show you that and tell you that but as far as game minutes, I don’t know if I can get you in there right now. Those are hard conversations.”
"Not many wanted to come visit in the winter, which was great, you know? Awesome. Jimmy’s parents got snowed in. They can’t get in? Good, he’ll play great tonight. It’s part of the equation. You have your group together and they go home at night and it’s part of it. In recruiting, especially to this place, parents saw this as a great option before the young person a lot of times. There was no money then. It was the Mendoza Business School and Notre Dame and the alumni network. I would really work parents to help close the deal because Jimmy maybe was a bit brainwashed with Kentucky and Maryland and we can get them here.”
“Then we get them here and Jimmy’s not playing, and Mom and Dad were real comfortable talking with Coach. In the summers before their freshman year, I would tell the assistants, they each had three or four players. You’ve got to ween me off the parents, now. I can’t take them. I’ve got to back off. It was a process. It was helpful to close the deal in recruiting, but now I need a little bit of space. I would say to them, I will talk to you moving forward about his academics or if there isa problem socially, but we're not going to talk basketball. I cannot talk basketball with you. We’re not going to do that.”
“I always made sure an assistant coach had a lifeline to the parents, because I want to know what they're saying to the young person. Once every two weeks, Ryan Humphrey, Martin Ingelsby, Anthony Solomon, my assistants, they, check in and they’d come back and go, we may have a problem. I was like, no wonder he’s shooting it more. That’s the reality of what we have to manage.”
"My feeling was you could not be in a bunker. You could not make it my way or the highway. There was always a bit of selling. We battle for their hearts and minds every day. How? That’s what I mean about waking up and going, how do I sell this today? Wait a minute, I used that a month ago. They’re going to roll their eyes. What’s our theme? How are we going to do it? Are we going to watch video? Are we going to do it on the court? Take a walk? Do a retreat? That’s how I thought about it."
"I had a kid by the name of Chris Quinn, who was my first recruit here. He was so fundamental, just well coached. Almost too fundamental. I told him one day, if you don’t take a bad shot in the first five minutes of practice, I’m throwing you out. He’s like, what? You better take a fadeaway with three guys on you. Let it rip a little bit, my man. Then he had 38 (points) at Pittsburgh one night. He was rolling. I don’t even know what we were running, but he was just playing.”
“We brought a sports psychologist in my first year in the ACC (in 2013-14), we finished (12th). We lost Jerian Grant to an academic issue and we were horrible. I said, well I need some help bringing this thing back together. We hired a guy by the name of Dr. Joe Carr. D.C. guy. He’s worked with a lot of teams. He was in with us for the summer, and we hashed out some things. It was deep. Guys were crying. I was like, my God, we’re really opening up some stuff here. I just want to make a left-handed layup. But it was good. When I talk to that group, they go, Coach, that was the most unbelievable thing. I was like, good, because I think we were getting a little too deep there on your relationships with mom and dad. It was a little bit of, we’ve got to hit the reset button.”
"You were always trying to achieve a group taking ownership of itself. If they could just take ownership and police themselves. That year in 2015, I had (Pat Connaughton) and Jerian Grant as seniors, and those guys ran the locker room. I had gotten to the point in my career, I was secure enough to let them run the locker room. Please. Run things. Suggest to me. When you’re moving like that with trust and you feel good and it’s working, you guys own it. It really is a beautiful thing when a group does that. Not all of them can do it. When it starts to hum like that. You could step back and not overcoach.”
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mike Brey reflects on success at Notre Dame basketball
Continue reading...
And he’ll go.
On Thursday, June 11, Brey returned to campus, where he coached for 23 seasons, to participate in the Play Like a Champion Today leadership conference at McKenna Hall. During a 30-minute speech to high school administrators and coaches, Brey touched on his time as a high school coach and how he navigated an ever-changing college landscape during his time at Notre Dame.
Noie: Notre Dame basketball summer to-do list for Year Four under Micah Shrewsberry
Hoops Talk: An extended Notre Dame basketball chat to keep you cool this summer
His thoughts have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
On Pope Leo XIV
“When he was named, and I found out he was a Villanova guy, but a Chicago Catholic, I called the assistant admissions director (at Notre Dame) and said how in the heck did we not get him? He had to go all the way (to Philadelphia). I hope we didn’t tell him he had to do the “Rudy” thing and go through Holy Cross. I’m still researching that one. Of course, Notre Dame opens against Villanova in Rome in men’s and women’s basketball, and I have a feeling that neither team will get a call with the Pope sitting on Villanova’s bench for both of those.”
On his coaching start
“I was a high school coach. I was a junior varsity coach at DeMatha Catholic (Md.) High School, my alma mater, after leaving George Washington University. I was a physical education major, but there was a history (teaching) position open. That was going to be a little bit of a challenge. The head of the department gave me great advice. He said just stay one chapter ahead. You and I know there’s always three kids in every class that are three chapters ahead and they were calling me out many, many times."
On knowing his roster
“I always loved, in basketball, with a roster, you really got to know your players. Ten, 12, 15. You really got to know them. I used to tell them, I know you like Kyle Brey, my son. You get to the point, if you invest in them, and you spend time with them, you’ll know. I could watch them walk down the ramp to practice (in Purcell Pavilion) and you could go, Mmm, this is going to be interesting today. Not sure (about that guy). Something’s up. You have to invest in that to really get to know them.”
On those pre-practice stretch circles
“You went around with five minutes to stretch, nobody does that anymore, the old circle stretch, now they’re all doing it on their own with all kinds of crazy Plyometrics and bands. I watch the NBA guys, it’s like yoga on steroids, man. We used to do the old stretch in a circle, and I always wanted to go around and bump everybody and kind of check the temperature. It may not be a basketball comment. It may be something about, hey, how did that test go? How’s school? Just the personal touch. I really made it a point, more so in college, to get with them.”
On connecting with his players
“I told my administrative assistant, that door (to his office), if any time a player comes through the hallway, make sure you get me off the phone or get me out like, hey, come in, and sit down. I never wanted to sit behind my desk. I wanted us to sit in the sitting area to communicate with them. It may not be anything about their jump shot or that they played really bad against Syracuse last night. I’ll deal with that later. Just that they knew there was access and a personal touch."
On getting guys to the office
“I was always trying here to have, back in the day when you got (regular) mail, not e-mail, I want their mail delivered in the office so they’ve got to come through every day. I want them coming through so I can see them. I want to touch base with them. I want to check their temperature every day. As you go through a season, it’s a marathon and how you handle the ups and downs and positives. The personal touch, I loved that.”
On new beginnings
“Your seniors move on and now the chemistry is going to change. You had upperclassmen, and a lot of times, they were the leaders and the voice and now they’re gone. You get that group together for the first time in April or May without those three or four or five seniors. I used to love to get on the (stationary) bike in the back of the weight room and just kind of watch. What are the dynamics? Who's the new voice? Is there a new voice? Do I have to help manufacture a new voice in that?"
On his players moving on − and getting married
“A great player for me, Pat Connaughton, is getting married (the weekend of June 12) and half of his teammates are groomsmen. Now I’m going to their weddings, and I look up there as they’re taking their vows and go, 'God, he was such a knucklehead when he was a freshman and he’s a man now. I’m so proud of him.’ I do slip in some stories when their wives aren’t around. Like, you really grew up, and I was ready to run you out of here. That’s what’s really neat about being in education, when your young people come back to you and say, Coach, appreciate it. What an experience."
On his words − and lasting impressions
“You learn early in your career, they hang on every word. You just can’t go off the cuff. I had a kid by the name of Luke Harangody, who was a great player from down in the Region. Big, wide-bodied guy. I'll never forget, one of my mistakes. We’re in the Big East Tournament, we’re in New York (and) Luke was heavy as a young guy, but it really didn’t matter. He was one of those big guys who could just hoop. I thought he was gone (from dinner) and they brought the desert trey through and I made a comment, ‘Give Harangody three pieces of that cheesecake.’ I turn around (and he’s there) and I go, ‘Oh, God.’ He was a freshman and that was painful. He probably had 20 (points) and 15 rebounds the next night he was so pissed off. They hang on everything you say and how you address them and they remember the darndest things."
On handling success
“When you were going good, I used to be paranoid. Your young assistants would be like, 'We're rolling. Yeah.' And I’m like, how can we screw this up? Who could screw this up right now? You had to think, like, where's everybody’s frame of mind? We’ve been told we’re good for a month. In our coach’s meetings, whoever had your (opponent’s) scout would present, all right, man. Here’s what we’ve got to do. And I'd be like, hold it. How’s Connaughton today? Like, what’s the deal? Those sessions became way more important than how we were going to coach them.”
On guys who didn't play
"I had a freshman by the name of Rob Kurz. On an 11-man team, he was the 11th man and I played 10 guys. He’s the only guy who didn’t play. He said to me about five years after he graduated, Coach, I don’t think you talked to me my whole freshman year. I was like, well, I didn’t have anything to say because you weren’t going to play, but you were on scholarship and I had the assistants make sure they worked you out and eventually, you were going to be a really good player, which he was. That was a little bit like, I couldn’t trick him anymore. You’re not getting in the game unless four guys get hurt. I love you, you’ve got a bright future and we’re going to show you that and tell you that but as far as game minutes, I don’t know if I can get you in there right now. Those are hard conversations.”
On parents, part one
"Not many wanted to come visit in the winter, which was great, you know? Awesome. Jimmy’s parents got snowed in. They can’t get in? Good, he’ll play great tonight. It’s part of the equation. You have your group together and they go home at night and it’s part of it. In recruiting, especially to this place, parents saw this as a great option before the young person a lot of times. There was no money then. It was the Mendoza Business School and Notre Dame and the alumni network. I would really work parents to help close the deal because Jimmy maybe was a bit brainwashed with Kentucky and Maryland and we can get them here.”
On parents, part two
“Then we get them here and Jimmy’s not playing, and Mom and Dad were real comfortable talking with Coach. In the summers before their freshman year, I would tell the assistants, they each had three or four players. You’ve got to ween me off the parents, now. I can’t take them. I’ve got to back off. It was a process. It was helpful to close the deal in recruiting, but now I need a little bit of space. I would say to them, I will talk to you moving forward about his academics or if there isa problem socially, but we're not going to talk basketball. I cannot talk basketball with you. We’re not going to do that.”
On parents, part three
“I always made sure an assistant coach had a lifeline to the parents, because I want to know what they're saying to the young person. Once every two weeks, Ryan Humphrey, Martin Ingelsby, Anthony Solomon, my assistants, they, check in and they’d come back and go, we may have a problem. I was like, no wonder he’s shooting it more. That’s the reality of what we have to manage.”
On motivating through the marathon
"My feeling was you could not be in a bunker. You could not make it my way or the highway. There was always a bit of selling. We battle for their hearts and minds every day. How? That’s what I mean about waking up and going, how do I sell this today? Wait a minute, I used that a month ago. They’re going to roll their eyes. What’s our theme? How are we going to do it? Are we going to watch video? Are we going to do it on the court? Take a walk? Do a retreat? That’s how I thought about it."
On letting guys play
"I had a kid by the name of Chris Quinn, who was my first recruit here. He was so fundamental, just well coached. Almost too fundamental. I told him one day, if you don’t take a bad shot in the first five minutes of practice, I’m throwing you out. He’s like, what? You better take a fadeaway with three guys on you. Let it rip a little bit, my man. Then he had 38 (points) at Pittsburgh one night. He was rolling. I don’t even know what we were running, but he was just playing.”
On handling a disaster
“We brought a sports psychologist in my first year in the ACC (in 2013-14), we finished (12th). We lost Jerian Grant to an academic issue and we were horrible. I said, well I need some help bringing this thing back together. We hired a guy by the name of Dr. Joe Carr. D.C. guy. He’s worked with a lot of teams. He was in with us for the summer, and we hashed out some things. It was deep. Guys were crying. I was like, my God, we’re really opening up some stuff here. I just want to make a left-handed layup. But it was good. When I talk to that group, they go, Coach, that was the most unbelievable thing. I was like, good, because I think we were getting a little too deep there on your relationships with mom and dad. It was a little bit of, we’ve got to hit the reset button.”
On when it all came together in 2015
"You were always trying to achieve a group taking ownership of itself. If they could just take ownership and police themselves. That year in 2015, I had (Pat Connaughton) and Jerian Grant as seniors, and those guys ran the locker room. I had gotten to the point in my career, I was secure enough to let them run the locker room. Please. Run things. Suggest to me. When you’re moving like that with trust and you feel good and it’s working, you guys own it. It really is a beautiful thing when a group does that. Not all of them can do it. When it starts to hum like that. You could step back and not overcoach.”
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mike Brey reflects on success at Notre Dame basketball
Continue reading...
