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When Mike Brey is done coaching at Notre Dame (he has seven years left on the contract extension he got in 2012) he may go into broadcasting. A media career could be in the works post coaching retirement and he got his first taste of doing analyst work tonight for ESPNU.
Brey called “The Basketball Tournament” live from DePaul’s on campus gym in Chicago.
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If you want to forecast how the professional basketball career of over-publicized, former Ohio State guard Aaron Craft, then look at the pro career of once over-publicized, former Notre Dame guard Ben Hanbrough.
If SIU is “Floor burn U,” then Ben Hansbrough was “Captain Floor Burn.” During his college basketball career, he was even grindier than his brother Tyler Hansbrough. Ben didn’t make any preseason Big East all-conference teams, but yet he was the 2010-11 BE POY. Ben Hansbrough and Aaron Craft aren’t that similar of players, but they do have some similarities; most importantly the bottom line of what their NBA future holds.
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ESPN College GameDay picked the right game to feature this week as Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center gave us the game of the regular season. Notre Dame vs Louisville on Saturday night was a 5 OT masterpiece won by ND 104-101. This was reminiscent of the 6 OT Big East Tournament game between UConn and Syracuse. Contests like these make me sad that this is a soon to be defunct conference. This was easily the college basketball game of the year.
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called out the GOP majority in the house for dragging their feet on relief for the victims of Superstorm Sandy. And rightfully so, the Republican do nothing congress did even more nothing as relief efforts continue for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, and most notably for those in the state of New Jersey, dragged for weeks behind the aid given for previous hurricanes.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team is now getting involved in the cause. A special online auction will be held from now until January 17th on Notre Dame’s official web site UND.com as fans have the opportunity to bid on several unique items. Proceeds from the auction will be presented to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Christie, a longtime friend of Irish head coach Mike Brey, is scheduled to be in attendance at the Notre Dame-Rutgers game at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 8:00 pm (ET).
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Surprisingly, the ND college basketball team suffered a loss before the ND college football team this season.
No. 20 Notre Dame just couldn’t score in the final minutes of regulation and overtime and the Fighting Irish men’s basketball team lost 79-70 to Saint Joseph’s on Friday night in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Barclays Center.
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Notre Dame was unable to get a sixth year of eligibility out of the NCAA for their oft-injured star Tim Abromaitis, but they were able to get the same situation approved for forward Scott Martin (Valparaiso, Ind.). The Purdue transfer will return to play for the Irish in 2012-13.
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When best player Tim Abromaitis went down for the season, Notre Dame was totally written off for the entire college basketball season. Instead, they’ve had a true Ewing Theory going on, just like they did in 2010 when star forward Luke Harangody got injured and missed a lot of games down the stretch.
The Fighting Irish were written off by everyone after some bad losses in November and December. Yet here they are today, among the best teams in the Big East, and a team that beat four ranked opponents in January alone.
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Notre Dame sophomore guard Eric Atkins has been the alpha for ND this season, especially since Abto went down for the season with a ACL injury. Today he was named a captain along with forwards Tim Abromaitis and Purdue transfer Scott Martin for the remainder of the 2011-12 season.
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Looks like Notre Dame is in serious trouble this season. Their co-captain Tim Abromaitis suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at practice this morning and will miss the remainder of the 2011-12 season. His loss will be felt not just in South Bend, but throughout the Big East and college basketball worlds.
Abro played in two games and was averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds. He had missed Notre Dame’s first four games (all wins) due to misunderstanding of a technicality in an NCAA rule governing seasons of competition that dated back to the 2008-09 campaign when he played in the first two exhibition of his sophomore campaign and then sat out the remainder of that season.
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Fighting Irish forward Tim Abromaitis, the player expected to replace Ben Hansbrough as the team’s leader, top scorer, and overall best talent, will miss the first four games of the college basketball regular season.
Why? A misunderstanding in the technicality of an NCAA rule dating back to the 2008-09 season.
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Tim Abromaitis (Unionville, Conn.) is one of 22 collegian who has accepted an invitation from the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee to attend the 2011 USA Basketball Men’s World University Games training camp.
The training camp, which will be held from July 29-Aug. 7 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be used to select the 12-member team that will represent the USA at the 2011 World University Games men’s basketball competition Aug. 13-23 in Shenzhen, China.
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Everywhere you look, college football and college basketball news stories are filled with scandal and skullduggery. It’s enough to make one think there are no good guys left among the coaches, and no “students,” in the term “student-athlete.”
Tim Abromaitis of Notre Dame is an exceptional exception. His team finished the season ranked #4 in the final poll, earned a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and they return three senior starters next year. He was the team’s second best offensive weapon behind Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansbrough, and should have an even bigger role next year.
By Paul M. Banks
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