Notre Dame Basketball is Struggling

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — John MacLeod talks about pain a lot these days when he describes the Notre Dame basketball program.

“We’re going through a painful rebuilding process,” he says.

“We’re experiencing growing pains,” he says.

MacLeod may be only 55 years old, but he has enough aches for a man of 75.

MacLeod probably felt that old Jan. 18 at Butler University’s ancient Hinkle Fieldhouse. A three-point basket by center Jon Ross had just brought the young Irish to eight points of their hosts, 62-54, with 4:15 remaining. There was time enough for one of those patented stirring comebacks by Notre Dame.

Then came the sharp pains. Butler guard Jermaine Guice made his third three-pointer of the game. Ouch. Notre Dame promptly turned the ball over, and Guice hit another three-point basket. Arghh. The Irish gave it right back, and Ross had to foul. Ooooh. Bulldogs forward John Taylor made two free throws. Final score: 70-56.

Somebody get the heating pad.

“We’re a young, inexperienced team, and this game shows it,” MacLeod said. “We spurted at times, then we backed up. Then we’d have another spurt and go down again. We were in reasonably good position toward the end, and they had two threes, and we had two turnovers.”

And another loss. It dropped the Irish to 7-7 and 2-3 against Midwestern Collegiate Conference schools. Notre Dame (8-9 through Sunday’s games) is being mentioned as expansion fodder for a bunch of conferences, but this Irish squad would be second-division material in most. “Right now, as a team, we’re not all that talented,” sophomore forward Malik Russell said.

Sure, Notre Dame played Indiana to a five-point game and even beat Big East up-and-comer Boston College on the road. But the Irish also absorbed a humbling, 83-59 loss to Detroit Mercy. The 14-point defeat at Butler, a perennial in-state patsy for the Irish, wasn’t pretty, either.

And neither is the prognosis for the rest of the season. A young team (only one senior of note) without a proven track record faces a brutal schedule. But the Irish’s problems could go beyond this season. As the country’s sole independent of renown, Notre Dame must accomplish its rebuilding project against the present college basketball tides. Unable to dock in the safe harbor of a conference affiliation, with its recognition, scheduling comforts and slick ESPN veneer, Notre Dame stands alone. That may be good enough on the football field, where a storied tradition and $35-million television contract perpetuate a rabid national following, but things are different on the hardwood.

The recent conference expansion frenzy has thinned the ranks of the independents. These days, it’s Notre Dame and not much else. Check the standings.

“I think it’s more difficult to exist as an independent today than it was 10 years ago,” said DePaul Coach Joey Meyer, whose school ended 60 years of rugged individualism by becoming a charter member of the Great Midwest Conference last season.

Independent life for the Irish isn’t as great as it was in the 1970s and ‘80s. Notre Dame hasn’t landed a top-10 recruit since LaPhonso Ellis chose the Irish five years ago. And South Bend hasn’t been a priority visit for big-time prospects since. “There’s not one bona fide program-turner on the roster,” recruiting guru Bob Gibbons said.

The lack of a built-in conference schedule has forced the Irish to cobble together a demanding schedule that includes 14 schools that competed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, featuring Duke, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina. Why not just play the Chicago Bulls and get it over with?

“That’s just what Notre Dame does,” MacLeod said. “We have to rise up to the schedule.”

MacLeod’s reputation as a teacher and rebuilder of struggling teams--the Oklahoma Sooners, the Phoenix Suns, the Dallas Mavericks--is considerable, but his construction timetable promises to be a long one. MacLeod points with pride to last season’s runner-up finish in the NIT. But let’s face it: No one signs on to play big-time college basketball with the dream of going to the No Interest Tournament. The Irish haven’t qualified for the NCAA Tournament the past two years, and things aren’t looking too promising this season.

To some, Notre Dame’s program has merely hit a lull, and MacLeod will correct things. If Digger Phelps had only recruited a little better during his last few years in South Bend, the Irish wouldn’t have any problems.

But he didn’t. And they do.

“Because the squad size in basketball is so small, a year in which you fail to get a counted-on player or two, particularly if they are great players, can be very damaging,” Irish Athletic Director Dick Rosenthal said. “If you have a couple years like that, your fortunes are affected.”

MacLeod is left to rebuild with raw recruits and older players better suited for reserve roles. The process will be slow. Notre Dame had only two spots to fill this recruiting season and added a pair of spindly big men--Matt Gotsch, a 7-foot, 215-pounder from Friendswood, Texas, and Marcus Hughes, a 6-10, 210-pounder from Detroit. Both are projects, and neither is a top-50 talent.

Next season will be crucial to the program because Notre Dame will have four roster spots to fill. If MacLeod lures a quartet of quality prep players, look out. Notre Dame again will be a regular at the NCAA Tournament, and the Irish can continue to say “No, thank you” to conference suitors. But if the big names stay away, the Irish could continue to founder--no matter how well MacLeod coaches.

Then, it may be conference time.

“We have to make our presence felt,” MacLeod said about recruiting. “We are going to appeal to a certain youngster who isn’t afraid to play the toughest schedule he can find. He also has to be willing to come and help rebuild the program.

“The first two years for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke were tough because rebuilding doesn’t happen overnight. It’s going to be slow here. I wish I had a magic wand, but that doesn’t work.”

If Rosenthal even says “God bless you” to a sneezing conference commissioner, the rumors start to fly. “You’re about the 12th person who has asked me about Notre Dame in the last two weeks,” Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese said recently.

Because Rosenthal and Tranghese know each other pretty well and have been known to spend a little time together at conventions or meetings, the rumors fly. “We have never had a conversation about Notre Dame coming to the Big East,” Tranghese said. “They’re going to determine what’s right for them.”

OK, then, what about the Atlantic Coast Conference? Former Irish Athletic Director Gene Corrigan is commissioner there. Makes sense. . . . “No,” Corrigan said.

All right. Last try. The Great Midwest Conference. “We’d love to have them in the Great Midwest,” Meyer said. Lots of Catholic schools sought refuge there--DePaul, Marquette, St. Louis, Dayton. It’s a nice fit, geographically and philosophically.

“People keep pushing that issue,” Great Midwest Commissioner Mike Slive said. “They have every reason to remain independent.”

No. No. No.

The rejection doesn’t come from the conferences. It’s Notre Dame that remains steadfast in its desire to stay on its own. “They can get away with it,” Marquette Coach Kevin O’Neill said. “They’re Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame’s hockey team may have joined the Central Collegiate Hockey Assn., and its other “Olympic sports” are members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference--mostly for scheduling reasons--but that’s it. Basketball stays independent--no matter what you hear.

“I don’t know where those things get started,” Rosenthal said. “We have not discussed conference affiliation in at least three or four years.

“We’ve looked very seriously at what would serve our interests best, and after each of those studies, we elected to continue as an independent. We have such wonderful rivalries around the country, and we’d like to keep that schedule.

“I guess we’re creatures of habit.”

Habits have a way of hurting things, and this habit has hurt Notre Dame’s ability to recruit top basketball players.

“When kids tick off the top five programs they’re going to visit, Notre Dame doesn’t make the list,” Gibbons said. “And because it doesn’t have a national TV contract like the Big East, ACC and Big Ten, that hurts. It’s a sad commentary, but you need to have Dick Vitale yelling, ‘It’s over, baby!’ during one of your games.

“The kids aren’t as knowledgeable about Notre Dame basketball because they’re not exposed to it.”

The Irish are on TV this season twice on NBC and on three regional ABC broadcasts--all weekend dates. But ESPN doesn’t televise one Notre Dame game, and that’s where the high school stars tune in. They’re all out playing ball on Saturday and Sunday.

Those who know about the Irish may not even qualify academically. Notre Dame does not recruit Proposition 48 players and does not redshirt--except in the case of injury. No Irish athlete can miss more than three classes in any one subject during a term, and the university is serious about grades. Ellis, last year’s fifth pick in the NBA draft, missed part of two seasons because of academic ineligibility.

“Notre Dame has certain academic requirements that must be met, and some youngsters don’t measure up,” MacLeod said. “Notre Dame has a great tradition academically and athletically, and we appeal to certain youngsters who want both.”

So does Duke, proving schools can win with athletes who graduate. For those who do qualify academically, MacLeod’s up-tempo system and experience on the NBA level are potent recruiting weapons. High school seniors want to play fast-paced basketball, and the better ones want to know they’ll be prepared for the next level.

“It’s a very good system,” Russell said. “It allows you to use your skills to the best of your ability. There’s a lot of freedom. We play man-to-man defense and have a motion offense. It’s the same as the pros.”

Only right now, the Irish are playing more like the Indiana Pacers than the Chicago Bulls.

And that hurts.