October 15, 1997
THE 1997-98 NOTRE DAME SEASON:
Head coach John MacLeod and his 1997-98 Notre Dame basketball team began preseason preparation today with the annual media and photo day. The team will begin practice with "Midnight Madness," which will begin at 11:10 p.m. EST on Fri., October 14. With Notre Dame on fall break next week, the Irish will be able to have "two-a-day" practice sessions and will play their only preseason exhibition game on Sun., November 9, against Athletes in Action at the Joyce Center at 7:30 p.m. EST. Notre Dame's other exhibition game of the season will be on Tues., December 9, against Marathon at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Notre Dame's regular season opener is on Mon., November 17, against The Citadel at 7:30 p.m. EST and its BIG EAST Conference opener is on Sat., December 6, at Pittsburgh for a 4:00 p.m. EST game. Notre Dame's first BIG EAST home game is Tues., December 30, against St. John's at 7:30 p.m. EST.
BIG EAST MEDIA DAY:
Media are invited to join each BIG EAST coach and selected players for the annual BIG EAST media day on Wed., November 5. The event will once again take place at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. The day begins at 10:30 a.m. with BIG EAST commissioner Mike Tranghese making opening remarks. Media interviews take place from 10:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and the event concludes with a buffet lunch from 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Seniors Pat Garrity and Derek Manner plus Notre Dame head coach John MacLeod will represent the Irish at the event. Please contact John Paquette at the BIG EAST Conference for more details.
MIDNIGHT MADNESS:
The Irish will begin their season with a "Midnight Madness" practice session on Fri., October 17. The event is free and open to the public and will take place in the Joyce Center on the Notre Dame campus.
"Midnight Madness" will begin at 11:10 p.m. EST October 17th with Joyce Center public address announcer Jon Thompson serving as host. The 50 minutes leading up to the first Irish practice will include give-aways by Continental Express airlines, University Park Mall and adidas. Two Notre Dame season tickets also will be given away. In addition, the first 1,000 people to enter the building will receive a free T-shirt from adidas and First USA credit card company.
At midnight, the first opportunity for teams to practice under NCAA rules, head coach John MacLeod and his Irish will be introduced and will conduct a half-hour practice session, including slam-dunk drills and a 10-minute scrimmage.
The Notre Dame women's volleyball team will play North Carolina that same night in the Joyce Center and the building will remain open until the completion of "Midnight Madness."
GARRITY GARNERS PRESEASON HONORS:
Irish senior forward Pat Garrity has earned preseason honors from virtually every publication and preseason team that has been announced thus far. They include being:
one of five national player of the year candidates according to Street and Smith's yearbook
a preseason All-American according to Street and Smith's yearbook
a first team preseason All-American pick by Inside Sports magazine, selected by CBS announcer Billy Packer
one of the top ten preseason candidates for the Naismith College Player of the Year award, given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club
one of the top 25 preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, given by the Los Angeles Tipoff Club
the third-best power forward in the country according to The Sporting News yearbook
the fourth-best power forward in the country according to Street and Smith's yearbook
the BIG EAST preseason player of the year according to The Sporting News yearbook
Notre Dame Basketball Notes
GARRITY'S HONORS IN REVIEW:
Last season, Pat Garrity was:
the BIG EAST Player of the Year
a first team GTE Academic All-America pick and now has a 3.703 grade point average
a unanimous first team All-BIG EAST selection
was named honorable mention All-American selection by the Associated Press and Basketball Weekly
GARRITY RETURNS AS BIG EAST P.O.Y.:
For just the second time since 1985, the BIG EAST Conference has a returning player of the year in Pat Garrity. The last returning BIG EAST player of the year was Villanova's Kerry Kittles, who won the award in 1994-95. Previously, Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Chris Mullin of St. John's shared the award in 1983-84 and returned for their senior season.
GARRITY LEADS USA TEAM:
Pat Garrity spent this past summer as a member of the United States Under-22 National Team. Coach by Utah's Rick Majerus, the team played exhibition game in the beginning of the summer against National Basketball Association rookie teams and then traveled to Australia for the World Under-22 Championship from August 1-10. The United States team finished fifth at that event, losing to host Australia in the quarterfinals by an 81-63 score and then beating Lithuania and Turkey in the consolation bracket. In the preliminary round, the United States beat Yugoslaiva, New Zealand, China and Lithuania and lost to Puerto Rico.
Garrity was the leading scorer on the United States team, averaging 11.8 points per contest and was the second-leading rebounder at 4.5 boards per game. Garrity was the leading scorer for the team in three games and tied for the lead in another.
Other members of the team included Mike Jones from TCU, Cory Carr from Texas Tech and Sam Jacobson from Minnesota.
TICKET PLANS:
Tickets are now on sale for the 1997-98 Notre Dame basketball season. Season tickets for all games, including the two exhibitions, are sold out in the lower arena, but remain in the upper bleacher seats for $146 each.
Notre Dame is offering two other ticket plans this season, all of which are in the bleacher seats. The gold package includes tickets for the St. John's (Dec. 30), Rutgers (Jan. 11), Villanova (Jan. 28) and Connecticut (Feb. 17) games while the blue package includes the Syracuse (Jan. 21), Boston College (Feb. 11), Miami (Feb. 22) and Georgetown (Feb. 25) games. Both packages are priced at $32 apiece.
Individual tickets for games not included in the blue and gold packages are also now available.
IRISH ON TELEVISION:
Notre Dame will make once again make a number of appearances on national and local television this season. Notre Dame will appear on NBC twice (Jan. 31 at St. John's and Feb. 28 at Providence), ESPN twice (Jan. 21 vs. Syracuse and Feb. 25 vs. Georgetown) and on ESPN2 twice (Dec. 3 at Indiana and Feb. 17 vs. Connecticut).
Notre Dame's games on ESPN Regional television, which includes WNDU-TV in South Bend and SportsChannel Chicago are still to be announced.
1997-98 Notre Dame Basketball Roster
No. Name Pos. Hgt. Wgt. Cl. Hometown High School
21 Jimmy Dillon G 6-1 171 So. Philadelphia, PA Holy Ghost Prep
14 * Keith Friel G 6-3 188 So. Durham, NH Oyster River
53 * Pat Garrity F 6-9 231 Sr. Monument, CO Lewis Palmer
55 * Phil Hickey C 6-10 252 Jr. Wellsboro, PA Wellsboro
24 * Martin Ingelsby G 5-11 169 Fr. Philadelphia, PA Archbishop Carroll
35 ** Tom Krizmanich G 6-3 192 Fr. Warsaw, IN Warsaw
10 Matt MacLeod G 6-3 173 So. Granger, IN St. Joseph
3 Derek Manner F 6-6 206 Sr. Webster, TX Clear Brook
25 Peter Okwalinga C 6-8 212 Fr. Nairobi, Kenya Greensteds School
34 Skylard Owens F 6-3 201 So. Shreveport, LA Loyola College Prep
44 Todd Palmer F 6-7 223 So. Harrington Park, NJ Don Bosco Prep
15 Paul Rainey G 6-1 184 Jr. Hattieville, AR Wonderview
33 Hans Rasmussen F 6-9 218 Fr. Portland, OR Central Catholic
20 Leviticus Williamson F 6-6 200 Fr. Spring, TX Spring
52 Nick Wills F 6-5 227 Sr. Mendota Heights, MN St. Thomas Academy
4 ** Antoni Wyche G 6-4 193 Jr. Ballston Lake, NY Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons
* - denotes number of monograms won
Head Coach: John MacLeod
Assistant Coaches: Fran McCaffery, Parker Laketa, Terry Tyler
