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Men's Basketball
100 Years Remembered In 100 Days
Dec. 21, 2004
100 Years Remembered In 100 Days The 12 Days Of A Notre Dame Basketball Christmas As www.und.com continues its tribute to the 100 Years of Notre Dame Basketball celebration, the week-day feature (which appears on the front page of www.und.com and the sidebar of the men's basketball home page) will change slightly for the next two weeks. While the University shuts down operations over the Christmas and New Year holidays, 100 Years Remembered In 100 Days will shift into a different form - The 12 Days Of A Notre Dame Basketball Christmas Similar to the daily updates which we have posted so far this season, The 12 Days Of A Notre Dame Basketball Christmas will serve as updates for the 100 Years Remembered in 100 Days feature until January 3, 2005. From all of us at www.und.com, College Sports Online and the University of Notre Dame Sports Information Department - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 100 Years Remembered in 100 Days will return to its usual form on Monday, Jan. 3, 2004 with #40. Until then, enjoy #27 - #39.
#27 (Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004) Father Figure - John Smyth John Smyth came to Notre Dame as a non-scholarship basketball player in 1953, although he had full-ride offers elsewhere. Once the financial burdens became too much to overcome, he turned to Notre Dame head coach John Jordan for help. Jordan came through by placing Smyth on scholarship, and Smyth never forgot how that action changed his life. Notre Dame's 25th all-time leading scorer, Smyth eventually captained the 1956-57 squad that finished 20-8 and advanced to the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. After touring with a college all-star team, Smyth eventually entered the priesthood and developed a scholarship program at Maryville Academy in Des Plaines, Ill. He has played in integral role in sending at-risk children to college, helping more than 100 students attend free of charge. At its 2002 commencement exercises, Notre Dame honored Smyth with the Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics. Also - on this date in Notre Dame Basketball history - Dec. 21, 1955 - Michigan State's Julius McCoy finishes with 45 points as the Spartans defeat the Irish in overtime in East Lansing, 84-78. It remains the highest point total recorded by an individual against Notre Dame.
#28 (Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004) Pipeline to the Pros - Part I Notre Dame has sent a vast number of players into the ABA, BAA, NBL and NBA over the years. Here is a look at some of the Irish players that have appeared for professional teams (alphabetical by last name, A - D).
Bob Arnzen
Leo Barnhorst
Dave Batton
Elmer Bennett
Vince Boryla
Gary Brokaw
Austin Carrr
Matt Carroll
Sid Catlett
Ray Corley
Frannie Curran
Adrian Dantley
William Davis
#29 (Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004) A BIG EAST First Notre Dame achieved a first in the history of the BIG EAST Conference in March of 2002 when Irish point guard Chris Thomas earned the league's rookie of the year award on the men's side while Jacqueline Batteast collected the same honor for the women's team. In addition, both players earned national recognition with freshman of the year honors. Thomas earned accolades from both Basketball Times and Basketball News, while Batteast was named the top women's freshman play in the country by the United States Basketball Writers Association.
#30 (Friday, Dec. 24, 2004) Big Crowds Notre Dame has played in front of some of the largest crowds in college basketball history, especially due to the fact that a number of college games have been moved to domed venues in recent years. Among the largest crowds for a Notre Dame game: 45,214 (Dec. 3, 1988 vs. Kentucky in the Hoosier Dome), 44,233 (Jan. 20, 1990 vs. LSU in the Super Dome), 43,601 (Dec. 5, 1987 vs. Louisville in the Hoosier Dome) and 40,128 (Dec. 2, 1989 vs. Louisville in the Hoosier Dome). Of the 10 highest single-game, regular-season paid attendance figures in NCAA history, four have been games involving Notre Dame.
#31 (Saturday, Dec. 25, 2004) Knocking Off The Defending Champions When the Irish men's team defeated 2003 national champion Syracuse 84-72 on Feb. 16, 2004, at the Carrier Dome, Notre Dame became just the fourth school since the inception of the women's NCAA tournament in '82 to have both its men's and women's basketball teams defeat the defending national champions in the same season. On Jan. 13, 2004, the Irish women's team beat Connecticut 66-51 in the Joyce Center. The other three schools to accomplish this feat are Duke (1998-99), Tennessee (1999-2000) and Michigan State (1999-2000).
#32 (Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004) Isolation Offense Former Irish assistant coach Gene Sullivan helped design and implement the isolation, or double stack, offense in 1969-70 to take advantage of the talents of Austin Carr - especially his ability to move without the ball. The Irish eventually played 58 games using the strategy and Carr scored 20-plus points in all of those games while reaching 30 in 46 of them, 40 points in 23 games and 50 points in nine games.
#33 (Monday, Dec. 27, 2004) Shadow Star - Collis Jones Collis Jones is known as one of the most underrated players in Notre Dame Basketball history. With his spot on the program's all-century team, perhaps Jones will get the attention his play on the court deserved. Playing alongside the greatest scorer in Irish history (Austin Carr), Jones averaged 23.1 points and 13.2 rebounds per game during his senior season for Notre Dame. Only one other Irish player, Tommy Hawkins, was able to match those averages for a single year. Taking on Butler during their junior seasons, Jones and Carr ran into a Bulldog team which thought it could out-run a thin Notre Dame roster (due to players arriving late for the bus trip, only seven Irish players were available for the game). Jones piled up 40 points in the contest, helping the Irish to a 121-114 victory. In typical fashion, Jones was lost from the headlines of the game because his teammate Carr had put up 50 points. Those 90 points are by far the most by two Irish players in the same game and the only documented Division I game in NCAA history in which one teammate had 50 and another 40 in the same game. In the end, Jones scored at least 30 points six times and grabbed a minimum of 20 rebounds five times in his career.
Also - on this date in Notre Dame Basketball history -
#34 (Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004) Justin Moloney Notre Dame had not fielded a varsity basketball team in eight years when Justin Moloney scored 34 points in the 1907-08 team's second game against the Kalamazoo YMCA. Moloney's 34 points led Notre Dame to a 78-8 victory. Few people probably realized how impressive a performance it was. It would be 45 years before an Irish player would score more points in a single game. Joe Bertrand's 35 points in a 1953 victory over Loyola finally broke one of the longest-held records in Irish history.
Also - on this date in Notre Dame Basketball history -
#35 (Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004) On this date in Notre Dame Basketball history -
A number of memorable moments have occurred on this date in Notre Dame Basketball history - Dec. 29, 1955 - At the Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans, John Jordan's Irish post a 86-80 win versus Alabama, directed by fourth-year head coach Johnny Dee, who would later coach the Irish (1964-71). Dee would lead the Crimson Tide to 16 consecutive wins thereafter for a 21-3 finish. Dec. 29, 1964 - A nine-game losing streak to Kentucky is snapped as Dee's first Irish team upends the Wildcats in Louisville, 111-97. It is the most points every scored by a team in a victory against Kentucky.
#37 (Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004) Basketball Hall of Fame Five former representatives of the University of Notre Dame's basketball program have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.:
George E. Keogan, 1961 Keogan spent 20 seasons as Notre Dame's head coach between 1923 and 1943 and amassed 327 victories, more than any other coach in Irish basketball history. Ripley served Notre Dame as head coach in only one season, finishing 17-4 in '45-'46. He played for the Original Celtics and coached at Georgetown, Yale, Columbia, Army and Regis. He also coached the '60 Canadian Olympic Team and the Harlem Globetrotters for three seasons. Krause began as a three-time All-American as Notre Dame's center in the early 1930s, won 98 games as an Irish head coach and spent 32 years as Notre Dame's athletic director. Meyer, a 1938 Notre Dame graduate, was a two-time captain for the Irish and was named head coach at DePaul in 1942. He retired after the 1983-84 season with a 724-354 career record. Kennedy, a '34 Notre Dame graduate, served as Notre Dame's sports information director prior to a 12-year stint as commissioner of the National Basketball Association.
#38 (Friday, Dec, 31, 2004) Olympians Three Notre Dame basketball players have earned berths on the prestigious United States Olympic team. Vince Boryla was on the 1948 London team after leading the Irish in scoring during the 1944-45 season. After playing for the Irish over two years, he enlisted in the Army and earned a spot on the Olympic squad through his play with the Denver Nuggets AAU team. The '48 team easily won the gold medal, trouncing France 65-21 in the gold medal match. Adrian Dantley became Notre Dame's second Olympian in 1976. The two-time All-American played a key role on the gold medal winning team in Montreal. Dantley scored 30 points in the gold-medal winning game against Yugoslavia. Bill Hanzlik was selected for the 1980 Olympic team that did not compete in Moscow due to the U.S. boycott. He did play with the team on a series of five contests against teams comprised of NBA talent, helping the Olympic team go 4-1 in those contests with 11 points, seven assists and five steals.
Also - on this date in Notre Dame Basketball history - Dec. 31, 1935 - The annual New Year's Eve clash with Northwestern in Chicago ends in Notre Dame's lone basketball tie, 20-20. A scorekeeper's error omits a Ray Meyer free throw, so the teams leave the court believing Northwestern won 20-19.
#39 (Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005) Draft Picks Notre Dame has produced three overall #1 picks in the NBA draft. Kevin O'Shea was the first, selected by Miwaukee in 1950. Dick Rosenthal was picked first in 1954 by Fort Wayne, while Austin Carr was selected #1 by Cleveland in 1971. Since the round-by-round results are available through 1957 - 16 Notre Dame players have been selected in the first round: Austin Carr (1st, 1971, Cleveland), Collis Jones (17th, 1971, Milwaukee), John Shumate (4th, 1974, Pheonix), Gary Brokaw (18th, 1974, Milwaukee), Adrian Dantley (6th, 1976, Buffalo), Bill Hanzlik (20th, 1980, Seattle), Orlando Woolridge (6th, 1981, Chicago), Kelly Tripuka (12th, 1981, Detroit), John Paxson (19th, 1983, San Antonio), Ken Barlow (23rd, 1986, LA Lakers), David Rivers (25th, 1988, LA Lakers), LaPhonso Ellis (5th, 1992, Denver), Monty Williams (24th, 1994, New York), Pat Garrity (19th, 1998, Milwaukee), Troy Murphy (14th, 2001, Golden State) and Ryan Humphrey (19th, 2002, Utah). NEXT UPDATE: #40 (Monday, Jan. 3, 2005) Legend of the Hardwood - Leo Klier
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