Oct. 16, 2000 SportsLine.com Reports

Big East Conference report

Murphy cited for underage drinking

Troy Murphy, last season's Big East player of the year, was cited for underage drinking and possession of false identification on Oct. 12.

Murphy, teammate Thomas Timmermans and football player Gerome Sapp were among the 147 minors cited in a sweep of Finnigan's, a local bar, South Bend's WNDU-TV reported.

Murphy, who doesn't turn 21 until May 2, must schedule a court date within six days and can opt for a pretrial diversion program in which they would have to perform community service.

Doherty out, Brey in

Matt Doherty, at the tender age of 38, figured to stick around Notre Dame for a spell, bringing stability to a big-time program that grossly underachieved over the last decade.

Well, it turns out that Doherty was too hot a prospect for the Irish to hang onto. With the premier coaching job in the nation up for grabs, Doherty was snatched up by North Carolina, leaving the Irish with a gaping hole to fill.

Notre Dame filled that hole with Delaware's Mike Brey. Oregon's Ernie Kent was the first choice of Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White, but he reportedly turned down a seven-year contract worth about $700,000.

"My background, I just felt for the last couple of years I'm trained to do the job here," Brey said. "This is a place I'd love to come and do it for a long, long time. I've been in love with two coaching jobs in my five years as a head coach, and that's Notre Dame twice."

Brey, who falls off the Mike Krzyzewski coaching tree, had just inked a five-year contract extension at Delaware. He is 99-52 in five years with the Blue Hens, including three consecutive 20-win seasons.

Doherty was a starter on North Carolina's 1982 national championship team, which featured Jimmy Black, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and James Worthy. A consummate team player and perfect role player, Doherty was more about energy then production or style.

That's what served him well as Roy Williams' main assistant at Kansas. After two seasons as an assistant at Davidson, Doherty jumped to Kansas in 1993 and quickly made himself known as one of the finest assistant coaches in the country.

He wouldn't just take any head-coaching job, though. It would have to be the perfect offer, which he found one year ago at Notre Dame. In his first game as the Irish boss, an upset victory over fourth-ranked Ohio State in the preseason NIT, Doherty showed promise.

That mushroomed during a 22-15 season in which the Irish beat St. John's, Seton Hall and Connecticut -- twice -- when each was ranked in the Top 25.

Notre Dame shot to the final of the postseason NIT, losing to Wake Forest. And now Doherty will be called upon to save his alma mater in the wake of an embarrassing 10-day stretch in which one of the country's premier college basketball institutions found itself in a corner.

A glance at 2001

The only senior of significance is starting point guard Jimmy Dillon. But he might not be the only major loss this team suffers.

With Troy Murphy coming back for his junior season, the Irish will almost certainly make another NCAA Tournament run -- and get in, for a change. That's because of the addition of Oklahoma transfer Ryan Humphrey, an athletic 6-8, 215-pounder who has impressed the Irish in practice.

With Murphy back, this is essentially the same team -- with the addition of Humphrey and three freshmen making it considerably better.

The coach

Brey, 41, is a talented young coach who was bound to depart Delaware and the America East Conference for a bigger stage at some point. After interviewing with White on Thursday night, he reportedly accepted a seven-year deal.

"I met with the players this afternoon, and one thing I emphasize is that this is a heck of a basketball team here," Brey said. "There will be no rebuilding. I was excited all week, reading about players who said, 'It doesn't matter who we get, we'll be good next year.' I like that."

Who'll be back

Murphy joins a cast of three other returning starters in David Graves, Harold Swanagan and Matt Carroll, as well as top reserves Ivan Kartelo, Jere Macura, Mike Monserez and Martin Inglesby.

Add promising Ryan Humphrey (sitting out this year after transferring from Oklahoma) to that mix, and that's the nucleus of a potential Top 25 team.

Who's gone

Jimmy Dillon's loss at point guard will be felt, but junior Martin Inglesby will help cushion the blow there.

Skylard Owens and Todd Palmer, two seldom-used reserves, are the only other seniors on the roster.

Key newcomers

Humphrey, a former all-Big 12 performer, will make the biggest impact among the newcomers, and should be able to contribute immediately since he was able to practice with the Irish all season while he sat out per NCAA rules after transferring from Oklahoma.

Otherwise, Notre Dame's incoming three-man freshman class generally received lukewarm reviews.

• PF Ryan Humphrey (6-8, 215, Jr.): Talented and athletic, he could be the ideal complement to Murphy -- if Murphy returns. Humphrey comes in ready to contribute immediately.
• C Tom Timmermans (6-11, 235, Fr.): A late-developing big man from the Netherlands who played two years of high school ball in Virginia. The Irish, a poor rebounding team, can use as much size as they can get.
• SG Torrian Jones (6-4, 185, Fr.): A good scorer and an excellent 3-pointer shooter who seems to be a nice fit in Notre Dame's system. The Irish can never have enough wing players who can nail the 3.
• SG Chris Markwood (6-5, 185, Fr.): A solid all-around type from Maine who has a little Graves and Carroll in him, able to do a little bit of everything.