...but I don't think it's possible to win without cheating, and I think that has a lot to do w/ our inability to land better players. College basketball has become like Lance Armstrong era cycling. The latest scandal underscores this. Case in point - Zion Williamson's dad asked Kansas for $100K, a 'job', and housing. Kansas was working to provide all that, and then Zion commits to Duke. If you don't think Duke gave him at least what he was going to get from Kansas, you are naive. UNC runs a fraudulent classroom scam for two decades, involving hundreds of student athletes, and receives no penalty. The LSU coach is taped saying he was going to make a 'strong ass' offer to a recruit, and he's publicly demanding to be reinstated (after refusing to answer questions from LSU!).
Assuming we are not willing to cheat - and I don't think we are - I don't know that we can realistically expect a lot more than Brey. He's a good representative of the university and is widely respected amongst coaches and the sports media. And yes, his teams are often soft and play poor defense and are typically out-rebounded.
I don't think ND really cares if it isn't competing for Final Fours. Brey was begging for a practice facility for the last 15 years before we acted.
He's a good coach, but I wish we had a better coach.