UHND.com - Notre Dame Football, Basketball, & Recruiting

1. The remarkably low expectations that the administration has for an ACC basketball program. (ND is in the wrong conference, which doesn't help in recruiting.) I think the standard has been clear for the entirety of Brey's tenure: make the Tournament. Anything above and beyond that is gravy.
2. The fact that every three years or so, Brey pulls out a good recruiting class, like with the current freshmen, who are indeed really good and may end up carrying most of the load.
3. This is a distant third, but, yes, Brey's likeability and the fact that you won't find a cleaner-run program in college basketball or football. He consistently recruits nice kids who represent the school exceedingly well.

The player coming in for a visit in a week and a half, Parker Friedrichsen, is a really good prospect rated just outside the top 100. He recently said that he hadn't heard from ND in a year. Less than one day of an offer from ND, he set up an official visit. What does that tell us? That sort of thing cannot happen. They clearly have a prospect very interested in ND who can play at the ACC level and who has many offers from the Big 12, Big 10 and Big East, plus Memphis and VA Tech. Despite this, his final five include Northwestern, Rice, and Davidson. In other words, academics are huge for him and his family, because he could commit tomorrow to Illinois or Purdue and have a Final Four shot. ND cannot stop calling him because they think they might have two or three others rated higher who might have some interest. Wake Forest, comparable to ND in the ACC, has 30+ offers out there. Brey had eight or nine offers extended. I don't know how many times the program has to get burned with this strategy before it changes. Now, ND is playing catch-up with Friedrichsen. The other four coaching staffs can say, "Look, we've been after you the entire time. We've always wanted you here."