Doherty Giving Dancing Lessons
Frank Vitovitch
February 3, 2000

South Bend, Ind - In seven seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas, Matt Doherty and the Jayhawks failed to win less than 20 games in each season and only won less than 25 once.  Doherty has brought the winning ways to South Bend as he has the Irish in line for their first 20 win season and first trip to the NCAA Tournament since the 1988-89 season when Digger Phelps roamed courtside for the Fighting Irish.

He started his head coaching career with a bang when Notre Dame upset then top 5 Ohio State in the opening round of the NIT.  The win sparked new interest into the basketball program and fans started hoping for a tourney bid ever since.  The Irish shocked the highly ranked Buckeyes on their home court on national television on ESPN.  The win put Matt Doherty and the 1999-2000 Irish basketball team on the map.

The high hopes were soon to take a hit with back to back loses to Arizona and Maryland in the latter rounds of the NIT.  The Irish struggled a little before shooting their way to a seven game win streak.  Hopes again suffered a hit when the Irish lost to Miami and Rutgers putting them at 12-8 on the season.   Since then the Irish have regrouped and won their last two games.  Coming down the home stretch they have positioned themselves nicely for a tourney bid.

The Irish are 14-8 with two easily winnable games coming up against Pittsburgh and Villanova.  Notre Dame takes on the Panthers Saturday at 12 PM EST and then travel to Philadelphia to take on the Villanova Wildcats on Tuesday.   These two games are must wins for the Irish who still have rematches with undefeated Syracuse and highly ranked UConn.

Notre Dame has a great chance to make it to the tourney this year with Doherty in charge.  In one season he has put life back into the basketball program and got the fans and the students excited for games.  How many people last year looked forward to a Notre Dame-West Virginia game?  This year however people are watching the games on satellite dishes and listening to them on the net.

The basketball team has come a long way in a short time and can only get better next year with the additions of some solid freshman and Ryan Humphrey who transferred from Oklahoma and will be eligible for next season. 

The only two games left for Notre Dame that might be out of their reach are the previously mentioned UConn and Syracuse games, but the Irish did beat UConn on the road earlier so it would be far from a surprise if they lost.  I also expect a much better showing against Syracuse this time around.  I am predicating Notre Dame will be the only team to be Syracuse this regular season when they two meet on March 1 in South Bend - but for now let's take it one game at a time.

Go Irish!