Doherty and UNC and Kansas
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
July 5, 2000

Notre Dame, Ind - A week or two ago many Irish faithful were elated to see the basketball team ranked in the preseason top 25 for the first time in God knows how long, but all the optimism might come to a halt if Notre Dame's own "Miracle Man" Matt Doherty decides to leave Notre Dame to fill a coaching vacancy at either Kansas or North Carolina.

As of now there is no vacancy at Kansas, but that could change very quickly.  Last Friday Bill Guthridge stepped down as head coach of the Tar Heels after three seasons that included two trips to the Final Four.  Since then, Roy Williams of Kansas has been mentioned as the prime target of North Carolina for the job and the Tar Heels have not been discreet in their interest.  As of now it is common knowledge that Williams will decide shortly whether or not to accept the job.   This is where Doherty becomes involved.

After a 22 win season at Notre Dame, Doherty's stock is sky high and anything less than a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 trip will raise his stock even a little.  Doherty has ties to both universities so no matter what Williams decides, Doherty's name will be popping up a lot in relation to both openings.  Doherty was a player at North Carolina where he won a national title and was an assistant for Williams at Kansas for seven years. 

Both head coaching spots, North Carolina and Kansas, hold more prestige than the Notre Dame one in basketball.  Unlike football where the head coaching spot is the toughest in sports, the basketball team is not seen on anywhere near the same level.  This is one reason Doherty might bolt for either job.  How much better does it get than to be 38 and coaching at either North Carolina or Kansas, universities that have tons of talent with recruits waiting in line to get scholarship offers.

Despite the prestige the Kansas and North Carolina head coaching spots hold, I believe that Doherty will stay.  Of course I could be wrong, and if you read my articles regularly you I am often, but I think Doherty sees he has something special brewing at Notre Dame.  He brought Notre Dame up from the ashes last year after years of mediocrity and has Notre Dame on its way back to the top of the college basketball world.

This past offseason Doherty spent his time getting Troy Murphy to come back when the NBA was calling and getting two prime time recruits to commit to his team early in Chris Thomas and Jordan Cornette.  He has the team on the verge of becoming a power house and has two great talents coming in just waiting to make an impact next season.  All these factors lead me to believe coach D will be back next season.  This is however just speculation on my part since no one really knows what is going to happen at this point.

Matt Doherty resurrected Notre Dame basketball last season with his appreciation to the fans and his general enthusiasm for the game.  He has fans believing the sky is the limit next year and right now can do no wrong at Notre Dame.  Well, that is other than leaving to coach either Kansas or North Carolina.