DAYTON, Ohio — Mike Brey got flashbacks when the NCAA Tournament field was announced on Sunday.
The longtime Notre Dame coach was transported back to a previous life when he saw his Fighting Irish matched up with Rutgers in a First Four play-in game here at UD Arena on Wednesday.
They faced off with the Scarlet Knights at least once a year for the first decade of Brey’s tenure in South Bend, when both programs were still in the Big East. And while the conferences, players and opposing coaches have changed since the last time these two teams faced off -- the second round of the 2013 Big East Tournament, to be exact -- Brey expects a throwback battle in Dayton.
“I’ve had a lot of Big East flashbacks watching their team play, seeing clips from the RAC, tough guys, physical guys, old guys,” Brey said. “Here they come, coming at our lane, coming at our throat. So that’s been kind of cool to think back through the Big East memories with them.”
Brey had “some bad nightmares coming out of the RAC,” where he went 3-5 in his eight games there between 2001 and 2012, so he’s glad the game is not in Piscataway. But that does not mean he’s not worried.
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He’s well aware of the challenge ahead because he’s well aware of the man leading Rutgers. Brey gushed about the job coach Steve Pikiell has done in his six years at the helm with the Scarlet Knights, taking partial credit for him getting the job by noting he told friend and former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie during the last Rutgers coaching search to “send a plane and give (Pikiell for) 10 years” if given the chance.
After bumping shoulders with Pikiell on the recruiting trail, watching him serve as an assistant coach at his alma mater George Washington, facing off with him three times during Pikiell’s tenure at Stony Brook, seeing the “toughness ... consistency ... stability” of his teams, Brey was convinced he was the right guy to turn that downtrodden program around.
Considering Pikiell just signed a contract extension through the 2029-30 season -- which would be his 13th in charge should he get there -- Brey’s hunch turned prophetic.
“Steve Pikiell is one of the most gifted coaches in our profession,” he said.
But with his team preparing to face Pikiell’s Scarlet Knights and their disruptive defense on Wednesday, he is faced with the consequences of it.
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The Fighting Irish rarely turn the ball over, ranking 28th nationally in offensive turnover rate, but they haven’t faced many teams with Rutgers’ length. Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (and Dayton native) Caleb McConnell leads the bunch, but the rest of the Scarlet Knights’ “really physical” line-up should cause problems against a perimeter-oriented Notre Dame team that loves to shoot 3-pointers.
“We have been really good taking care of the ball, and that’s going to be a challenge tomorrow night, because these guys are crafty,” Brey said. “They’re crafty gamblers. They reach. It’s I-95, man. It’s like (AAU battles between) Riverside Church and the Gauchos. You ever watched them play in the summer? They’re picking guys’ pockets from behind. I’ve lived it all and I’m watching and I’m going, oh, yeah.”
It is anyone’s guess who will come out on top on Wednesday; the game is a pick-em in Las Vegas. But don’t be surprised to see a classic Big East rock-em-sock-em showdown.
And just like at the pregame podium, expect to see a lot of mutual respect between Pikiell and Brey during the postgame handshake.
“The job that he’s done everywhere he’s been, I’ve been a fan of his for a long time,” Pikiell said of Brey. “And kind of admire, too, how he does it. He does it the right way. Coaches with class and all those great things. But, yeah, when you hear those things, it’s really nice. And you appreciate that coming from a guy who has been in the business a long time and has won at the high level he’s won at and done it the right way. So certainly appreciate that.”
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Brian Fonseca may be reached at bfonseca@njadvancemedia.com.
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