BY MIKE VORKUNOV
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
BIG EAST TOURNAMENT
NEW YORK — Mike Brey so clearly enjoyed holding court late Wednesday night, keeping reporters' pens moving and their notebooks overflowing, that you would think he was here to talk and not to coach. But it's because he has been so good at the latter that people will listen to him do the former as long as he is willing.
Just three weeks ago, Notre Dame was a team in need of saving. Their All-American star was injured for who knows how long. Their bubble hopes were closer to bursting than blowing up. And in the middle of it all, Brey decided his team needed an identity change. In the middle of February. Add superlatives, expletives and punctuation marks where you please.
But that was ages ago. Now they are self-proclaimed to be "one of the best stories in college basketball," — Brey's words — and the sneakiest bracket buster in the country.
When Luke Harangody went down February 11 in Newark, taking his nightly 20-and-10 to the bench with him, the Fighting Irish followed with two heartbreaking losses that left them at 6-8 in the conference.
