Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Mike Brey, Notre Dame Agree on Contract Through 2024-25 Season

Kyle Newport

Even after missing the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament, Mike Brey has agreed to an extension that will keep him as coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish through the 2024-25 season.

The school announced Tuesday it signed the program's all-time winningest coach to a three-year extension. Brey expressed his gratitude in a statement:

"My goal has always been to be good enough to retire as the head coach at Notre Dame. I am truly honored and humbled to be the head coach at the University of Notre Dame. I want to sincerely thank Notre Dame president John Jenkins and [vice president] Jack Swarbrick for their steadfast support and commitment to our program.

"I'm proud of what our program has achieved in the past 18 years, and I could not be more excited about what the future holds."

Swarbrick believes Brey, 59, is the right guy to lead the program:

"Mike Brey has built one of the most consistently successful programs in the country. And the foundation of that success is a winning culture that develops the members of his teams as both basketball players and young men. He is a perfect fit for Notre Dame, and we are excited to have him lead our program well into the future."

At 20-14 (8-10 in ACC play), Notre Dame found itself on the bubble for the Big Dance this year. The selection committee did not deem the Fighting Irish worthy of entry, despite being ranked No. 5 in the country at one point. The team made the NIT, however, losing to the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second round.

Brey (403-202 at South Bend) has led Notre Dame to 12 NCAA tournament appearances. Before he came over for the 2000-01 season, the team hadn't made the NCAA tourney for 10 straight seasons.

Under Brey, the Fighting Irish have won fewer than 20 games just once since 2005-06 and piled up 32 victories and an ACC tournament championship in 2014-15. They have reached two Elite Eights under their current coach, a round they had not advanced to in the two decades before he stepped on campus.

Brey (502-254 overall) is one of 69 coaches in men's college basketball history with at least 500 career victories.

   

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