SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame began looking for a new basketball coach
before Matt Doherty even went to North Carolina to interview for the job there.
"We started about a week ago taking a good hard look at the national
marketplace, so to speak, to try to see who makes sense," Irish athletic
director Kevin White said Tuesday. "We've done an awful lot of work to this
point anticipating we might be in this position."
White declined to name any prospective candidates, saying it would
"marginalize the pool." But he said the coach would have to be a good fit
with the team and the school.
"We're looking for somebody that's had great programatic success at the
highest level, preferably somebody that's been in a high-profile situation, a
high-end conference or a major situation. And somebody that will represent the
values and characteristics of the University of Notre Dame."
Irish players said they were disappointed, but understood.
"People close to coach Doherty understand what went on with the decision
and the things that pulled him to North Carolina. We understand why he made the
decision," forward Troy Murphy said.
Murphy, a first-team All-American and Big East player of the year as a
sophomore last season, decided in the spring to skip the NBA Draft in part
because of Doherty, who led the Irish to a 22-15 record and a second-place
finish in the NIT in his first season. But Murphy said he doesn't regret his
decision.
"Personally, I think I have a lot of things I can get better on," he said.
"There are a lot of what ifs in everything. It's a decision I made and a
decision I have to live with," he said.
Other players said they also understood.
"It was his dream to go coach at his alma mater. You've got to follow your
dreams, try to achieve them. He got his chance to go do that," forward Harold
Swanagan said.
White plans to start interviewing prospects in the next three to five days,
saying it was crucial to get someone in quickly because of recruiting and for
the sake of the players.
White learned of Doherty's decision at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, and Doherty and
White met with the players in a dorm room an hour later. Players said Doherty
cried.
"Coach was very emotional. We just kind of took it all in and really didn't
have any comments," guard Matt Carroll said. "He just told us it was such a
hard decision to make. He said it was just an opportunity he just couldn't pass
up."
White said the Notre Dame job also will be a tough one to pass up, comparing
the job to coaching at places such as Duke and Stanford.
"Our commitment hasn't changed. Our commitment is to have a top five
program, and I believe we can have that," he said.
Doherty was a Kansas assistant when he signed a five-year deal with Notre
Dame in March 1999. But he had a clause in his contract regarding North
Carolina.
"I suspect that when Matt came to Notre Dame he hoped that at some point
he'd have an opportunity to have a conversation with North Carolina, maybe five
or eight or 10 years down the road. I don't think he ever expected it would
occur after year one."
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