SOUTH BEND – Every Notre Dame basketball season is a journey.
With the book closed on the 2024-25 season, we’re a quarter of the way through the 2000s with 25 journeys down. Which were the best? The worst? Just kind of … there?
The following are the rankings of the first 25 seasons of Notre Dame basketball in the 2000s. Seasons are slotted from worst (25th) to best (first).
If you know Irish hoops, there’s no contest for the best season. Will we see something close to it again over the next 25?
∎ 25. 2022-23: 11-21 overall; 3-17 Atlantic Coast Conference (14th place)
Leaders: Nate Laszewski 13.7 ppg., 7.2 rpg., Trey Wertz 3.2 apg., Dane Goodwin 35.5 mpg.
Highlight: Back when this season held much promise and potential, Cormac Ryan scored 23 points on 6-of-6 from 3 as unranked Notre Dame beat No. 20 Michigan State, 70-52, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It was former Irish head coach Mike Brey’s last non-conference win over a ranked team.
Lowlight: A lackluster 79-64 home loss to Marquette in front of an announced crowd of 7,098 (maybe closer to 4,000) on the day Irish legend John Shumate was inducted into the school’s Ring of Honor. The Irish trailed by as many as 20 points in what felt like the beginning of the end for Brey.
Last Word: It seemed everyone from the head coach to the core veterans stayed a year too long and checked out early, as Notre Dame won only three games after December 27, 2022. Brey announced in mid-January that he would leave at season’s end. Notre Dame lost nine of its last 10 before the Brey Era ended March 7, 2023, with a first-round ACC Tournament loss to Virginia Tech.
∎ 24. 2018-19: 14-19 overall; 3-15 ACC (15th place)
Leaders: John Mooney 14.1 ppg., 11.2 rpg., Prentiss Hubb 3.9 apg., T.J. Gibbs 36.1 mpg.
Highlight: Mooney scored 21 points with seven rebounds, and Rex Pflueger had seven points and 10 assists before wrecking his knee late in an 88-80 win over Purdue at the annual Crossroads Classic.
Lowlight: Notre Dame beat only two ACC teams all season – Boston College and Georgia Tech, each twice, including once in the league tournament.
Last Word: Because of injury/ineffectiveness, the core freshman class of Goodwin, Hubb, and Laszewski was forced to play major roles before anyone was ready. All three appeared in all 33 games. Freshman Robby Carmody missed much of the season with the first of his myriad injuries.
∎ 23. 2008-09: 21-15 overall; 8-10 Big East (10th place)
Leaders: Luke Harangody 23.3 ppg., 11.8 rpg., Tory Jackson 5.0 apg., Kyle McAlarney 36.9 mpg.
Highlight: Where this season might go seemed special following an 81-80 victory over then-No. 6 Texas in the Maui Invitational. Harangody had 29 points and 13 rebounds. McAlarney added 19 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Lowlight: The Irish staggered through 33 days between wins while losing seven straight. Included in that was a 69-61 loss to Connecticut on January 24, 2009, which snapped Notre Dame’s 45-game homecourt win streak, the longest in the nation.
Last Word: A veteran Notre Dame outfit carried serious Final Four aspirations into a season that saw the Irish open No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and climb to as high as No. 7. By season’s end, Notre Dame was unranked and NIT-bound.
∎ 22. 2005-06: 16-14 overall; 6-10 Big East (12th place)
Leaders: Chris Quinn 17.7 ppg., Torin Francis 9.2 rpg., Quinn 6.4 apg., 40.0 mpg.
Highlight: Coming off non-conference losses to Michigan and North Carolina State, Notre Dame won at No. 22 Alabama (78-71), in a game it led 46-29 at halftime. Colin Falls made seven 3-pointers and scored 24 points while Quinn added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists. It kick-started a seven-game win streak.
Lowlight: Notre Dame lost eight of its first nine Big East games. By the first week of February, you knew this season was already cooked.
Last Word: The Irish played five games that went to at least one overtime – and lost all five. It was fitting that the season’s final game, an NIT loss at Michigan, went to double overtime.
∎ 21. 2013-14: 15-17 overall; 6-12 ACC (13th place)
Leaders: Jerian Grant 19.0 ppg., Garrick Sherman 7.3 rpg., Eric Atkins 4.8 apg., 37.8 mpg.
Highlight: Down by 10 points to Duke at home in its first ACC league game in program history, Notre Dame responded with a 20-4 run in a 79-77 win. Atkins had 19 points and 11 assists while Pat Connaughton added 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and one memorable dunk (sorry, Jabari Parker).
Lowlight: Up by eight with 50 seconds remaining, Notre Dame couldn’t take care of the ball, couldn’t make free throws, and couldn’t close out Ohio State, which closed with a 14-3 run in a 64-61 comeback win on December 21, 2013, in Madison Square Garden. The next day, Grant was dismissed from the university for the spring semester for an “academic misstep.”
Last Word: Notre Dame lost five of its last six, including its first ACC Tournament game, to set the stage for a major bounce back the following season.
∎ 20. 2024-25: 15-18 overall; 8-12 ACC (12th place)
Leaders: Markus Burton 21.3 ppg., Kebba Njie 5.9 rpg., Burton 3.0 apg., Braeden Shrewsberry 34.6 mpg.
Highlight: A 112-110 victory over California in a four-overtime epic featured 17 ties and 14 lead changes and took three hours and 17 minutes to complete. In the longest regular season game in ACC history, Burton scored a career-high 43 points.
Lowlight: Two forgettable home games over four nights in late February, which started with a 75-60 loss to Louisville and led to Micah Shrewsberry’s postgame press conference eruption. Three nights later, Notre Dame no-showed, trailing by as many as 34 in a 97-73 loss to SMU.
Last Word: A season that promised progress never materialized as five key Irish players missed time with injuries. Notre Dame won consecutive ACC games only twice.
∎ 19. 2023-24: 13-20 overall; 7-13 ACC (12th place)
Leaders: Markus Burton 17.5 ppg., Kebba Njie 5.4 rpg., Burton 4.3 apg., 33.7 mpg.
Highlight: Lightly recruited out of nearby Mishawaka Penn High School, Burton ran away with ACC rookie of the year honors in a season that nobody saw coming.
Lowlight: Optimism abounded around the program in Micah Shrewsberry’s first season following a 76-54 home victory over a Virginia team that had owned Notre Dame for much of the previous nine seasons. The Irish then lost nine of their next 10 league games.
Last Word: Renewed optimism for better days in 2024-25 returned as the Irish won five of six and six of their last nine to close.
∎ 18. 2017-18: 21-15 overall 8-10 ACC (10th place)
Leaders: Bonzie Colson 19.7 ppg., 10.1 rpg., Matt Farrell 5.4 apg., T.J. Gibbs 37.4 mpg.
Highlight: A career 63.8 percent foul shooter, power forward Martinas Geben made two free throws with 3.3 seconds left to give Notre Dame a 67-66 victory over Wichita State in the championship game of the 2017 Maui Invitational. Colson had 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Lowlight: Running on post-Maui fumes during a visit to No. 3 Michigan State, Notre Dame lost 81-63. Colson managed 17 points and six rebounds but also felt pain in his left foot for the first time, the same left foot he would eventually break twice that season.
Last Word: Ranked as high as No. 5 in the Associated Press poll, Notre Dame couldn’t survive extended injury absences of Colson (foot) and Farrell (ankle) before losing at home to Penn State in the second round of the NIT.
∎ 17. 2003-04: 19-13 overall; 9-7 Big East (7th place)
Leaders: Chris Thomas 19.7 ppg., Torin Francis 8.8 rpg., Thomas 4.6 apg., 38.3 mpg.
Highlight: Notre Dame made a late charge toward a possible NCAA Tournament bid by winning four straight and seven of nine.
Lowlight: Up by two points at home against a Central Michigan team that would finish 6-24, the Irish watched guard Joe Carr make a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 69-68 loss. It was feared that night – correctly – that the loss would work heavily against the Irish come Selection Sunday.
Last Word: The Sweet 16 hangover from the previous season was real as Notre Dame opened 2003-04 ranked No. 21, then tumbled from the polls after losing six of eight in midseason.
∎ 16. 2004-05: 17-12 overall; 9-7 Big East (6th place)
Leaders: Chris Thomas 14.2 ppg., Torin Francis 7.8 rpg., Thomas 6.7 apg., 37.5 mpg.
Highlight: Francis had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Arizona transfer Dennis Latimore added 12 points and nine rebounds in a 78-74 home victory over No. 19 Connecticut. Irish fans rushed the floor following the final horn.
Lowlight: Notre Dame disappeared in a nationally televised showcase home game against UCLA. The Irish trailed by 15 at half and were down 20 in the second half before a 75-65 loss. Afterward, Brey evicted the Irish from their Joyce Center locker room. He made them spend the next week in an auxiliary locker room while practicing in second-hand gear.
Last Word: The season (and the careers of Thomas and fellow senior Jordan Cornette) ended with a 78-73 loss to Holy Cross in a first-round NIT game with an announced Joyce Center crowd of 2,517 (might have been more like 1,400).
∎ 15. 2020-21: 11-15 overall; 7-11 ACC (11th place)
Leaders: Prentiss Hubb 14.6 ppg., Nate Laszewski 7.3 rpg., Hubb 5.8 apg., 37.0 mpg.
Highlight: In a season that also featured the program’s second win at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Notre Dame won at Rupp Arena for the first time in program history (0-8 previously) with a 64-63 defeat of Kentucky on December 12, 2020. Notre Dame’s 48-26 halftime lead was the largest home deficit for Kentucky in program history.
Lowlight: In a second-round ACC Tournament game against North Carolina, Notre Dame allowed a 39-2 scoring run and trailed by as many as 50 points in a 101-59 loss.
Last Word: In a season that limited fans in arenas because of COVID-19, Notre Dame played in front of a season high of 3,075 at 23,500-seat Rupp Arena. It played in front of zero fans seven times, including the win at Duke. Getting to play 26 games was a massive W.
∎ 14. 2019-20: 20-12 overall; 10-10 ACC (7th place)
Leaders: John Mooney 16.2 ppg., 12.7 rpg., Prentiss Hubb 5.0 apg., 35.2 mpg.
Highlight: In a game that featured nine ties and 12 lead changes, Mooney had 28 points and 14 rebounds and Hubb added 22 points and nine assists as the Irish scored 51 points in the second half of an 88-87 win at Syracuse. It marked the first time Notre Dame won consecutive games in Central New York since 1990 and 1992.
Lowlight: Following an 85-84 loss at Florida State in a game that Notre Dame should’ve won, Mike Brey chose to question/criticize the ACC and its game officials in a legendary 67-second press conference rant (Come on John Gaffney … We’re in the league too!). Brey was fined $20,000 by the ACC.
Last Word: Building momentum for a likely/needed NIT appearance following a 64-56 victory over Boston College in the first round of the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame saw its season end when everything about the sports world stopped on March 12, 2020, because of COVID-19.
∎ 13. 2006-07: 24-8 overall; 11-5 Big East (4th place)
Leaders: Russell Carter 17.1 ppg., Rob Kurz 8.0 rpg., Tory Jackson 4.3 apg., Colin Falls 34.2 mpg.
Highlight: Zach Hillesland scored 14 points with nine rebounds and six assists and Notre Dame went 10-for-13 from 3 in the first half for 61 points in a 103-91 victory at Syracuse on January 30, 2007. It was a Carrier Dome record for points by an opponent. The Irish also got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Luke Harangody, who stepped into the role of Rob Kurz, out with an ankle injury.
Lowlight: Having won five straight to end the regular season before a victory over Syracuse in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals, Notre Dame’s season just kind of stalled. It lost to Georgetown (84-82) in the BET semis when Carter’s potential game-winning 3 banged off the back rim, then lost to Winthrop (74-64) in the first NCAA Tournament game of the day (11:35 a.m. local time) in Spokane, Washington.
Last Word: Notre Dame lost consecutive games only twice all season, once at the end, and went 18-0 at home.
∎ 12. 2011-12: 22-12 overall; 13-5 Big East (3rd place)
Leaders: Tim Abromaitis 14.0 ppg., Jack Cooley 8.9 rpg., Jerian Grant 4.9 apg., Eric Atkins 37.9 mpg.
Highlight: Winners of eight straight, a streak kick-started with the program’s eighth win over a No. 1 team (Syracuse), Notre Dame trailed Villanova 39-19 on a Saturday night in Wells Fargo Center before the largest comeback in school history delivered a where-were-you-when… moment in a 74-70 overtime win.
The scene in South Philly featured then-New Jersey governor (and Irish hoops fan) Chris Christie handing out high-fives behind the Irish bench during the comeback/overtime.
Lowlight: Notre Dame took 15 3-pointers and made only one as it saw its 29-game home win streak snapped in a 67-53 loss to Connecticut.
Last Word: A surprise season that saw Notre Dame at 11-8 overall at one point came to a strange end when Jerian Grant was whistled for a lane violation in the closing seconds of a 67-63 loss to Xavier in a first-round NCAA Tournament game at Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. Two years later, it would be a different kind of scene for Notre Dame inside the big barn on Gate City Boulevard.
∎ 11. 2009-10: 23-12 overall; 10-8 Big East (7th place)
Leaders: Luke Harangody 21.8 ppg., 9.1 rpg., Tory Jackson 5.2 apg., 37.5 mpg.
Highlight: On the brink of missing the NCAA Tournament following a loss to Louisville that left the Irish with league losses in seven of its last 10, Notre Dame ripped off wins over Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Connecticut and Marquette to close the regular season. It then beat Seton Hall and Pittsburgh in the league tournament to lock up an at-large bid.
Lowlight: A dubious weather forecast forced the Notre Dame traveling party to scrap its post-Big East Tournament itinerary/charter flight home from the New York area following the 2010 league tournament. Notre Dame bussed 13 hours back to Indiana.
Last Word: There were plenty of memorable moments, but a few head-scratching losses like to Northwestern in the Chicago Invitational Challenge at UIC Pavilion in late November, at home to Loyola Marymount in early December, and then to Old Dominion in New Orleans in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
∎ 10. 2007-08: 25-8 overall; 14-4 Big East (3rd place)
Leaders: Luke Harangody 20.4 ppg., 10.6 rpg., Tory Jackson 5.8 apg., Kyle McAlarney 35.7 mpg.
Highlight: Notre Dame finished 17-0 at home. It had win streaks of three (twice), five, and 10 games and never lost consecutive games in conference play.
Lowlight: Confident following an 18-point victory over a George Mason team that had gone to the Final Four two years earlier, Notre Dame was promptly pounded by Washington State, 61-41, in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in Denver. It was the fewest points scored by an Irish team in the Brey Era and the first of many beatdowns administered to the Irish by Tony Bennett-coached teams.
Last Word: Limited to 12 games in 2006-07 following an off-campus arrest for marijuana possession that cost him the 2007 spring semester, guard Kyle McAlarney returned in fall to start all 33 games, average 15.1 points, make a school record 108 3-pointers and earn first team All-Big East.
∎ 9. 2000-01: 20-10 overall; 11-5 Big East West Division (1st place)
Leaders: Troy Murphy 21.8 ppg., 9.2 rpg., Martin Ingelsby 6.4 apg., 37.4 mpg.
Highlight: An 85-61 victory at Virginia Tech on February 24, 2001, gave Notre Dame its fifth straight road win, something that had not happened for the program since 1953-54. It also clinched a Big East West Division regular-season championship.
Afterward, the core of that Irish team – Matt Carroll, David Graves, Ingelsby, Murphy and Harold Swanagan – gathered in a Blacksburg, Virginia hotel room to call and thank former Irish coach John MacLeod, who recruited all of them to Notre Dame.
Lowlight: Cited in early October for using a fake ID to enter a downtown bar, Murphy came off the bench for the only time in his three-year career with disastrous results. Murphy had 22 points and four rebounds in 36 minutes but wasn’t himself in a lethargic 73-64 home loss to Miami (Ohio) in early December.
Last Word: Playing for its third head coach in as many seasons, Notre Dame returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990. In Kansas City, Missouri, it beat Xavier in the first round before losing to Mississippi.
∎ 8. 2001-02: 22-11 overall; 10-6 Big East West Division (2nd place)
Leaders: Ryan Humphrey 18.9 ppg., 10.9 rpg., Chris Thomas 6.7 apg., 38.0 mpg.
Highlight: Notre Dame kept finding ways to keep playing, then found a way to win what was then the longest regular season game in Big East history – 116-111 in four overtimes at Georgetown on February 9, 2002. Humphrey had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Matt Carroll added 30 points and 10 rebounds and David Graves had 15 points and seven rebounds in 49 minutes off the bench. Georgetown had chances to win it at the end of regulation and each of the first three overtimes, but the Irish defense delivered.
Lowlight: Up seven points with six minutes to play against top seed Duke in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, Notre Dame allowed a 20-6 run in an 84-77 loss.
Last Word: Notre Dame’s average margin of defeat in its 11 losses was 4.4 points. It lost only one game by double digits – Georgetown by 10.
∎ 7. 2012-13: 25-10 overall; 11-7 Big East (6th place)
Leaders: Jerian Grant 13.3 ppg., Jack Cooley 10.1 rpg., Eric Atkins 5.5 apg., 38.3 mpg.
Highlight: Notre Dame again played the longest regular season game in Big East history on February 9, 2013 with a 104-101 victory over Louisville in five overtimes. Notre Dame trailed by eight with 51 seconds left before Grant scored 12 straight points to force overtime. It is still the last time that ESPN’s College Gameday visited campus for a men’s basketball game.
Lowlight: Another NCAA Tournament first-round flameout surfaced with a 76-58 loss to Iowa State in Dayton, Ohio, a game that was never close and saw the Irish trail by as many as 27. It felt like 47.
Last Word: That season marked the last of 18 in the Big East for Notre Dame, which finished 171-137 (.555) with nine seasons of at least 10 league wins. Over the last four seasons in the Big East, Notre Dame went a combined 48-24 (.666).
∎ 6. 2016-17: 26-10 overall; 12-6 ACC (3rd place)
Leaders: Bonzie Colson 17.8 ppg., 10.1 rpg., Matt Farrell 5.4 apg., Steve Vasturia 34.6 mpg.
Highlight: Having lost 10 straight to Virginia dating back to 1982, Notre Dame decided in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals that enough was enough. Colson had 21 points and 10 rebounds while Farrell added 14 points and four rebounds in a 71-58 Irish win at Barclays Center. The second half featured a Rex Pflueger breakaway reverse dunk that he said afterward was almost a 360-degree dunk. That would have been something.
Lowlight: Two nights after clearing the Virginia hurdle, Notre Dame was up three points with eight minutes to play on Duke and closing in on a second ACC Tournament championship when Colson, who had 29 points and nine rebounds, sprained his right ankle. With Colson compromised, the Irish lost 75-69.
Last Word: This Notre Dame team did something that hasn’t been done since – it won nine straight games to start the season. Unranked in November, the Irish started 16-2 and climbed to as high as No. 14 in the polls.
∎ 5. 2010-11: 27-7 overall; 14-4 Big East (2nd place)
Leaders: Ben Hansbrough 18.4 ppg., Carleton Scott 7.4 rpg., Hansbrough 4.2 apg., 35.4 mpg.
Highlight: Staggered by consecutive losses at Marquette and at St. John’s, Notre Dame found its footing to win seven straight and 12 of 13 while its national ranking rocketed from No. 16 in early January to No. 4 by the end of the regular season. The No. 4 ranking was the highest for the program since January 1981.
Lowlight: Coming off a 38-point victory over Cincinnati in the Big East quarterfinals, Notre Dame led Louisville by 14 points at halftime and was 20 minutes away from playing for a Big East Championship for the first time in school history … until it wasn’t. Louisville stormed back for an 83-77 overtime win.
Last Word: Sustained success that season – then the most wins in program history – saw Hansbrough earn Big East player of the year and second team All-American honors while Mike Brey was named national coach of the year.
∎ 4. 2021-22: 24-11 overall; 15-5 ACC (2nd place)
Leaders: Blake Wesley 14.4 ppg., Paul Atkinson, Jr., 6.9 rpg., Prentiss Hubb 4.0 apg., 33.6 mpg.
Highlight: In an NCAA Tournament play-in game that featured 12 ties and 17 lead changes, Atkinson dropped in a rebound layup with 1.2 seconds remaining to give Notre Dame an 89-87 victory over Rutgers in Dayton, Ohio. The game started on March 16, 2022, but ended after midnight on Saint Patrick’s Day. Afterward, Notre Dame was on a red-eye flight to San Diego, where it would beat Alabama two nights later in the first round.
Lowlight: Notre Dame opened league play with a 73-57 loss at Boston College, a team the Irish had beaten in 16 of the previous 18 meetings.
Last Word: Notre Dame set a program record for league wins (15), which included a 9-1 league record at home and 6-4 on the road.
∎ 3. 2002-03: 24-10 overall; 10-6 Big East West Division (4th place)
Leaders: Matt Carroll 19.5 ppg., Torin Francis 8.4 rpg., Chris Thomas 6.9 apg., 36.7 mpg.
Highlight: A 68-60 victory over Illinois in the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament at the old RCA Dome in Indianapolis saw Notre Dame earn its first Sweet 16 in 16 seasons.
Lowlight: Notre Dame seemingly lived the high-wire act on Selection Sunday after losing five of eight to close the regular season, then somehow earned a No. 5 seed.
Last Word: The four teams in the 2003 West Regional at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California were Arizona, Duke, Kansas, and Notre Dame.
∎ 2. 2015-16: 24-12 overall; 11-7 ACC (4th place)
Leaders: Demetrius Jackson 15.8 ppg., Zach Auguste 10.7 rpg., Jackson 4.6 apg., Steve Vasturia 36.1 mpg.
Highlight: Down by one with 19 seconds remaining, Notre Dame rode the wizardry of Jackson to stun Wisconsin 61-56 and deliver a second straight Elite Eight for the first time since 1978-79. Jackson scored six points and had two steals in a 16-second burst of brilliance.
Lowlight: Would this program even get back to the NCAA Tournament? That was the question after a loss to Monmouth in the first round of the Advocare Invitational at Walt Disney World over Thanksgiving. Little did anyone know that the Hawks would finish 28-8.
Last Word: Guard Matt Farrell had one of the strangest nowhere to somewhere success stories in program history. Farrell made his first career start in a first-round NCAA game against Michigan, then was given his own breakout interview room the day before the East Regional final against North Carolina.
∎ 1. 2014-15: 32-6 overall; 14-4 ACC (3rd place)
Leaders: Jerian Grant 16.5 ppg., Pat Connaughton 7.4 rpg., Grant 6.6 apg., 37.1 mpg.
Highlight: Capturing the ACC Tournament championship with wins on consecutive nights over Duke and North Carolina in Greensboro was magical, but so was being in Quicken Loans Arena for the Midwest Regional championship game against undefeated Kentucky. Ten years have passed, and no game has come close to matching all that everyone felt that night in Cleveland. If you were there, you know.
Lowlight: Being on the business end of a 43-7 run by No. 4 Duke inside the snake pit that is Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 7, 2015, was numbing/humbling. Tenth-ranked Notre Dame led 6-0, then trailed by 26 at half in a 90-60 loss. March seemed far away that day.
Last Word: Beating Kentucky would’ve sent Notre Dame to its first Final Four since 1978, where it likely would’ve won its first national championship. It’s easy to say that now, but it was also easy to see that then. That team had it.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com