After Notre Dame clinched a berth to the Sweet Sixteen Sunday night, he told the press that his mother passed away before the game.
Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey clinched his first Sweet Sixteen berth for the Fighting Irish since 2003 last night, as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region defeated the No. 6 seed, Butler, to move on to the Sweet Sixteen.
But, after the win, we all learned something that made our hearts heavy.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey announced that his mother passed away before the game.
Here’s the video:
It was an overtime thriller against Butler, and Brey said the great win was all about her:
“It was kind of a tribute to her, it was really a special night,” Brey said. “She was an unbelievable woman, a woman ahead of her time. I think she was definitely with us down the stretch.”
Brey chose not to tell his Notre Dame players, and planned to address them Sunday morning according to ESPN. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick told the players in the locker room after the win.
“The strength he has to go through something like that without mentioning it or acting like it, he hasn’t skipped a beat,” senior Pat Connaughton said according to ESPN. “He’s been here for us countless times, and I hope he knows that this team is with him.”
Mike Brey’s mother, the late Betty Brey, was quite the athlete and even competed with the 1956 U.S. Olympic swimming team according to Notre Dame’s athletic site:
"“His mother, the former Betty Mullen, was the women’s swim coach at George Washington, and perhaps the family’s most accomplished athlete. She attended Purdue University and swam for the AAU team in West Lafayette while attending school. For a time, she held the world record in the butterfly events and competed with the U.S. team at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. She is a member of the Indiana Swimming Hall of Fame located in Indianapolis.”"
It’s amazing how Brey was able to coach through such depressing and sad news, and be able to keep enough focus to get his team to win such a close, nail-biting game in overtime. Our condolences to Mike Brey and his family. Notre Dame moves on to the Sweet Sixteen to play the winner of Kansas and Wichita State that will take place Sunday.
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