One year ago today, Matt Doherty was named head coach at Notre Dame. A year
later, he coached his new team to the NIT title game - and
ran into a stalwart Wake Forest team which threw up a rugged defense and
shot well and generally controlled Notre Dame until the very end of the game.
For Wake Forest, it's likely a sweet redemption after they seemed a sure lock
to make the NCAA field. But they slumped for part of the season, and had
some really unfortunate losses on freak plays, and it took awhile to figure out
that Ervin Murray couldn't just play point, but that he was better at it than
anyone else on the team.
So after the rollercoaster season, after having 3 victories and going 3-1 vs.
Final Four teams, Wake won a Final Four of their own. True, it's the NIT, but as
the cliche says, only one team ultimately cares about being invited. This
year, that team is Wake.
The trophy will go up with the trophies from the Final Four and ACC
titles. Congrats to the Deacons, and here's hoping they maintain their
momentum into next season.
State's
tourney was less successful, but they came very close to playing for the
title, and next year they'll have some more offensive talent, which is what
they're missing right now. Both teams represented the ACC well, so
congratulations to them and on to next season!