1979–80 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

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1979–80
NCAA tournament, Second round loss 84–87 OT vs. Missouri
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 9
Record22–6
Head coach (9th season)
Assistant coaches
Captains
Home arenaJoyce Center
Seasons
1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 DePaul   26 2   .929
No. 9 Notre Dame   23 8   .742
Tennessee State
  19 7   .731
UNLV
  23 9   .719
Cleveland State   18 8   .692
Illinois State   20 9   .690
Marquette   18 9   .667
UNC Wilmington   19 10   .655
Penn State   18 10   .643
Southern Mississippi
  17 10   .630
South Carolina   16 11   .593
Campbell   15 12   .556
East Carolina   15 12   .556
Stetson   15 12   .556
Detroit
  14 13   .519
Dayton   13 14   .481
North Texas State   13 14   .481
Milwaukee   9 17   .346
Valparaiso
  8 18   .308
Portland State   5 21   .192
Charleston Southern   2 23   .080
Rankings from
AP Poll

The 1979–80 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Digger Phelps and was ranked in the Associated Press poll for the entirety of the season.

Preseason

The Irish were ranked fifth in the preseason AP Poll, behind

forward Bill Varner.[3][4] Key returning players were 1979 All-American Kelly Tripucka and future National Basketball Association (NBA) players Tracy Jackson, Bill Hanzlik and Orlando Woolridge. Woolridge was moved from forward to center to replace Flowers and Laimbeer.[5][6] Senior point guard Rich Branning was selected co-captain of the team with Hanzlik.[7]

Leading up to an Olympic year, Notre Dame played an exhibition game against the

Soviet National Team, notching a surprising 86–76 win behind Tripucka's 35 points.[8]

Regular season

The Irish suffered an early setback as senior co-captain Hanzlik missed several games with a dislocated finger,

Louisville. Despite the Wildcats missing starters Sam Bowie and Dirk Minniefield, the Irish lost the game 80–86.[12] A January loss to San Francisco left the Irish on a two-game losing streak.[13] The highlight of the Irish's season came on February 27, 1980, when they upset top-ranked DePaul 76–74 in double-overtime. The Irish were led by Kelly Tripucka's 28 points and the win was sealed by two free throws by Orlando Woolridge. The Irish were able to overcome a big scoring push by future NBA All-Stars Mark Aguirre (28 points) and Terry Cummings (16).[14][15] A regular-season finale 62–54 win at Dayton raised the Irish's record to 22–5.[16]

Roster

1979–80 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G
12 Rich Branning 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Huntington Beach, California
G
42 Bill Hanzlik 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Beloit, Wisconsin
F
22 Kevin Hawkins 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr
Los Angeles, California
G
11 Tim Healy 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
F
30 Tracy Jackson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Silver Spring, Maryland
G
15 Mike Mitchell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So San Bruno, California
G
23 John Paxson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Kettering, Ohio
C 55 Gilbert Salinas 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr
San Antonio, Texas
F
44 Kelly Tripucka 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Essex Fells, New Jersey
C 32 Orlando Woolridge 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Mansfield, Louisiana
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

NCAA tournament

Notre Dame was selected for the

1980 NCAA tournament and were the 4 seed in the Midwest Region, slated to play the winner of a first-round game between Missouri and San Jose State in Lincoln, Nebraska.[17] Fifth-seeded Missouri upset the Irish 87–84 in overtime behind senior Mark Dressler's 32 points, wasting a 29-point effort by Tracy Jackson.[18]

Schedule

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
December 1
No. 5 Valparaiso W 92–66  1–0
Notre Dame, IN
December 3
No. 5 Iowa State W 87–77  2–0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 5
No. 4 at Northwestern W 73–56  3–0
Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, Illinois
December 8
No. 4 Saint Louis W 93–66  4–0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 11
No. 4 No. 7 UCLA W 77–74  5–0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 13
No. 4 No. 7 (Div II) St. Joseph's (IN) W 79–58  6–0
(0-0)
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 22
No. 4 Fairfield W 69–59  7–0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 29
No. 3 No. 2 Kentucky L 80–86  7–1
Freedom Hall 
Louisville, Kentucky
January 8
No. 7 at San Francisco L 59–67  7–2
San Francisco, CA
January 10
No. 7 at Tulane W 79–59  8–2
New Orleans, Louisiana
January 13
No. 7 at TCU W 85–68  9–2
San Antonio, Texas
January 15
No. 8 Villanova W 70–69  10–2
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 19
No. 8 at UCLA W 80–73  11–2
Los Angeles, California
January 23
No. 8 Canisius W 84–63  12–2
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 26
No. 8 No. 15 Maryland W 64–63  13–2
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 30
No. 8 at La Salle W 64–63  13–3
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 2
No. 8 Davidson W 105–71  14–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 4
No. 8 Navy W 67–53  15–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 6
No. 9 Manhattan W 93–49  16–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 9
No. 9 North Carolina State L 55–63  16–4
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 11
No. 9 San Francisco W 78–66  17–4
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 13
No. 12 at Fordham W 86–76  18–4
Bronx, NY
February 16
No. 12 at South Carolina W 90–66  19–4
Carolina Coliseum 
Columbia, SC
February 20
No. 10 at Xavier W 85–72  20–4
Cincinnati, OH
February 24
No. 10 Marquette L 74–77  20–5
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 27
No. 14 No. 1 DePaul W 76–74  21–5
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
March 1
No. 14 at Dayton W 62–54  22–5
UD Arena 
Dayton, OH
NCAA tournament
March 8
(4) No. 9 vs. (5) No. 16 
NCAA tournament
second round
L 84–87 OT 22–6
Lincoln, NE
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from
AP Poll
. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

[19]

Players selected in NBA drafts

Year Round Pick Player NBA Club
1980 1 20 Bill Hanzlik Seattle SuperSonics
1980 4 78 Rich Branning Indiana Pacers
1981 1 6 Orlando Woolridge Chicago Bulls
1981 1 12 Kelly Tripucka Detroit Pistons
1981 2 25 Tracy Jackson Boston Celtics
1981 8 167 Gilbert Salinas Atlanta Hawks
1983 1 19 John Paxson San Antonio Spurs
1983 5 98 Tim Andree Chicago Bulls
1983 9 202 Bill Varner Milwaukee Bucks

[20]

References

  1. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. Condé Nast Publications
    . October 1979. pp. 26, 73.
  3. ^ Francisco, Joel (May 26, 2009). "Many players succeeded after '79 game". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  4. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ Goldaper, Sam (November 25, 1979). "A Preview of the 20 Top College Basketball Teams". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  6. ^ "The Top 20". Sports Illustrated. December 1, 1980. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  7. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ "1979-80 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  9. ^ "Notre Dame draft history at basketball-reference.com". Retrieved March 3, 2019.