Notre Dame Hoops Hires Doherty
Notre Dame finally filled its basketball coaching vacancy Monday, reportedly hiring Kansas assistant Matt Doherty as its new coach.
Notre Dame officials scheduled a 4 p.m. EST Tuesday news conference to name the new coach, but declined to say Monday who it is.
Both Fox Sports Net and campus radio station WNDU reported Monday night that Doherty had been hired.
Doherty, 37, considered playing at Notre Dame but was recruited to play at North Carolina by then-Tar Heels assistant Roy Williams. The 6-foot-8 Doherty played forward on the 1982 national championship team with Michael Jordan and James Worthy.
After graduation, he worked as a government bond salesmen in New York City and later was a part-time analyst on the Davidson College basketball radio network.
Doherty was hired as an assistant coach at Davidson before the 1989-90 season, serving there three years before coming to Kansas.
During his seven seasons at Kansas, he has helped the Jayhawks sign eight McDonald's All-Americans.
Gonzaga coach Dan Monson and Xavier coach Skip Prosser were thought to be frontrunners for the job after meeting with Notre Dame officials over the weekend.
Delaware's Mike Brey, Siena's Paul Hewitt and Princeton's Bill Carmody all have interviewed with the Irish since MacLeod resigned under pressure March 9.
Utah coach Rick Majerus was considered the top candidate to take the job but dropped out last week amid reports that school administrators rejected his candidacy because he didn't fit the Notre Dame image.
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