Thus far it's happened with the frequency of Haley's Comet or the Irish football team winning a Bowl game.

I come to praise Mike Brey, not to bury him.  And for me that's a dramatic turn around.  It rates as a definite flip-flop.  I'm changing gears.

Long bent on tanning Brey's hide, deservedly so I might add, my inclination now is to reverse course.  The Irish coach is simply doing too many things right to discount or ignore.  It's time I give him his due albeit I still harbor some real reservations about his long-term viability.  Brey may have me rethinking my opinion of him but I'm far from being a complete convert as of this moment.  I'm not that far gone.  I haven't yet gulped the Kool-Aid.  I'm merely sipping it.

That Brey would start to win me over at this particular time is rather surprising because entering the '06-'07 season, it looked like the Irish would be mediocre at best and brutal at worst.

It seemed as if the present would be just a continuation of ND's recent run of underachievement and disappointment.  Coming off three straight years in which the Irish faded badly down the stretch and failed to secure an NCAA Tournament bid, things appeared rather bleak for an ND hoop resurgence.

The Domers were unheralded and primarily comprised of underclassmen.  Expectations weren't exactly high.  Predictions from those in the know had the Domers being a non-factor in the Big East and finishing 11th in the 16-team Conference.

The fact that the program had experience such disheartening results recently and had sunk so low in the national perception, in large part, rested with Brey.

Though excuses were offered for him such as Notre Dame's purported second-rate facilities and the difficulty of competing in the Big East, the alibis just didn't wash.

The truth is that if Brey had done a more efficient job of coaching his team up since the '03-'04 campaign, ND would have been a genuine force in the Conference and a consistent participant in the Big Dance.  They would have been totally legit.  As it was, the Irish became as irrelevant as the NIT Tournament.

In recent years, Brey has committed enough grievous sins that he should have been made to become a regular visitor to the confessional booth.  Among his more disturbing transgressions were the following:

1.)  He failed to develop a deep bench thereby reducing his marquee starters into weary and spent warriors when games hung in the balance.

2.)  He clearly demonstrated an inability to get his players to play smart and aggressive defense when a key stop here or there would have translated into a passel of more victories.

3.)  Brey never made it a high priority to develop a transition game that would have allowed the Irish to become more of an up-tempo team and seize a game's momentum.

4.)  His end-of-game strategy, both offensively and on the defensive side, was confusing at times and just plain inept at others.  Based on the countless times the Irish failed to execute as contests wound down, Brey didn't exactly come across as a strategic genius.

5.)  Other knocks could have been leveled at him as well.  He rarely pressed.  ND often did a poor job of taking care of the ball.  Losing close games became a way of life.  In some cases, too many players didn't develop as fully as expected under Brey's watch.  Moreover, Brey's charges couldn't do a thing in the Big East Tournament.

If Brey had failed to make the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive year, to my way of thinking, that would have been cause for dismissal. Whether the administration would have taken such a bold action or not will never be known but if Brey's head wasn't on the chopping block this season, it most certainly should have been. 

If his program wasn't hemorrhaging, it was at the very least treading water.  Irish basketball was showing definite signs of stagnation.

But just when you thought you could write off the 47-year old Irish coach, he helped transform an iffy team into a Top 20 unit.  There's just no denying that Brey, like a leprechaun, had weaved a bit of magic and the payoff has been as appealing as a pot of gold. 

To begin with, Brey put much more of an emphasis on conditioning with his current squad.  From day one, Brey worked his players hard, toughened them up and made sure that they wouldn't lose any more games because they faltered physically.

More kudos must go to Brey for finally and at long last, developing some needed depth on the bench.  Counting the suspended Kyle McAlarney, ND has had 10 players who have made some sort of meaningful contribution to the team's 24-6 record.  With more options to choose from, Brey has been like a baker who can try different ingredients until he hits upon the ones that work best for a particular game. 

Though Brey was literally forced to go younger because of the makeup of his squad that shouldn't minimize how impressively he's brought his underclassmen along.  Brey has been absolutely masterful in how he's utilized and maximized the skills of such promising youngsters like Luke Harangody, Tory Jackson, Zach Hillesland, Jonathan Peoples, and the aforementioned McAlarney until he was sent packing for the semester. 

In the past,  it seemed as if Brey was reticent to use a lot of newcomers, a shortcoming that worked to the detriment of the team.  But not this year.  Almost as if he's had an epiphany of sorts and turned from his previous MO, Brey has entrusted his pups with great responsibility.  As a result, this team has a hunger, intensity and enthusiasm that hasn't been seen around the Joyce Center since who knows when. 

In addition, Brey has struck just the right balance between giving his players sufficient freedom on the court so that they aren't hesitant to create and yet the Irish coach has them playing with noticeable discipline and patience when required.  In other words, the Domers are assertive and quick to attack but they aren't spinning out of control.

Brey has also scored high marks for the manner in which he's interacted with his team.  Flat out, his players admire, respect and have a true affection for him.  He's quick to ask for their input and sharpshooter Colin Falls says that his willingness to listen indicates he's in touch with his team and values what they have to say.  Virtually to a man, his players have sung praises about his demeanor, reasoned approach, passion and undeniable teaching skills that really manifest themselves during practice.

Brey has obviously won over his players and that's no small accomplishment.  In reality, that's most of the coaching battle.

So as he looks towards returning to the Big Dance and a first-round match-up with Winthrop, Brey, the Big East Coach of the Year, must feel good about what his team has accomplished and how far they've come when squat was expected of them.

But to prove his real value as a coach, to prove he's destined to be something special, Brey must start making the Tournament annually without exception and then begin making deep forays in the bracket such as reaching the Sweet Sixteen or the Elite Eight.

Then and only then can it be said with assurance that hiring Brey seven years ago proved to be an inspired choice.  Because predicated on the recent past, aside from the present season, Brey's performance raised serious questions about his wherewithal to get ND to that next level.

The next couple of seasons should portend whether the Irish can become a bona fide hoop power as they should be or whether they'll stay mired in mediocrity. 

Right now, Brey has got the program headed in the right direction.  He seems to have set the stage for something rather substantive to take place in the immediate future.  But I'm still somewhat skeptical and with good reason.  After all, we've been down this road before with Brey where it appeared ND was poised to become a hoop team of prominence only to see the club lapse into spasms of inconsistency and noticeably regress.

That can't happen again.  Another case of slippage shouldn't be tolerated and mustn't be accepted.  The Domers need to become a force year in and year out.

Is Brey the man to get that done?  Based on this year, perhaps he is.

Give the Irish coach plaudits for a remarkable comeback season but that's were the praise should stop.  In reality, Mike Brey has a lot more to prove and accomplished and until he does, I won't be completely sold on his stewardship.

Even after seven years at South Bend, we still don't know if Brey is really up to the task or not.  Hard as it may be to believe after such an extended period of time, the jury is still out on the Irish coach.  No verdict has been reached as of yet.

Whoops, this just in.  The Irish have fallen flat on their face against Winthrop in the Big Dance.  It's one and done for the disappointing Domers. 

I may have to retract all the positive things mentioned above about Brey.