Notre Dame has ‘contingency plans’ if it leaves Big East

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey said the Fighting Irish’s objective is to remain in the Big East, but admitted the school has “contingency plans” if it needs to join another conference.

“I know right now we’re focused 100 percent on [rebuilding the Big East] but there’s no question contingency plans [about joining another conference] on those pay grades higher than me have been discussed and will be discussed,” Brey told CBSSports.com at Monday’s Big East spring meetings.

When Notre Dame joined the Big East in all sports except football in 1995, the Big East consisted of 13 basketball members: Notre Dame, Boston College, UConn, Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Miami, Rutgers and West Virginia.

read more: cbssports.com

Notre Dame QB Tommy Rees pleads not guilty to 4 charges

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from an incident in which police used pepper spray to subdue him after an off-campus party.

Rees, who turns 20 next week, is charged with one count of battery, two counts of resisting law enforcement and one count of illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor. South Bend police say Rees kneed a police officer in the chest after he ran from the party early May 3 after officers arrived.

read more: suntimes.com

Notre Dame quarterback, linebacker arrested Thursday morning

SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees was pepper sprayed and arrested early Thursday morning after an alleged physical altercation with South Bend police, who had responded to a report of a loud party.

The 19-year-old Rees, who will be a junior in the fall, is accused of underage drinking and running from police outside a home at 716 N. Notre Dame Ave. about 12:30 a.m., police said.

Read more: southbendtribune.com

Aaron Lynch transferring from ND

Notre Dame defensive end Aaron Lynch has left the football team and will transfer to another school following the spring semester, the school announced Friday morning.

“Aaron recently approached me about his desire to leave Notre Dame and return to Florida,” coach Brian Kelly said in a release. “I’ve always known and appreciated the affinity Aaron has for his home in Florida. However, the stark reality is you can’t make it at Notre Dame if your head and heart are not here.

“I am proud of the effort Aaron made in the classroom and on the field at Notre Dame. I wish him all the best in the future.”

Lynch, a rising sophomore, earned freshman All-America honors, starting six games and leading the Irish in sacks (5.5) and quarterback hurries (14) while notching 33 tackles, including seven for a loss, and forcing one fumble.

Read more: espn.com

FSU rallies past Notre Dame in Champs Sports Bowl

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—The day before his team took the field for its Champs Sports Bowl matchup with Notre Dame, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher acknowledged that he had higher hopes for his team than how they ended up in 2011.

Loaded with talent and expectations in the preseason, the No. 25 Seminoles squandered early season opportunities against ranked foes and fizzled again late in the year to end any path back to the Bowl Championship Series.

Thursday night’s 18-14 win over Notre Dame in front of a sellout crowd at Florida’s Citrus Bowl might not have been the national stage FSU expected to be on this season, but how it won the game could be proof it is finally making progress.

Read more from Rivals.com

12.30.11

Notre Dame aims to keep Big Ten, Pac-12 rivalries

After the historic inter-conference agreement announced Wednesday between the Big Ten and Pac-12, one of the immediate questions was what impact it would have on Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish have a huge part of their schedule invested in those leagues. The fiercely independent Irish have five ongoing annual series with teams from those leagues: Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue of the Big Ten, and USC and Stanford of the Pac-12. If the leagues are going to add an annual game between members, would that potentially squeeze Notre Dame out of the mix?

Read more from Rivals.com

12.28.11

Stanford, Notre Dame eye game in China in 2013

Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd received a suspended one-year jail sentence and other smaller punishments as part of a plea agreement connected to his drunken driving arrest earlier this year.

Coach Brian Kelly didn’t comment on the sentence, announced Wednesday in St. Joseph County (Ind.) court. Kelly suspended Floyd indefinitely before spring practice but has said he will reinstate his star player for the season if he shows he has reformed his life.

Read more of “Notre Dame WR Floyd gets suspended one-year sentence” on SportingNews.com
6.30.11

“The one thing you learn in this job when you read about yourself is don’t believe what you read,” Swarbrick said. “So I don’t presume to know anything about Ohio State’s circumstance. They’ll work their way through that … I hope it resolves itself well for Ohio State.”

So far, it seems Swarbrick was very much wrong about things resolving well for the Buckeyes. In one area though, he was right: Tattoo-gate is far from an isolated incident.

“It’s been a bad year for the ethics of college athletics,” Swarbrick said. “It’s been a bad year for the industry. I mean, just the discussion of these things: the Cam Newton situation, the Fiesta Bowl, Ohio State. We’ve just had far too much of that.”

Read more of “Notre Dame AD Swarbrick on Ohio State, college football” on LATimes.com
6.1.11

In death, as on the final day of his life, Declan Sullivan’s voice again was ignored by those at Notre Dame entrusted to listen.

On Page 39 of the university’s so-called independent investigation into the scissors-lift accident Oct. 27 that killed the student videographer from Long Grove, Ill., it states “Notre Dame cannot conclusively determine whether Declan, himself, felt unsafe.”

Read more of “Notre Dame must wise up: Everybody involved in Sullivan tragedy acted with a disregard for safety” on ChicagoTribune.com
4.19.11