“Good Guy” Award Mike BrEy

Mike Brey is the 2023 recipient of the Good Guy Award presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) in recognition of his cooperation with members of the media in promoting college basketball. Throughout a distinguished 28-year head coaching career, Brey was among the most respected and well-liked in the coaching business. Even after a loss, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports says Brey is one of the most “professional and easy-tointerview coaches.”

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today said Brey is “particularly great during March because he understands that I am trying to find angles that have not been covered extensively and feels secure in helping the process. He is always up for one-on-one interviews outside of press conference settings and he also treats reporters exactly the same win or lose, which is something I admire.”

Brey is not only known for his media relations skills but he has also been recognized as one of the best coaches in the game. In 2011, the USBWA voted him the winner of the Henry Iba Award as the national coach of the year.

Brey recently concluded a 23-season stint at Notre Dame, which ended with him as the winningest men’s basketball coach in school history. Over his time with the Irish, the team went 483-280 with 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2015 and 2016.

In his first season as head coach, Brey led the Fighting Irish to the 2001 Big East West Division championship, establishing the program as one of the best in the conference. He steered Notre Dame into the top five of the final Big East conference standings eight times in 13 seasons, advancing to the semifinals six times. Brey is currently tied for fifth on the all-time Big East wins list. In the 2013-14 season, Notre Dame moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference, as the Fighting Irish continued to dominate in the best basketball conference in the nation. In 2015, Notre Dame claimed the 2015 ACC Championship.

Prior to Notre Dame, Brey got his first head coaching job at Delaware in 1995. For five seasons he led the Blue Hens to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and an NIT appearance. He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski from 1987 through 1995.