Coach Ryan Humphrey is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in Notre Dame basketball history, but his impact goes far beyond his playing days. Coach Humphrey is the leader in blocked shots per game in Notre Dame history at an astounding 2.8 blocks per game, in addition to that, the former ND big man is 10th in rebounds per game (10RPG) and 16th in points per game (16.6 PPG) in Notre Dame history.
After concluding his college career at Notre Dame, he was selected 19th overall by the Utah Jazz before being traded to the Orlando Magic (one of just 6 players selected in the Mike Brey era). The Oklahoma native would go on to play 85 NBA games for the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies before heading overseas to play for a few teams in Europe, along with a stint in the D-league. After the conclusion of his playing career and a player development job at Northwestern, the Notre Dame alum returned to South Bend in 2016 as an assistant coach.
Humphrey's return to Notre Dame is one of the best things to happen to the program in the past few years. He is now a part of Coach Brey's staff along with associate head coach Rod Balanis and fellow assistant Ryan Ayers along with Harold Swanigan and Scott Martin.
Coach Humphrey specializes in working with the big men on the roster. Over the past few years he has worked with guys such as John Mooney, Nate Laszewski, Juwan Durham, Martin Geben, and Bonzie Colson. Coach Humphrey is a huge reason that the program has had success developing big men over the years. John Mooney made sure to give coach Humphrey a special shoutout in his senior day speech. Mooney described Humphrey as "one of my mentors" and also added that he's "a main reason why a lot of guys in this program get better." Like Mooney said, along with helping players develop on the court Humphrey helps them off the court in any way he can, in our interview with the man himself, he told us he was on the phone with NBA scouts and other front office members telling them about Mooney. Coach has a huge positive impact on players once they get to Notre Dame and after, but he is also a big part of Notre Dame's recruiting process.
One of the most important things that Humphrey does is communicate with recruits throughout the process. A huge factor in the recruiting process is the player making sure he is a good fit with the coaching staff. Coach Humphrey does a great job of this. From what i've heard he makes recruits feel very comfortable. This was confirmed by Notre Dame class of 2021 target Blake Wesley. Blake told Irish Sports Daily that Humphrey is his main contact at Notre Dame. He also said this about Coach Humphrey " I like how he talks to me, "“He texts me almost every day, me and my mom. He’s a real person. He’s just real. He’s just a real person.” In my opinion Blake is absolutely correct, Coach Humphrey was extremely easy to talk to and seemed genuinely interested in us while doing the interview with Luke and I. His personality is one of his biggest attributes as a coach and a big part of Notre Dame's success in recruiting.
Turns out that a kid from Oklahoma wanting a change of scenery would turn out to be one of the best things to happen to Notre Dame basketball and not only on the court. Coach Humphrey has had a big impact on the program in his time as a coach and he looks to have a huge impact in a few years. It may seem a little far fetched but I could see him being the Niele Ivey of mens basketball should coach Brey leave in the next few years. Either way Coach Humphrey has had a big impact on the program and is set up to in the next few years.
Thats all for this one, Go Irish and look out for new podcast episodes and articles soon.
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