1975–76 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1975–76 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1975–76 season. The team was coached by Digger Phelps and was ranked in the Associated Press poll for the entirety of the season. The Fighting Irish finished the regular season with a record of 23–6. In the 1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, the Fighting Irish defeated Cincinnati in the first round, 79–78 and then lost to Michigan in the second round.

1975–76 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8
APNo. 7
Record23–6
Head coach
Home arenaJoyce Center
Seasons
← 1974–75
1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Rutgers   31 2   .939
No. 3 UNLV   29 2   .935
No. 2 Marquette   27 2   .931
North Texas State   22 4   .846
No. 19 Centenary   22 5   .815
UNC Charlotte   24 6   .800
Pan American   20 5   .800
No. 7 Notre Dame   23 6   .793
St. John's   23 6   .793
Florida State   21 6   .778
Oral Roberts   20 6   .769
Georgetown   21 7   .750
Virginia Tech   21 7   .750
George Washington   20 7   .741
Illinois State   20 7   .741
Creighton   19 7   .731
Northeast Louisiana   18 7   .720
Detroit   19 8   .704
South Florida   19 8   .704
New Orleans   18 8   .692
No. 17 DePaul   20 9   .690
Syracuse   20 9   .690
Holy Cross   22 10   .688
Seton Hall   18 9   .667
South Alabama   18 9   .667
South Carolina   18 9   .667
Providence   21 11   .656
Stetson   17 9   .654
UC Santa Barbara   17 9   .654
Air Force   16 9   .640
VCU   16 9   .640
St. Peter's   19 11   .633
Portland State   17 10   .630
St. Bonaventure   17 10   .630
Mercer   15 10   .600
Villanova   16 11   .593
Niagara   17 12   .586
Long Island   15 12   .556
Colgate   13 11   .542
Xavier   14 12   .538
West Virginia   15 13   .536
Georgia State   12 11   .522
Indiana State   13 12   .520
Dayton   14 13   .519
Hardin–Simmons   14 13   .519
Jacksonville   13 13   .500
Manhattan   14 14   .500
St. Francis (PA)   14 14   .500
St. Francis (NY)   13 13   .500
Marshall   13 14   .481
Duquesne   12 13   .480
Northeastern   12 13   .480
Fairfield   12 14   .462
Utah State   12 14   .462
Butler   12 15   .444
Denver   12 15   .444
Pittsburgh   12 15   .444
Army   11 14   .440
Iona   11 15   .423
Milwaukee   11 15   .423
Southern Miss   11 15   .423
Navy   10 14   .417
Fairleigh Dickinson   9 13   .409
Georgia Southern   11 16   .407
Hawaii   11 16   .407
Penn State   10 15   .400
Buffalo   10 16   .385
Loyola (IL)   10 16   .385
Canisius   10 17   .370
Boston College   9 17   .346
Oklahoma City   9 18   .333
Portland   9 18   .333
Fordham   7 19   .269
Cleveland State   6 19   .240
Houston Baptist   5 21   .192
Baptist   3 23   .115
Samford   3 23   .115
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

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1975–76 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
C 54 Roger Anderson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr St. Paul, Minnesota
F/C 45 Dave Batton 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Springfield, PA
G 10 Jeff Carpenter 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Oak Park, IL
F 44 Adrian Dantley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Washington, D. C.
F/C 34 Bruce Flowers 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Huntington Woods, MI
F 22 Randy Haefner 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Milford, OH
F/C 43 Toby Knight 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Shoreham, NY
G 23 Dave Kuzmicz 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr South Bend, IN
C 52 Bill Laimbeer 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Toledo, Ohio
G 21 Ray Martin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Long Island City, NY
F 55 Bill Paterno 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Spring Lake, NJ
G 25 Don Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Washington, D.C.
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Schedule

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
November 29
Kent State W 90–61  1–0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 2
Valparaiso W 117–83  2–0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 6
Texas Tech W 88–63  3–0
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 8
No. 9 at Kansas W 72–64  4–0
Allen Fieldhouse 
Lawrence, Kansas
December 11
No. 8 at No. 1 Indiana L 60–63  4–1
Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
December 13
Saint Francis (PA) W 103–73  5–1
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
December 30
at Kentucky L 77–79  5–2
Freedom Hall 
Louisville, Kentucky
January 3
No. 5 at No. 4 UCLA W 66–63  5–3
Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, CA
January 10
Manhattan W 88–71  6–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 12
at Pittsburgh W 77–66  7–3
Fitzgerald Field House 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
January 14
Ball State W 119–78  8–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 17
at Xavier W 90–79  9–3
Cincinnati Gardens 
Cincinnati, Ohio
January 21
Saint Joseph (IN) W 97–60  10–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 24
No. 15 No. 6 UCLA W 95–85  11–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 28
DePaul W 89–68  12–3
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
January 31
Maryland L 63–69  12–4
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 4
at La Salle W 108–89  13–4
Tom Gola Arena 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 7
Davidson W 117–74  14–4
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 9
St. Bonaventure W 95–80  15–4
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 11
Villanova W 84–57  16–4
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 14
West Virginia W 97–77  17–4
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
February 16
vs. Butler W 92–79  18–4
 
 
February 19
vs. Fordham W 91–78  19–4
 
 
February 21
at South Carolina W 90–83  20–4
Carolina Coliseum 
Columbia, SC
February 25
at Dayton W 85–79  21–4
University of Dayton Arena 
Dayton, Ohio
February 28
No. 6 Marquette L 75–81  21–5
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
March 1
Western Michigan W 95–88 OT 22–5
Joyce Center 
Notre Dame, IN
March 13
Cincinnati
NCAA Tournament • First Round
W 79–78  23–5
Freedom Hall 
Louisville, Kentucky
March 18
Michigan
NCAA Tournament • Second Round
L 76–80  23–6
Freedom Hall 
Louisville, Kentucky
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

[1][2]

Team players drafted into the NBA

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Round Pick Player NBA Club
1 6 Adrian Dantley Buffalo Braves

[3]

References

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  1. ^ "1975-76 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule". sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  2. ^ "2018_19_MBB_Media_Guide_season" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  3. ^ "1976 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2019.