Feb. 2, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad and swallow it down.
Last year, Martin Ingelsby enjoyed a large spoonful of bad.
It is no easy task for anyone to accept a role coming off the bench.
Ingelsby went from a starter in his freshman and sophomore seasons to a reserve in his junior season. It came as a blow to the point guard who in his first season with the Irish earned a spot on the Big East Conference all-rookie team.
Last season, former Irish head coach Matt Doherty opted to bench Ingelsby for then-senior Jimmy Dillon. It proved a hard pill for Ingelsby to swallow.
“It was tough at first,” Ingelsby said about being a reserve. “I had never had to come off the bench.”
In fact, heading into the 1999-2000 season, Ingelsby started 54 of the 56 games. He did start the initial six games of the season but then Doherty opted for the change. Ingelsby accepted his role and averaged around 15 minutes per game, scoring about five points per game.
Times sure have changed. With Doherty’s departure, new Irish head coach Mike Brey had one thing on his mind, Ingelsby. Upon his arrival, Brey wanted to let him know that he was his man.
“I knew the he had to be the guy,” Brey said. “And he knew that he had to be the guy. I made that known from July 14.”
Despite the 100 percent backing from Brey, preseason predictions felt that the point guard position proved to be the biggest weakness of the Irish. Many felt that however Ingelsby performed, the Irish would follow suit.
The point guard has exceeded the expectations of critics. He currently ranks tenth in the country in assists, averaging around seven per game.
Ingelsby may even be relied on more than Notre Dame’s star player Troy Murphy. He averages two more minutes than the All-American at 36.8 minutes per game.
In fact, Brey does not deny that Ingelsby is an irreplaceable part of the Irish offense. The point guard position does not go much deeper than the senior.
All-American Murphy realizes the importance of Ingelsby on this team. He believes that if he had the opportunity to choose any point guard in college basketball to play with, it would be Ingelsby.
“He just knows how to play the game,” Murphy said. “Martin does all the little things needed for us to be successful.”
Ingelsby did not shoot the lights out at the MCI Center, last Saturday, but he did do one small thing. He tied the game at 59 a piece, by drilling home a 3-point shot, with 6:03 remaining.
While Ingelsby didn’t set a team high in any category in the Georgetown game, he contributed just a “little thing” which helped his team upset the No. 10 Hoyas.
It is those spoonfuls of good which helps Ingelsby erase last year’s bad.