Brey Goes Pink

The Irish didn’t just open their season last night—they exploded onto the court with a 111-52 victory in their exhibition game against Quincy. Quincy head coach Marty Bell said that in his four exhibition games played at Notre Dame, this team is the best Coach Brey has ever had.

But the win wasn’t the only statement that Brey opened the season with. The three-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year kicked off the season wearing his trademark mock turtleneck in pink.

The wardrobe choice was a part of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Brey told fans that if he were to get to 5,000 friends on Facebook by the first exhibition game, he would don a “pink mock.”

It didn’t take the Notre Dame fan base long to respond.

“It took us four days to go from 2,200 to 6,500,” Brey recalls.

“My brother is like my social media consultant since I’m helpless in that world. He said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do to generate more interest.’ And I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

There was certainly a lot of buzz in Purcell Pavilion last night when Brey walked onto the court. The pink shirt was not something hiding away in his closet—he had to order it special for the event online.

“I think we did raise more awareness,” Brey says. “I had a lot of people all week that I saw and they said, ‘Oh, Coach, you’re breaking out the pink mock.’ It was the talk in town, and I would think the local Cancer Association probably got a few more donations.”

One big donation came from Brey himself, who presented the American Cancer Society with a $5,000 check center court before the game–one dollar for each Facebook friend who responded to the challenge.

He may never wear it again, but we can all enjoy the knowledge that Coach Brey has a pink mock turtleneck hanging in his closet now.