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 1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, the Fighting Irish defeated Cincinnati in the first round, 79–78. Notre Dame would fall to Michigan in the second round.

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
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
Charleston Southern		–			–			3	–	23		.115
Samford		–			–			3	–	23		.115
Rankings from AP Poll

1975–76 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Independent
1975–76 record	23–6
Head coach	Digger Phelps (5th season)
Home arena	Joyce Center

Roster

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 Digger Phelps Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

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		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		at 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		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		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

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	6	Adrian Dantley	Buffalo Braves

[3]

References

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.