1980–81 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1980–81 Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo.svg 150 Independent 9 7 23–6 Digger Phelps 10th Pete Gillen 1st Tom McLaughlin 3rd Kelly Tripucka Joyce Center NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen The 1980–81 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Digger Phelps and was ranked in the Associated Press poll for the entirety of the season. As a 2 seed, the Fighting Irish defeated the 10 seed James Madison in the second round, 54–45. Notre Dame would fall to BYU in the 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. Roster 1980 Notre Dame Fighting Irish y Tim Andree y 53 C 6 10 230 So Farmington, Michigan Kevin Hawkins 22 F 6 5 200 Sr Los Angeles, California Tracy Jackson 30 F 6 6 210 Sr Silver Spring, Maryland y Marc Kelly 25 G 5 10 160 Jr La Crescenta, California Joe Kleine 45 C 6 11 240 Fr Slater, Missouri y Mike Mitchell 15 G 6 2 175 Jr San Bruno, California John Paxson 23 G 6 2 180 So Kettering, Ohio y Gilbert Salinas 55 C 6 11 215 Sr San Antonio, Texas Tom Sluby 33 G 6 4 200 Fr Washington, DC y Kelly Tripucka 44 F 6 6 230 Sr Essex Fells, New Jersey y Bill Varner 34 F 6 6 200 So New Kensington, Pennsylvania y Stan Wilcox 24 G 6 3 180 Sr North Babylon, New York Orlando Woolridge 32 F 6 9 215 Sr Mansfield, Louisiana y Digger Phelps Schedule and results |- !colspan=9 style=Notre Dame Fighting Irish| Regular Season November 29 yes 10 6 UCLA 81–94 https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/notre-dame/1981-schedule.html 1980-81 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule and Results 0–1 https://und.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1980-81-Box-Scores.pdf 1980-81 Box Scores UND.com University of Notre Dame April 18, 2022 live https://web.archive.org/web/20200828123936/https://und.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1980-81-Box-Scores.pdf August 28, 2020 Pauley Pavilion 12,321 Los Angeles, CA December 2 13 Montana State 89–68 1–1 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN December 4 13 TCU 79–63 2–1 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN December 6 13 Cal Poly (Pomona) 76–50 3–1 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN December 9 9 yes 7 Indiana 68–64 4–1 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN December 22 8 Valparaiso 69–56 5–1 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN December 27 8 Kentucky 67–61 6–1 Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky January 4 4 yes Davidson 87–67 7–1 Johnston Gym Davidson, NC January 6 5 yes Villanova 94–65 8–1 Villanova Field House Villanova, Pennsylvania January 10 5 yes Marquette 52–54 8–2 MECCA Arena Milwaukee, WI January 13 7 yes San Francisco 63–66 8–3 War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California January 17 7 Hofstra 65–55 9–3 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN January 19 13 Fordham 67–61 10–3 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN January 21 13 San Francisco 80–75 11–3 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN January 24 13 yes 10 Maryland 73–70 12–3 Cole Field House College Park, Maryland January 27 8 Cornell 80–58 13–3 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN January 31 8 South Carolina 94–84 14–3 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN February 2 9 Saint Mary's 94–63 15–3 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN February 4 9 La Salle 60–59 16–3 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN February 8 9 UCLA 50–51 16–4 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN February 10 12 Boston 89–63 17–4 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN February 14 12 yes N. C. State 71–55 18–4 Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC February 16 11 Fairfield 57–55 19–4 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN February 22 11 1 Virginia 57–56 20–4 Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, IL February 26 6 Saint Francis 87–71 21–4 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN February 28 yes 6 Dayton 70–57 22–4 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN March 8 6 yes 2 DePaul 64–74 22–5BRADSHAW LEADS DEPAUL VICTORY https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/09/sports/bradshaw-leads-depaul-victory.html The New York Times March 9, 1981 December 5, 2021 Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois |- !colspan=9 style=Notre Dame Fighting Irish| NCAA Tournament March 14 2 E 5 10 E James Madison NCAA Tournament • Second Round 54–45 BYU GAINS IN EAST, AS DOES NOTRE DAME https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/15/sports/byu-gains-in-east-as-does-notre-dame.html The New York Times March 15, 1981 December 5, 2021 23–5 Providence Civic Center Providence, RI March 19 5 2 E yes 6 E 16 BYU NCAA Tournament • Sweet Sixteen 50–51 B.Y.U. DEFEATS IRISH, 51-50; NORTH CAROLINA OUSTS UTAH https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/20/sports/byu-defeats-irish-51-50-north-carolina-ousts-utahz.html The New York Times March 20, 1981 December 5, 2021 23–6 Omni Coliseum 15,461 Atlanta, Georgia E East 1980-81 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/notre-dame/1981-schedule.html sports-reference.com March 26, 2019 Rankings 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game Random House 899–900 2009 978-0-345-51392-2 Players selected in NBA drafts Notre Dame Fighting Irish Round Pick Player NBA club 1 6 Orlando Woolridge Chicago Bulls 1 12 Kelly Tripucka Detroit Pistons 2 25 Tracy Jackson Boston Celtics 8 167 Gilbert Salinas Atlanta Hawkshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/draft.fcgi?college=notredame Notre Dame draft history at basketball-reference.com July 10, 2019 References Notre Dame Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame Notre Dame Fighting Irish Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball seasons