1988–89 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1988–89 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball

NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Independent
Record	21–9
Head coach	Digger Phelps (18th season)
Assistant coach	Fran McCaffery (1st season)
Home arena	Joyce Center
Seasons ← 1987–88 1989–90 →

1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Akron	-	–	-	–	21	–	8	.724
Notre Dame	-	–	-	–	21	–	9	.700
DePaul	-	–	-	–	21	–	12	.636
Miami (FL)	-	–	-	–	19	–	12	.613
Maryland-Baltimore County	-	–	-	–	17	–	11	.607
Wright State	-	–	-	–	17	–	11	.607
Marquette	-	–	-	–	13	–	15	.464
Mount St. Mary's	-	–	-	–	12	–	15	.444
Chicago State	-	–	-	–	12	–	16	.429
Nicholls State	-	–	-	–	12	–	16	.429
Northern Illinois	-	–	-	–	11	–	17	.393
U.S. International	-	–	-	–	11	–	17	.393
Liberty	-	–	-	–	10	–	17	.370
Central Connecticut State	-	–	-	–	10	–	18	.357
Florida International	-	–	-	–	10	–	18	.357
Southern Utah	-	–	-	–	10	–	18	.357
Oral Roberts	-	–	-	–	8	–	20	.286
Central Florida	-	–	-	–	7	–	20	.259
Davidson	-	–	-	–	7	–	24	.226
Youngstown State	-	–	-	–	5	–	23	.179
Brooklyn	-	–	-	–	4	–	23	.148
SE Louisiana	-	–	-	–	3	–	24	.111

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988–89 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1988-89 college basketball season. The Irish were led by head coach Digger Phelps, in his 18th season.

Roster

1988–89 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
PG	12	Elmer Bennett	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Bellaire, Texas
PF	20	LaPhonso Ellis	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	East St. Louis, Illinois
C	43	Keith Tower	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Fr	Coraopolis, Pennsylvania

Head coach

Digger Phelps (Rider)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 28, 1988*		St. Bonaventure	W 92–72	1–0	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 3, 1988*		vs. Kentucky	W 81–65	2–0	RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 6, 1988*		Indiana	W 84–71	3–0	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 10, 1988*		Creighton	W 77–64	4–0	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 17, 1988*		at Valparaiso	L 68–71	4–1	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 2, 1989*		at Pennsylvania	W 60–55	5–1	Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 7, 1989*		at San Francisco	L 75–79	5–2	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Jan 9, 1989*		at Portland	W 80–58	6–2	Chiles Center Portland, Oregon
Jan 14, 1989*		at UCLA	W 82–79	7–2	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
Jan 17, 1989*		SMU	W 67–45	8–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 21, 1989*		No. 11 Syracuse	L 87–99	8–3	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 24, 1989*		Rutgers	W 85–63	9–3	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 28, 1989*		Temple	W 64–60	10–3	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 31, 1989*		Dayton	W 85–75	11–3	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 2, 1989*		Marquette	W 83–68	12–3	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 5, 1989*		No. 12 Duke	L 80–102	12–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 8, 1989*		at Fordham	W 77–58	13–4	Rose Hill Gym New York, New York
Feb 11, 1989*		USC	W 83–74	14–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 14, 1989*		Boston College	L 72–83	14–5	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 16, 1989*		La Salle	W 80–78	15–5	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 19, 1989*		Houston	W 89–80	16–5	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 21, 1989*		at Dayton	W 83–66	17–5	UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Feb 25, 1989*		at Georgia Tech	L 80–90	17–6	Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 1, 1989*		DePaul	W 67–60	18–6	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 4, 1989*		No. 14 Louisville	L 77–87	18–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 6, 1989*		at Butler	W 76–69	19–7	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
Mar 8, 1989*		at Marquette	W 67–63	20–7	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 11, 1989*		at DePaul	L 70–73	20–8	Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1989*	(9 E)	vs. (8 E) Vanderbilt First Round	W 81–65	21–8	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Mar 19, 1989*	(9 E)	vs. (1 E) No. 2 Georgetown Second Round	L 74–81^[1]	21–9	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll/UPI Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[2]

References

^ "EAST REGIONAL; Smith Leads Hoyas Past Irish". New York Times. March 20, 1989. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
^ "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 120. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

v t e Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
Venues	Notre Dame Fieldhouse (1898–1968) Joyce Center (1968–present)
Rivalries	UCLA
Culture & lore	Notre Dame Leprechaun Crossroads Classic
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1907 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics