Pat Garrity Returns to South Bend to Help Notre Dame Hoops Thrive
Following a disappointing season for the men’s basketball team and heightened challenges across college athletics, Notre Dame Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua made a bold move by hiring Pat Garrity as the general manager for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs.
Garrity, a former Notre Dame star and longtime NBA player and executive, returns to South Bend at a time when college sports are undergoing dramatic shifts. With NIL deals, the Transfer Portal, and potential revenue-sharing models reshaping the current landscape, Bevacqua emphasized the need for programs and their head coaches to be fully supported off the court.
“There is so much change going on in the college sports landscape,” stated Bevacqua. “When you think about NIL, the House Settlement, which could be approved any day, the Transfer Portal. The whole system of college athletics is going under so much change that you need to make sure your head coach and their staff are really surrounded with the resources they need to succeed in 2025 and beyond.”
The GM role isn’t new to Notre Dame athletics. Bevacqua pointed to the football program’s modernization, citing general manager Mike Martin and Deputy AD Ron Powlus, who hired his son, Ron, as the assistant director of operations.
After consulting with Micah Shrewsberry and Niele Ivey, Bevacqua identified a similar need for his basketball programs.
“I had conversations with Micah and Niele, we were talking about what resources are needed, what skill sets we can bring in to continue to modernize our basketball programs. If you were to ask Micah or Niele, they got into this business as did their staffs to coach basketball to win games and to develop players, but there’s so much else going on in the space right now that you need to be thinking about 24 hours a day, seven days a week to be a top program.
“That’s what we intend to do. We want to continue to have the very best women’s program and very best men’s basketball program we can possibly have here at Notre Dame.”
Why would Garrity return to Notre Dame at this stage in his life? He had two reasons and both were personal.
“No. 1 is the place,” explained Garrity. “This place means so much to me. I told Pete this when we started to have a conversation, I can’t really think of any place outside of my home that means as much to me. It’s both because of what it was able to do for me in terms of my career, how I was able to develop as a student-athlete, but really, the relationships I have. My best friends in the world are still all the people I lived with in Sorin Hall.
“No. 2 in the impact you can make. In the NBA, it’s a tremendous lifestyle. It’s a lot of fun. You’re working at the highest level of basketball. You’re making an impact sometimes in players lives, but it’s such a big enterprise. Being able to come back to not only college basketball, but a place like Notre Dame where we can bring in young student athletes, develop them to the best of their abilities as athletes and set them up for when they stop playing, that to me having an impact who is someone who can no longer play basketball, this will maybe be the most meaningful thing I’ve done outside of playing basketball.”
Garrity will oversee both programs—no small job considering the men’s team is coming off a 15–18, 8-12 season, while Ivey’s women’s team finished 28–6, 16-2 but fell short of a Final Four berth, which seemed like a given entering the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Notre Dame alum knows he has to catch up on the administration side of college basketball, but that will come with experience on the job.
Time management will be a key to Garrity's future success, but he’s also not concerned about building relationships, as that will happen organically.
“I think it’s very similar to the way it works in pro sports,” Garrity stated. “I worked for a guy named Jeff Bower in Detroit. He was in Stan’s (Van Gundy) office, who was the head coach, every day after games. That’s how the communication works. You’re just physically there and you’re around. The conversation and dialogue are just ongoing because you’re always with each other.”
When it came to NIL and the Transfer Portal, Garrity had a refreshing tone. He didn’t speak about the value of a degree but acknowledged that many decisions are financially based.
As a former All-American and Big East Player of the Year, Garrity knows what top athletes are looking for, but also what they want to hear.
The Notre Dame degree is valuable and everyone knows it, but Garrity plans on striking the hearts of potential players with a pitch centered around development and finding a true home.
“This summer is probably a bad example to develop any thoughts on it because it was probably the most unregulated it will ever be and you had the ending of the collective era and everyone preparing for the revenue sharing era,” Garrity explained. “I think the larger perspective that I have on it is I think there are a lot of student-athletes that are making good decisions for them that they’re rewarded financially, but they’re also going to get through college connected to a place and being remembered at a place. I think there are a lot of people making short-term decisions that maybe financially look good now, but maybe looking back in 10 years, they’re asking, what am I left with and where was my real home and what am I remembered for?
“That’s one of the big things we have to focus on in terms of retention, of selling the point that there’s the money aspect of this thing. It’s a reality in college sports, but there’s more to that. Being remembered as an all-time great at a college means something when you hang it up. We have to be able to demonstrate to our student-athletes that we can get you there and that’s ultimately the important thing. That includes bringing the past all-time greats around to get that message across.”
Notre Dame recruiting is always a hot topic, regardless of sport, and Garrity will have a hand in that, but it won’t be on the road or in living rooms across the country.
“Personnel is going to be important,” said Garrity. “It’s probably less important in this particular role than some places are approaching it. I’ll obviously be involved in knowing who we’re recruiting, weighing in on personnel and what I see. As far as recruiting being on the road, that’s not a part of it.”
Garrity might have been away from campus for a few years, but he’s kept tabs on the Irish programs as a fan. Now, Garrity will wear the interlocking Notre Dame logo and have a chance to improve both programs.
“It is a little strange coming back, there’s so much that’s new,” said Garrity. “I was walking around the back of The Joyce and I’m like, ‘Wait, that door is the same to the training room.’ It’s nice to know some of those things haven’t changed.
“To a broader point, I was very lucky to have personnel success here, but didn’t really win in my era here. I think if you go back and look at the record, we were like .500. Being able to come here and contribute to winning would be the capstone for me.”
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Foul Ball Rope Adjustable Hat
