--- description: Mike Brey called the game "a tribute to her." title: Notre Dame Coach Says Mother Died on Morning of Butler Win image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e1c56d0adde5484/698784a7524fc083fbded018/mike-brey2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [College Basketball](/tag/college-basketball/) ## College Basketball Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Notre Dame Coach Says Mother Died on Morning of Butler Win by [Ben Estes / Sports Illustrated](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Ben Estes / Sports Illustrated Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 22, 2015 5:08 PM CUT  Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches during the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 21, 2015 in Pittsburgh. Head coach Mike Brey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches during the first half against the Butler Bulldogs during the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 21, 2015 in Pittsburgh.Jared Wickerham—Getty Images by [Ben Estes / Sports Illustrated](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Ben Estes / Sports Illustrated Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 22, 2015 5:08 PM CUT In his press conference following Notre Dame’s 67-64 overtime win over Butler in the Round of 32 on Saturday, Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey [revealed](https://twitter.com/lukewinn/status/579507949615206400 "undefined") that his mother died of a heart attack the morning of the game. Betty Brey was 84\. The Notre Dame coach [said](https://twitter.com/benshpigel/status/579506759158611968 "undefined") he felt that “she was definitely with us down the stretch” [and called](https://twitter.com/WillGravesAP/status/579506673313849344 "undefined") the game against the Bulldogs “a tribute to her.” A distinguished swimmer, Betty Brey was a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic team. [More from Notre Dame’s official website](http://www.und.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/mike%5Fbrey%5F51358.html "undefined"): --- > “” --- [Brey said](https://twitter.com/WillGravesAP/status/579510072843354114 "undefined") he’ll travel to Florida on Sunday to celebrate his mother’s life with his family and watch the Kansas-Wichita State game together. The Irish will play the winner of that game in the Sweet 16 on Thursday in Cleveland. [_This article originally appeared on SI.com_](http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/03/22/mike-brey-mother-died-notre-dame-butler "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3753528/notre-dame-mike-brey-butler-ncaa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3753528/notre-dame-mike-brey-butler-ncaa/"},"headline":"Notre Dame Coach Says Mother Died on Morning of Butler Win","datePublished":"2015-03-22T17:08:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:20:39.303Z","description":"Mike Brey called the game \"a tribute to her\"","url":"https://time.com/3753528/notre-dame-mike-brey-butler-ncaa/","keywords":["College Basketball"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e1c56d0adde5484/698784a7524fc083fbded018/mike-brey2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Estes / Sports Illustrated"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e1c56d0adde5484/698784a7524fc083fbded018/mike-brey2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Butler v Notre Dame","caption":"Butler v Notre Dame","creditText":"Jared Wickerham—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/college-basketball/","name":"College Basketball"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3753528/notre-dame-mike-brey-butler-ncaa/","name":"Notre Dame Coach Says Mother Died on Morning of Butler Win"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: March Madness 2015","description":"Take a look at the teams who could go all the way to the big dance this year.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KAqajX9Y/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-18T17:43:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KAqajX9Y.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3753528/notre-dame-mike-brey-butler-ncaa/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3753528/notre-dame-mike-brey-butler-ncaa/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```