Notre Dame hires alum Pat Garrity to first-of-its-kind role overseeing both men’s and women’s basketball teams

Notre Dame has hired alum Pat Garrity in a trailblazing new role for its men’s and women’s basketball teams, sources told CBS Sports. The 1998 graduate and former NBA player will be the general manager for both programs, in addition overseeing men’s basketball as its primary sports administrator. Garrity, 48, is one of only two people believed to ever occupy this type of role — a dual GM, in addition to being the lead administrator for a revenue sport — in college athletics. 

At Villanova, former assistant Baker Dunleavy holds a similar position as dual GM of its basketball programs. The school created the role in 2023.

It’s a bold move for Notre Dame, particularly with the looming House case settlement and major financial changes on the way that will redraw the landscape of the NCAA later this year and through the end of the decade. Garrity will be responsible for how Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s teams operate in NIL spending and much more, according to sources. As men’s basketball’s sports administrator, he’ll have as influential a voice in that program as anyone at Notre Dame.

On the men’s side, the change comes at a time when the program needs a jolt toward the positive. The Fighting Irish are looking to find footing and relevancy after a three-year downturn, having finished sub-.500 the past three seasons, the most recent two under Micah Shrewsberry. The Shrewsberry era has been bumpy to start after Mike Brey’s final season in 2022-23 ended dourly with an 11-21 mark, capping off a 23-year run. 

It’s a much different story with the women’s program. Notre Dame has made four straight Sweet 16s and has averaged 26.8 wins per season in that stretch under coach Niele Ivey. The women’s program is among the strongest in the ACC and one of the most consistent nationally. 

Garrity arrives at the job with some experience in roster management, albeit at the highest level: He was an assistant GM with the Detroit Pistons from 2016-2020. Garrity will effectively be — to borrow a term from the NBA — Notre Dame’s president of basketball operations, serving to support the staffs of both basketball programs. He’ll do everything from assist in roster building via the portal, to putting an emphasis on what high school recruits to target, to balancing where Notre Dame basketball fits in the forthcoming revenue-sharing era. Garrity will work in concert with Notre Dame’s NIL office, per sources, to help build out an equitable pay structure for every men’s and women’s basketball player at the university. 

At a time when plenty of programs are utilizing a general manager position, there’s no other school with one person working in harmony with both men’s and women’s basketball to this extent. Garrity won’t be on the road recruiting, but his input will be a critical part of Notre Dame’s future in the years ahead as the programs try to split the difference between how to build through high school recruiting and reinforcing roster strength in the transfer portal. Player retention will also be a major focus.

Notre Dame was searching for someone who understood roster management and knew the university well; Garrity fit the description better than anyone else under consideration, one source said. He played at ND from 1994-98 and was taken 19th by the Milwaukee Bucks (who traded the pick to the Phoenix Suns) in the 1998 NBA Draft. Garrity ranks among the best players in school history, having won Big East Player of the Year in 1997 and earned All-League honors three times. He was also a Second Team All-American his senior season. He scored more than 2,000 points for the Fighting Irish before playing 10 years in the NBA, one season with the Suns and then nine with the Orlando Magic.