Doyel: Connaughton, Grant are Irish superheroes, friends

• Notre Dame vs. Wichita State%2C 7%3A15 p.m. Thursday%2C CBS

CLEVELAND – Mike Brey called the meeting. No outsiders – and not every insider was welcome, either. Notre Dame had just lost to Wake Forest in the 2014 ACC tournament, ending its season at 15-17, and Brey wanted to see a handful of people in his hotel room in Greensboro, N.C. But only a handful.

No other coaches, just Brey. No other players, just the ones returning the following season. Brey walked into the room last, and there they were, Pat Connaughton and Jerian Grant, sitting together. This was a surprise, and this was big, because Grant had been suspended the second half of the season for an academic issue. Far as Brey and teammates knew, Grant was considering entering the 2014 NBA draft.

Grant told the room he wanted to come back for his senior season.

Connaughton – a junior projected as an early-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft – told the room the same thing.

"We've got something here," Brey thought to himself. But that's not what he told the team after everyone got finished hooting and hugging Grant and Connaughton. This is what Brey told the team – this is what he told Grant and Connaughton – after the celebration was over:

"This is your team. You are our captains. We can't have another season like this."

And this is what Grant and Connaughton did:

"They made it their mission," said Notre Dame assistant Martin Ingelsby, "to put us back on the map."

Mission accomplished, if not finished. The Irish have reached the Sweet Sixteen, a spot on the map the program had reached just once in Brey's first 14 seasons as coach – and not since 2003. The third-seeded Irish play No. 7-seeded Wichita State on Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, where they will be led not just by two seniors, but by two best friends.

"They're like brothers," said Notre Dame forward Matt Gregory, a freshman from Cathedral. "There's a special connection between the two."

Special, and kind of corny. They're into superheroes, so much so that Grant sometimes wears Superman socks during games, and Connaughton wears Batman socks. They're roommates on the road, and while they don't live together in South Bend, when a teammate is looking for one, he tends to find both.

"They play video games, they watch movies, whatever," said sophomore guard Steve Vasturia. "They're together a lot. They're together all the time."

They are friends, and friendship is nice, but being buddies doesn't win a basketball game. Being great at basketball wins high-level basketball games, and Grant and Connaughton share that as well. Connaughton is one of just eight players in Notre Dame history with 1,400 points and 800 rebounds, and the only Notre Dame player to reach those numbers and also make 265 3-pointers. Or even 100 3-pointers. In Notre Dame history he is unique, doubly so because he turned pro last season in baseball – after being picked in the fourth round by the Orioles – and used his 96-mph fastball to post a 2.51 ERA at Single A Aberdeen of the short-season New York-Penn League.

Grant also is statistically unique, becoming the only Irish player to reach 1,700 points, 600 assists, 150 steals and 30 blocked shots. Grant is so good, he was a potential first-round draft pick last year and is a possible lottery pick this year. With Grant last season the Irish were 8-4. After he was removed from school, the Irish went 7-13. Grant's return was big. Connaughton's return was big. Grant and Connaughton, returning together, and making that announcement in Mike Brey's hotel room in Greensboro?

"Special moment for the program," Gregory said.

"Everyone was hugging," said junior forward Zach Auguste.

Added freshman forward Bonzie Colson: "They came back and gave us the extra oomph we needed."

And not just for the players. Brey said he was beaten down after last season, by a career-worst 17 losses, by the midseason loss of Grant. After it was over he asked an assistant to hang up pictures of the top 15 players in the ACC. Grant and Connaughton were on that list, so they were on that wall. And Brey made sure to walk past it every day.

"I needed something to look at," Brey said, "to give me hope."

His two beacons of hope share the cover of the Notre Dame media guy, facing each other above the word "Together." Grant and Connaughton shared the podium Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena, shared laughs and smiles and a general easiness that comes with that kind of friendship.

"This is my guy," Connaughton said, gesturing toward Grant. "It wasn't a joint decision (to return this season), but at the same time there was always that half-kidding, half-serious, 'Well, if you're not coming back, I'm not coming back. Let's do this together.'"

Said Grant: "We've done some good things, but we really haven't made history, we really haven't left our legacy, left our mark."

Said Connaughton: "We came in together, we played together, we have gone through a lot and we have similar interests. And those interests include winning."

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.