Positive... and fortunate.

As Doherty said in the article, who leaves a basketball coaching job in June?

Along with Skip Prosser and Paul Hewitt, Brey was a finalist after Malloy nixed Majerus. Doherty was a late entrant, and he got the job.

Prosser (Wake Forest) and Hewitt (Georgia Tech) moved into ACC jobs that spring, so they weren't available. Brey was available, and he wasn't exactly the "settling" choice because he easily could have been chosen as MacLeod's replacement without much ND fan dissent. Then Brey built some equity by making a good impression at his introductory press conference.