Notre Dame coach Mike Brey and Howard coach Kenny Blakeney hold deep connections, having both played for legendary DeMatha Catholic High School coach Morgan Wooten and spent time together at Duke and Delaware.

On Monday, those connections will grow even deeper on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as Bray leads the Fighting Irish (10-6) against Blakeney's Bison (6-7) in Washington, D.C. The nationally televised afternoon game will mark Notre Dame's first visit to a Historically Black University.

"This game came about as a result of a conversation that I had with Mike Brey," Blakeney told the Washington Informer. "I have always had great respect for him. He is a progressive thinker and he saw this as an opportunity to educate his young student-athletes on the value of history of African Americans."