Notre Dame’s men’s basketball team wraps up a challenging season with a record of 13 wins and 20 losses, including 7 wins and 13 losses in the ACC. Under the guidance of Coach Micah Shrewsberry, who faced difficulties in his debut season, there are already signs of a bright future as they prepare for the 2024-25 season.
The team’s foundation is built around second-year guards Markus Burton and Braden Shrewsberry, the only duo to average double-digit points last year. Enhancing their prospects, the Irish are bolstered by a promising freshman class rated among the nation’s top twenty, coupled with three significant transfers, adding depth, experience, and scoring that the previous season lacked. With a roster set to adapt to a faster pace of play, there are hopes of mirroring the postseason success Shrewsberry had during his second year at Penn State, where the Nittany Lions reached the NCAA Tournament.
Key players to monitor this upcoming season include Markus Burton, who stands at 5-foot-11 and averaged 17.5 points, along with 4.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game last season. Celebrated as the 2023 Indiana Mr. Basketball, Burton delivered a standout freshman year, breaking Notre Dame’s overall freshman scoring record, while also leading the team in assists. Expectations are high for him to take another leap forward in the upcoming season.
Braden Shrewsberry, measuring 6-foot-3, was the team’s second-leading scorer with 10.2 points per game as a rookie. He started 15 of his 33 games and showcased his shooting prowess with a 37.1% success rate from three-point range, setting a new record for most three-pointers made in ACC play. Another notable player is Matt Allocco, a 6-foot-4 guard whose impressive stats include 12.7 points per game. A former two-time all-Ivy League honoree, he stood out by shooting an extraordinary 50% from the field, 40% from three-point distance, and 90% from the free-throw line last season. His experience as a full-time starter on Princeton’s Sweet 16 team will be invaluable.
The roster saw minimal departures with the transfer of forward Carey Boothe, who followed Coach Shrewsberry to Illinois. However, Notre Dame significantly bolstered their lineup with impressive arrivals. Freshman guards Cole Certa and Sir Mohammed rank as top 100 recruits, while the addition of Allocco adds shooting strength. The team also welcomed 6-foot-10 transfer Nikita Konstantynovskyi from Monmouth, known for securing 8.1 boards per game, alongside 6-foot-8 forward Burke Chebuhar from Lehigh, enhancing their depth options.
The schedule features several highlight matchups, including their season opener against Stonehill on November 6, a road game at Georgetown on November 16, and a clash with Houston in Las Vegas on November 28. They will also battle against storied programs like North Carolina on January 4, and face Duke on January 11, with encounters against Miami, Stanford, and California rounding out notable games.
In terms of performance metrics from last season, Notre Dame struggled, losing four of their last six games and ending up with dismal rankings of No. 342 in scoring (64.0 points per game) and No. 330 in field goal percentage (40.7%). Historically, in Shrewsberry’s other head coaching positions, teams showed substantial improvement from year one to year two, often enhancing their wins by nine. To boost their gameplay ahead of this season, the Fighting Irish took a basketball tour in Spain during the summer and have been utilizing a 24-second shot clock in practice to ready their offense for a quicker tempo.