2026 Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Program Preview

By Conor Allen

         Notre Dame, a Division One university in South Bend, Indiana has one of the most prominent sports programs in all of college sports. For most college sports fans however, when they think Notre Dame, college football is the first thought that pops into their heads. This is not surprising as the Fighting Irish hold the record for most national championships with 11. (Sports Illustrated) Notre Dame’s main success, fame and support has come through their football program but there is much more to Notre Dame then just football.

Notre Dame’s Basketball History

         While Notre Dame’s basketball program does not nearly rank as highly as their counter part above, many basketball fans know that Notre Dame men’s basketball program is not a write off. Since the march madness tournament started in March of 1939, (NCAA.com) the Fighting Irish have made 37 tournament appearances, including 7 elite eight and one final four with a 40-41 tournament record. To add to those stats, Notre Dame has also made the sweet sixteen 16 times. All three of these accomplishments are hard to do let alone make the tournament as only 64 teams make it out of the 361 schools. (NCAA.com) Notre Dame sits tied with the University of Connecticut, a top basketball program with 37 (DAZN.Com) appearances and has more than two powerhouse schools in Ohio State and Michigan, just to name a few.

         During their miraculous runs over the years, they have been led by legendary coaches Digger Phelps, who helped them reach the final four, as well as long-term tenured coaches George Keogan and Mike Brey who both led Notre Dame to multiple sweet sixteen appearances. While not as flashy and successful as their football counterpart, Notre Dame has showed throughout the years their ability to win and create a legacy in basketball.

The Struggles

Times have changed however as Notre Dame has struggled on and off the court. Their last winning season was in 2021-2022 when they won 24 out of their 35 games and made it to the tournament where they lost in the second round. Since then, Notre Dame has not had a winning season with long time head coach Mike Brey leaving the next year after a horrendous season with an 11-21 record, failing to even make the ACC conference tournament. (College Basketball Sports Reference) Agreeing with the upper level management of the team and believing that his type of basketball did not fit the new style of play and recruiting tactics that started to take over college basketball, he left and went to the NBA to work with the Atlanta Hawks. After 23 seasons in charge and becoming Notre Dame’s all time winningest coach with 483 wins, it was always going to be a challenge to replace him. Fans were sad but knew it was time to move on from Brey who’s recruiting tactics of developing players from freshmen to seniors did not work in a time where the transfer portal is used so much. At this point, it was time to bring in someone younger who had a different prospective on the game, specific with the modern style of plays, the transfer portal and more recently NIL.

         The Fighting Irish found their replacement in Micah Shrewsberry out of Penn State. Before getting hired, he was able to turn around a terrible Penn State team that had not made the tournament since 2010-2011 (CBSR) In two years at Penn State, Shrewsberry finished his second season in 2022-2023 with a 23-14 record in 37 games making the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years. (CBSR) Riding the high from the successful season with his style of play as well as his improved recruiting game that Notre Dame lacked with Mike Brey in recently years, they brought him in to be the next head coach. Many people praised the hiring of Shrewsberry as the next head coach but throughout his tenure at Notre Dame, it has been tumultuous and has raised eyebrows and questions if he is the right coach to lead Notre Dame going forward.

Micah Shrewsberry Experiment

Since joining the next year in 2023-2024 after Mike Brey left, he has not had a winning season finishing 13-20, 15-18, and 13-18 throughout his first three years. (CBSR) Many have given him the benefit of the doubt, jumping into a program that many said was not an easy rebuild. It was hard to find a way to change the program and bring in high quality players which Shrewsberry saw. However, this was not the case moving forward. In 2024, Shrewsberry brought in what many people described as a “stacked” recruiting class that landed them in the top 20. The class was led by high four stars Sir Mohammed, Cole Cuerta, and Garret Sundra. (ESPN) The following year, Shrewsberry again brought in a top 20 ranked class, this time convincing 5-star Jalen Haralson to join high 4-stars Ryder Frost and Brady Koehler. (ESPN) Other than Mohammed who struggled to find his way into the rotation, the rest were able to be key contributors to the Irish and their rotation between the time the five all arrived.

This did not last long as everyone except Brady Koehler have moved on and transferred to other schools before starting their junior year. After strong seasons from Cuerta, Haralson, and Markus Burton throughout the first ten games of the season before injuring his knee again and missing the rest of the season, all moved on to what they hope is greener grass as Notre Dame failed to put together a winning team. Frost, Sundra and Mohammed all joined them after failing to find spots in the rotation. Between all six players, the Irish lost an average of 59.4 out of their 74.5 they averaged last season. (CBSR) The transfer portal has hurt them the past two years losing all their top recruiters before having a chance to develop a true team. This problem boils down to two problems, the lack of activity in the transfer portal prior to this season and the lack of NIL money the Irish have to spend for their basketball program.

As mentioned above, the problem of losing their top players to the transfer portal and being unable to replace them with the same talent has hurt the team. What hurts the Irish the most is the lack of money that is put into the program and what they can spend and give to players to convince them to join the team. Comparing NIL money to their football program, multiple sources on Instagram have put the money that is invested into the program around $5 million with many estimating the total is closer to just $3 million. Compared to football, Notre Dame has invested between $34-$48 million dollars into the program. Although football has a lot more players on the team with a max of 85 and the amount of money the program brings in as a whole, the lack of funding the Irish get for their basketball program makes it that much harder to keep their top players and compete with other top team within the big four conferences in recruiting and specifically that transfer portal. This includes the ACC where they currently play out of and compete with the blue blood teams of basketball in the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tarheels.

Micah’s Last Straw

         Lots of analysts have predicted that this could be Shrewsberry last year if he is not able to turn the program around and have a winning record. It is not easy to replace Haralson and Cuerta who both started and played huge roles for the Irish along with a health Burton who was a key player his firt two season, just missing out on ACC Rookie of the Year before leasing the ACC in points per game before injuring his knee that plagued him next season. However, Shrewsberry again brought in another high 4-star player in Jon Sanderson who was the 55th-recruit in the 2026 class. (Yahoo sports) and went into the portal, finding players that fit his style of play and bring experience for the Irish. The three big names Shrewsberry brought in all bring experience as fifth-year seniors who can help the Irish compete. Centre Logan Duncomb from Winthrop, point guard Braeden Smith from Colgate and Gonzaga and wing Ethan Roberts from the University of Penn.

         The most intriguing player out of the three is centre Duncomb who left Xavier and played two years at Winthrop where he averaged 18.3 points and 9.8 rebound last year, earning him Big South Player of the Year. (Yahoo sports) He brings a dominant presence at centre and a major upgrade from senior Carson Tout who played for the Irish last year and had problems with his limited scoring ability and mobility on the offensive side of the court. Next addition is Roberts who averaged 16 points in his two years at Penn and shot 40% from three (Yahoo sports) which is something that Notre Dame desperately needs to space the floor for Duncomb since losing sharpshooter Cuerta to Clemson in the portal. (ESPN) Lastly, to replace Burton and allowing Imes to move to the bench and run the second unit is Smith who played for Gonzaga last year averaging somewhat lackluster stats with 5 points and 3 assists in just 17 minutes a game in a crowded backcourt. However, the year before playing at Colgate, he averaged 12.5 points and 5.6 assists earning him Patriot League Player of the Year. (Yahoo sports) He is highly efficient in his shooting and his playmaking can unlock the other two along with the sharp shooter Breadon Shrewsberry and new born star Koehler who found his game quickly last year and decided to stay.

         What does this all mean for Shrewsberry? While it was clear players wanted to come to Notre Dame to play for him, the lack of winning and NIL money sent their top players to other team. While the funding is not Shrewsberry’s fault, are his tactics to blame and is there more behind the scenes that the fans do not know that may be causing the players to leave. What people do know is this could be Micah’s last year in South Bend if he cannot find a way to put together a winning team and change the trajectory that the team is heading in. Can Shrewsberry pull it off this year or is he doomed to repeat what has happened the past three seasons? Let me know what you think?