Welcome to my team preview series for 2024-25. Each day between now and the start of the college basketball season, I will preview one team or conference, both on Instagram (@collegehoopsoutlet) and through an article here. The preview will go in-depth on the roster build of the team, my expectations for their upcoming season, and the state of the program under their current head coach.
Notre Dame (Projected: 12th in ACC)
As far as exceeding preseason expectations go, Micah Shrewsberry did an excellent job in year one at Notre Dame. The roster for the Fighting Irish last season hardly seemed high-major heading into November, but led by two stud freshmen, the team won seven ACC games. Much of Shrewsberry’s roster returns for year two, and Notre Dame fans hope to continue to build on last season’s step in the right direction.
Seven rotational players return to the program for Notre Dame, most notably star freshman Markus Burton (18 ppg, 4 apg). Burton definitely had other options after his freshman year, but chose to stay at Notre Dame. Burton is an elite scorer inside the arc, shooting 42.1% on nearly 500 shot attempts last season. He also gets his teammates involved at a great rate, boasting a 35% assist rate during his freshman campaign. Burton is what made this team go last year, and to have him back for another year shows Shrewsberry’s talent retention ability.
Braeden Shrewsberry (10 ppg), son of Micah Shrewsberry, is another key returner in the backcourt. Braeden was a solid piece to slot next to Burton in the backcourt, giving a scoring spark and the ability to shoot the three (37.1% 3P). Other returners in the backcourt included J.R. Konieczny (8 ppg, 5 rpg), Julian Roper II (5 ppg, 4 rpg), and Logan Imes (2 ppg, 3 rpg). All three of those guys aren’t great shooters, but physical guards who defend well and rebound at a high rate.
Notre Dame’s frontcourt saw two key returners as well, junior forwards Tae Davis (9 ppg, 5 rpg) and Kebba Njie (4 ppg, 5 rpg). Burton is the only player on the roster that really pops off the page, but Davis was a decent offensive threat inside last season, shooting 48.4% from the field. Njie brings a physical presence to the five-spot, and combined with Davis did a solid job at grinding it out defensively down low.
Just two players departed from Notre Dame this offseason, both in the frontcourt. Carey Booth (6 ppg, 4 rpg) showed great promise in his freshman season, starting 19 games for the Fighting Irish, but is now off to Illinois. Matt Zona (2 ppg) gave the Fighting Irish a veteran presence in the frontcourt last season, but will use his final year of eligibility at Fordham.
Even with just two departures, Shrewsberry was able to recruit six addition this offseason, with much of last year’s roster filled with walk-ons. The three transfer portal additions found by Shrewsberry should all see playing time, bringing valuable experience to the roster. Princeton transfer Matt Allocco (13 ppg at Princeton) is the biggest pickup, a veteran sharpshooter (42.7% 3P) who has a solid ability to handle the ball as an off-guard. The other two portal additions are both mid-major big men, who each bring four years of experience to the Notre Dame frontcourt. Neither may start, but with the departures of Booth and Zona, there’s space for both Monmouth transfer Nikita Konstantynovskyi (9 ppg, 8 rpg at Monmouth) and Lehigh transfer Burke Chebuhar (8 ppg, 5 rpg).
Alongside the transfers, three high school recruits join the Fighting Irish roster this season. The standout name is Sir Mohammed (4*, NAT 72), a highly talented guard who can play and defend at any position 1-3. Mohammed should play from day one, and has a chance to break into the starting lineup at some point this season. Guard Cole Certa (4*, NAT 112) and forward Garrett Sundra (3*, NAT 157) round out the recruiting class for the Irish, both unlikely to play huge minutes in year one. I do like what Certa brings as a good shooter though, something Notre Dame heavily lacked last season.
Micah Shrewsberry is one of the more underrated coaches in the country in my opinion, able to do more with less in all three seasons as a head coach. I think the roster talent will eventually match his coaching ability, but even with a subpar roster this year I have hopes he can keep them afloat in the ACC. Shrewsberry has laid down the building blocks and with another step in the right direction this season, he can really start to build something at Notre Dame.
There is no question that Markus Burton will be the main guy for Notre Dame once again, returning after his spectacular freshman season. Alongside Burton, there are plenty of guys who Coach Shrewsberry hopes can provide more. The X-factors of this team for me are Matt Allocco and Sir Mohammed. Allocco fills the team’s desperate need of a shooter, and is a heavily experienced one at that. Mohammed will be just a freshman, but with freshmen playing heavy minutes last season, the floor is open for Mohammed to breakout in his first season just as Burton did.
It seems to be a common theme in recent years to say the ACC is down, but looking around this off-season, I don’t think the talent in the conference is overflowing. UNC and Duke will be very good, teams like Wake Forest and Louisville will be fun, but outside of the top two there really isn’t a large gap. I have Notre Dame finishing 12th in the new 18-team ACC, the same place they finished in last year’s 15-team version.