The Notre Dame men’s basketball team comes into the 2025-26 season with the biggest expectations they’ve had since the start of the Micah Shrewsberry era. Coming off of a season where the team went 15-18 overall and 8-12 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, Irish fans were left wanting more. There were glimpses of hope for the young team last year, and with a strong recruiting class this year, Irish fans are certainly hoping for the team to make their first appearance in the big dance since 2022.
With the return of junior guard Markus Burton, who averaged 21.3points per game last year, Notre Dame knows where a lot of their scoring will be coming from. Burton has already been receiving honors, being named to the preseason All-ACC First Team and being named to the Cousy Award watchlist, which goes to the top point guard in the country at the end of the year. Every strong team needs a go-to player and a leader, and Notre Dame has theirs with Burton this year. Defenses will know their focal point before playing the Irish, so the surrounding pieces around Burton will need to step up if the Irish want a stronger record than last year.
That first surrounding piece around Burton is junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry, most well known for his work beyond the arc. Shrewsberry comes off a strong season averaging 14.0 ppg and shooting 36.9% from three as a high volume shooter. In Shrewsberry’s sophomore season, he added more facets to his game with a stronger floater and better ball handling. It will be interesting to see what Shrewsberry added to his game this offseason and how he will complement Burton in the backcourt.
With the loss of forward Tae Davis to the transfer portal, Notre Dame’s highest-ranked recruit in modern history, freshman guard Jalen Haralson from La Lumiere High School in Indiana,will likely be joining Burton and Shrewsberry in the starting lineup. Haralson will look to fill Davis’ shoes as a strong piece as both a scorer and a defensive stopper. Haralson is expected to be Notre Dame’s third leading scorer by many, and if he could do that, he will propel the Irish to a more promising season and be seen as one of the top freshmen in the ACC.
The biggest question in the starting lineup heading into the season is the frontcourt. The Irish seemingly haven’t had a strong paint presence since Paul Atkinson in 2022, which is conveniently the last time Notre Dame made the NCAA tournament. Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry will be looking for senior forward Kebba Njie and transfer senior forward Carson Towt to be a strong tandem in the frontcourt to support the proven backcourt.
The Notre Dame bench will likely revolve around sophomore guard Sir Mohammed, sophomore forward Garrett Sundra and sophomore guard Cole Certa. Micah Shrewsberry will hope to get more bench production from some of the other freshmen like forward Ryder Frost and forward Brady Koehler. Another interesting piece off the bench will be junior guard Logan Imes who had an impact off the bench throughout his first two seasons with Notre Dame. If guys like Sir Mohammed and Garret Sundra can step into bigger roles to give the Irish some depth, Notre Dame will be circled on more teams’ calendars.
Notre Dame starts the season off with three home games in which they should be able to test out different lineups and get comfortable without much stress before their first real test at Ohio State on Nov. 16. If the Irish can secure that win before heading into the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, they will play with confidence against a strong team in Kansas where they could possibly notch a ranked win.
In many preseason rankings of the ACC, Notre Dame was picked to finish middle of the pack. Teams like Duke, North Carolina and Louisville were picked to end around the top of the ACC. Notre Dame will have the opportunity to match up against all three of these teams offering them a chance to make noise in the ACC and around the country. The Irish will have firepower behind Burton and Shrewsberry, but the fate of the season will likely depend on the supporting players to truly round out the roster and win conference games consistently.
Irish fans are expecting to finally see some results in Shrewsberry’s third year as head coach with respectable leaders and the strongest recruiting class we’ve seen in recent years. The team is hoping to pack Purcell Pavilion once again by starting off strong early in the season and using that momentum to carry them the whole year. Notre Dame’s basketball seasons have been hard to predict in the past few years, but this year’s team is poised to have their best season since Micah Shrewsberry took over as head coach.
The Notre Dame men’s basketball team prepares to host LIU for their home opener on Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.