Following a 13-20 2023-24 season in head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s first year, Notre Dame men’s basketball looks forward to the 2024 season with promise. The Irish finished 12th in ACC play with a record of 7-13 in and fell to Wake Forest in the second round of the conference tournament. Building on the success of freshman standouts, the Irish hope for an improved 2024-25 campaign.
Lacking it a season ago, only returning 1.5% of scoring, the Irish stressed continuity in the offseason. Notre Dame lost only two players to the transfer portal: senior forward Matt Zona and freshman forward Carey Booth, both important bench pieces for the Irish, but not essential weapons. Giving incoming freshmen guards the opportunity to grow in their place could make a world of a difference this season.
With the return of ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton and freshman sharpshooter Braeden Shrewsberry, the Irish look to build a core of scoring around the now sophomore centerpieces. Burton averaged 17.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 steals for the Irish at point guard last season, and scored 20 points in 11 games. ESPN ranked Burton as the 40th best player in college basketball, and he will look to improve on a remarkable freshman campaign. Forced to be the lone offensive engine last year, Burton will certainly have more help this time around. The Irish reloaded at the guard position in the offseason with big-time recruits and transfers to take the pressure off.
Fellow freshman and coach’s son Braeden Shrewsberry averaged 10.2 points and 2.5 rebounds on 37 percent from three-point range. However, at 39.8 percent from the field, he will have to improve his two-point efficiency and find a rhythm early on for this offense to be successful.
The Irish also retain junior forward Tae Davis, who averaged 9.2 points along with 5.1 rebounds. Often tasked with defending the opposing team’s best player in 2023, Davis will certainly be in for a challenge this season, facing elite players like Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis and Rutgers’s Dylan Harper, all projected lottery picks in this year’s NBA draft.
Returning players in the starting lineup also include junior forward Kebba Njie and senior forward J.R. Konieczny, who will look to improve on their 2023-24 seasons. Senior guard Julian Roper also returns as a defensive specialist who helped the Irish pester opposing guards throughout 2023 en route to the third best scoring defense in the ACC and top 50 in the country.
The addition of Matt Allocco, a graduate transfer guard from Princeton, will certainly add some much needed shooting for the Irish. Averaging 12.7 points shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from 3-point range last season, Allocco will bring the ability to create off the dribble to a team in need of scoring outside of its primary guards. Allocco was part of a Princeton team that finished first in the Ivy League and will bolster the winning mentality in South Bend. Burke Chebuhar, a senior forward from Lehigh who averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds also transferred in to provide the Irish with forward depth. He will also bring additional size at 6’8 230 pounds and a versatile ability to defend the paint. Both transfers add experience, a winning mentality and situation scoring to a young and still unproven Irish team.
Incoming freshmen guards Cole Certa and Sir Mohammed will look to make an immediate impact as well. While the Irish relied heavily on freshman ball handling and scoring last season with limited returners, this class will get more time for an adjustment to the speed of the college game. Mohammed, who was ranked 47th in the class of 2024 on 24/7 Sports, comes in as a 6’5 shooting guard who can be an impactful defender right away. The young prospects will need to work to carve out playing time from the jump, but should expect a more limited role early on with the returning experience.
The Irish landed their first five-star in program history for the class of 2025 in combo guard Jalen Haralson and currently sit third in the 24/7 recruiting rankings in recruits to start of this season.
Notre Dame will open up the season in Purcell Pavilion with a non-conference matchup against Stonehill on November 6th then face Buffalo and Georgetown the following week. They head to Las Vegas to take on preseason No. 25-ranked Rutgers on November 26th and No. 4-ranked Houston, an Elite Eight team in 2023, on the 28th. After going 6-7 in non-conference play last season, the Irish will hope to find an early-season rhythm with this year’s tests outside the ACC.
Notre Dame begins conference play on December 7th with an ACC home opener against Syracuse. Their next test comes on Christmas Eve at Georgia Tech before they take on No. 9-ranked North Carolina in Purcell for the Green Series game on January 4th. They play at NC State and No. 7-ranked Duke the following week. This Irish team will be quickly tested by the most prolific offenses in college basketball and face experienced teams who went on tournament runs last year. The ACC had four teams in the Sweet 16 and is one of the deepest conferences in college basketball. Amid recent conference realignment, the Irish will only play Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh twice, which is a lucky draw for scheduling.
With the transfer portal shifting the landscape of college basketball, the Irish rely on continuity with all five starters returning for the 2024 campaign. Projected to finish 10th out of 15 in the ACC preseason media vote, Notre Dame will have to challenge the conference’s top teams if they want a chance to make the NCAA tournament in Shrewsberry’s second season.
The Irish will take on Stonehill on November 6th in the Purcell Pavilion for their season opener. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. with ACC Network providing the broadcast.
