JotCast | February 26 Notre Dame hoops chat

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Tom Noie

12:22

Ben: I do. Micah Shrewsberry has talked often this month about it being process-oriented and not results-oriented. He believes there's some good stuff happening, even if the record doesn't show it. Like what? Let's use the SMU games of 2025 (at Notre Dame) and 2026 (at SMU) as examples of process and progress. Notre Dame lost both, but it's the way it lost that gets lost in the details of another league L. Last season, the SMU loss was probably the lowest point for the program under Shrewsberry. It came on the heels of his post-game Louisville rant. Notre Dame then was down by 25 points at halftime, trailed by as many as 34 (it really could have been 54) and lost by 24 points. This year in Dallas against arguably a better SMU team, Notre Dame trailed by as many as 14 and lost by eight. Moral victories are for dopes, but Notre Dame took something out of that loss that might be a benefit somewhere down the line.

Ben

12:16

I'm not a fan of Shrews coaching ability, but in fairness to him, he is working with limited talent without Burton. Do you think he will be back as head coach next season?

Tom Noie

11:52

Mike: And that's fine, but they're gone. let them go. Who cares what they say after they're done with Notre Dame? I don't get it. It reached a point where people weren't happy unless Matt Doherty lost or Brian Kelly lost. Let it go. Don't want to hear it? Don't listen to it. Don't let it get to you. It really is that easy. If you know a truth, and others around you know a truth, who cares what someone who doesn't know - or doesn't want to know - thinks? There's too much hate in the world to, well, hate.

Mike, Oak Lawn

11:48

To me, it's not that the people you reference leave, it's how they respond after they leave. Gottleib complained about "rich ND kids" and blamed everyone but himself for what he did. Kelly talked about "alignment" and implied heavily that ND was holding him back from greatness. ND fans don't want to hear that kind of thing, especially when they're not true.

Tom Noie

11:48

Jeff: Duke needs to beat Michigan on Saturday and come to town as the No. 1 team in the country so Purcell Pavilion can work its magic against No. 1 teams. That and Notre Dame has to have the game of its collective lives. Not put even more pressure on itself because of the moment. Meet it. Embrace it. It's lining up for Notre Dame to take a massive step.

Jeff from Schererville, IN

11:46

What are some things that need to happen Tuesday night for ND to hang in there with Duke?

Tom Noie

11:46

Bob: Garrett Sundra, yes. Brady Koehler, not so much. Think Sundra plays at a better pace as a reserve in relation to being a starter. Koehler is still figuring out this college basketball stuff, and how to stack a good game atop another good game atop another. That he's been able to work through everything while still a starter isn't nothing.

Bob from Chicago

11:44

Koehler and Sundra seem to play better off the bench than starting, Do you agree?

Tom Noie

11:15

Tim: Great question, but it's not just Doug Gottlieb. Before him, I got the same kind of fan hate about Matt Doherty, who left Notre Dame after one year to return to North Carolina....because MICAHEL FREAKING JORDAN told him he had to take the job!! I get the same vibes from Notre Dame fans about Brian Kelly. Yeah, like you wouldn't jump at a job offer that was going to pay you $10 million a year for 10 years. Sometimes I wonder if fan is short for dope. Whether it's Doug Gottlieb or Matt Doherty or Brian Kelly, just let it go. Concern yourself with who's at Notre Dame today and not who's no longer there. It makes no sense, and no amount of explanation will ever suffice. For all the people who have left Notre Dame for various reasons, there's dozens more who deserve your praise. I'll never understand the hate, other than to wonder if those "fans" are so insecure/miserable in their lives that the only time they're happy is when they're unhappy - or happy by dwelling on someone else's missteps.

Tim from Chicago

11:09

Hi Tom, ND adjacent question but still college bball related. Why does Doug Gottlieb still get under the skin of ND fans even though he hasn't stepped foot on campus since the late 90's, has apologized for what he did while a student athlete at ND (I know nobody else has ever made a knucklehead mistake in their late teens, right), and even talks kindly about ND and his former teammates here and Coach Macleod (RIP) on his various platforms. Have you ever run across him during your career and what are your impressions of him?

Tom Noie

11:07

Pat: Cole Certa is a certified - sorry - starting two guard in college basketball. His days of coming off the bench should be over. Forever.

Pat, Pittsburgh

11:06

In your opinion, does Certa go back to sixth man next year if Harralson and Burton return or does Shrewsbury go with a smaller lineup? Thank you

Tom Noie

11:06

Tim: Soon! No promises made, but this was always going to take time and patience - probably more than what the fans wanted to offer or acknowledge. Notre Dame is asked to do it the old way in this new world of college basketball. It's not an easy fix, no matter the head coach. Notre Dame basketball was something special in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was something special at times during its days in the Big East. It was special in 2015 and 2016. It can be that way again, right?

Tim from Chicago

11:04

Hi Tom, thanks again for guiding us through another year of ND Basketball. It feels like it has been a chore watching this team over the last handful of years going all the way back to the Goodwin, Laz, Hubb days. When will they be fun to watch again? Sigh.

Tom Noie

11:00

This goes to what ails Notre Dame basketball. It's all-encompassing. It's not just the head coach or the current roster or the administrative restrictions or the salty fan base. It's everything that has combined in 2026 to make it hard for this program to be what it once was. Notre Dame is the eighth winningest program in college basketball history. Can't just let that slip away into the current abyss that is the game.

10:58

Mike: I don't, in part because we're too far down the road with him being who he is, and the fact that he has never seen himself as the outgoing type. That was a mistake from above. Someone somewhere along the line had to have suggested to him to be more open to going here and there and doing this and that to help drum up support for the program. Sell the program before the program has a chance to sell itself. By the time Notre Dame basketball gets good, the minds of many are already made up - they're not in the Micah Shrewsberry business.

Mike, Oak Lawn

10:55

Tom, regarding the "standing on tables in South Dining Hall" stuff, I do think something like that would go a long way to building up some goodwill for Shrews. We hear an awful lot about "foxholes" and whatnot that seems to pre-suppose that goodwill, but he hasn't done a lot on his side for it. Historically, the ND basketball coach has always had to try harder to build up support for the #2 (at best) sport on campus, but Shrews seems to take it for granted. Do you think that kind of outreach would be something he could do?

Tom Noie

10:55

Jeff: The minute that Markus Burton steps back on the floor for however many minutes in whatever regular-season game, he goes from two years of eligibility remaining to one year of eligibility remaining. From that standpoint, really, from a financial standpoint, there is no reason for Markus Burton to return this season (which he likely won't). If he sits, he has two years of eligibility remaining (and really, two more years of $$$).

Jeff from Schererville, IN

10:53

Thanks for the chats, Tom. If Burton returns this season (and that's a big if even though he's looked healthier and more eager to get back out there the last couple times I've seen him on the bench or on the court during pregame) how would that affect his remaining eligibility? 2 years left no matter what? 1 year left no matter what? 2 years left if he doesn't play at all the rest of this season but 1 year left even if he plays just 1 second the rest of this season? Thanks!

Tom Noie

10:51

Ken: Pittsburgh is a cover from your couch kind of game, especially if Notre Dame-Boston College becomes another de facto ACC Tournament play-in game. Prediction? No score, but a summary - Notre Dame is due to build off the Georgia Tech win. Pittsburgh's not very good. Beatable. Go beat them.

Ken W

10:49

Tom, so how about a prediction for the game Saturday in Pittsburgh?!! Your going, right? lol

Tom Noie

10:49

Now we get 13 league games into Year Three and everyone has decided, yeah, we're out. Micah Shrewsberry can't do this and Micah Shrewsberry can't do that and changes absolutely have to be made for the good of the free world. Wait, after ONE season? You've determined he's not the right guy after one season. The first two, forget them. They don't count. One year and it's, yeah, we're ready to clean house and start over and go right back to where Notre Dame was when Mike Brey ran the program into the ground. Says a lot about where "fans" are today, doesn't it? Think if Micah Shrewsberry was more a people person and offering to buy beers for the first 500 students into games and standing on tables at South Dining Hall, the narrative would be a little less ... toxic.

10:46

John: Your question cut off, but I get what you're trying to say. This is the part of the chat where "fans" won't be happy with me. That's fine. I'll own it. All we heard was how a certain former Irish head coach drove this program into the ground before leaving, which left the new guy with next to nothing. Nearly every comment in 2023-24 was prefaced with some form of .... since Mike Brey trashed the program .... blah, blah, blah. So, that first year was a wash for those reasons. Got it. The second year really was a wash for myriad other reasons, be it roster makeup, injuries, whatever. First two seasons, it was more about staying afloat and trying to figure it out than it was winning games....

John

10:43

I’m so tired of the “fire Shrews” posts. I don’t see how anyone could determine whether or not he is now or will be a good head coach considering the hand he was

Tom Noie

10:34

Matthew MacLellan is on scholarship. He was added late as a backup big.

Bob from Chicago

10:34

Tom, is MacLellan on scholarship? Thanks

Tom Noie

10:34

But this ACC schedule thing is just as bizarre. Notre Dame and Georgia Tech have been permanent repeat opponents since Notre Dame joined the league in 2013-14, only they play once this season. Stanford becomes a repeat opponent - why???? - and no Wake Forest. Saw the other night that North Carolina and North Carolina State play once once this season for the first time in over 100 years. What are we doing here? Leagues certainly aren't helping their coaches retain their jobs, either. Want to find yourself on the hot seat? Miss your league tournament. That seat gets toasty in a hurry.

10:32

Mike: It's not. It's like an arranged marriage. Knowing what leagues know now about the College Football Playoff (because, honestly, it's really all about football), all the teams that changed conferences would be better off staying put. You think USC has a better chance now of being a CFP team in the Big 10 or in the Pac-12? Same for name your team and conference. Ride this out until football breaks away from all the other sports and just does its own thing....

Mike, Oak Lawn

10:30

I think it's ridiculous that the ACC not only has teams not going to its tournament in the first place, but there also are teams not playing each other at all (no Wake Forest game this year). How tenable do you believe this coast-to-coast setup is for the conference long-term?

Tom Noie

10:30

Mike: Pat Garrity wears three different hats for Notre Dame, which I believe are two too many, but I digress. He's the general manager of the men's basketball program. He's the general manager of the women's basketball program. He's also the athletic administrator for the men's basketball program, which in the past was handled by the likes of Bill Scholl, Jim Phillips and Jim Fraleigh. His job is to look at the programs from a 35,000-foot view. Big picture only. What recruits might fit at Notre Dame? How would said recruit fit in terms of payroll. What will future rosters cost? How can Notre Dame fit within those parameters. He has next to nothing with Xs and Os or basketball practice plans or, sigh, game plans. He's an administrator who knows what a Notre Dame student-athlete looks like.

Mike, Oak Lawn

10:26

Speaking of Pat Garrity, how does his role fit into the typical org chart in the athletic department. Does he serve more as a consultant-type working with Bevacqua and Shrews, or is there a reports-to aspect to it?

Tom Noie

10:23

How about maturation of said players being pushed under the basket. Remember, Notre Dame went all of the second semester, and part of the first, without a designated strength coach last season. That stunted the development of the current sophomore class to the point where they were really third semester freshmen when everything started this season.

Jack from Rye,NY

10:22

More optimism needed? ( my wife can’t believe it but I digress…). If you look at Jon Sanderson’s body as a HS Senior, you will conclude he is a poster boy for his father’s strength and conditioning program. He looks like Matt Farrell body type. Now if he can shoot like him and have same tenacity then we have something. Bottom line here is that if players buy in, maybe we stop getting pushed under the basket on missed free throws.

Tom Noie

10:22

Mark: Probably a fine line between caring about free throws and harping on it to the point where it ties guys up in knots. Not sure if demanding guys make 75 percent of their free throws in practice drills or they have to run sprints is the best way to go about it. Address it, acknowledge it and then trust your guys to work on it on their own. Everyone knew that Carson Towt wasn't a good free throw shooter. This isn't just a Notre Dame thing. It's been a whole college career thing. But for every Carson Towt, there's a Brady Koehler or a Sir Mohammed. Koehler's free throw percentage has gone from .711 overall to .742 in league games. Mohammed has gone from .571 to .641. Micah Shrewsberry talks often about this program being process-oriented and not results-oriented. Those jumps too often get lost in the shuffle of ... Notre Dame is 3-10 in the ACC. Fire everybody!!!! Gotta look a little deeper for progress. It's there.

Mark from Rochester, NY

10:18

does the staff not care about free throws? I’m glad the Irish are not the team from central ny (were 360/361 in ft%) but it seems to kill them in close games. I know you have said what’s stopping players from shooting 1,000 after practice but can the staff do anything?

Tom Noie

10:18

To be determined, right?

Mark from Rochester, NY

10:17

Piggying off my last question, will recruiting take a hit after seeing the results of this season and shrews tenure as a whole?

Tom Noie

10:17

Mark: Think of it as a college basketball coach still figuring out how to be a college basketball coach. He's in his fifth season as a high-major head coach doing a job that's not easy.

Mark from Rochester, NY

10:16

This may have been asked and answered but where is the disconnect between shrews the coach and shrews the recruiter? His actual coaching doesn’t seem to get close to how he can recruit

Tom Noie

10:16

Mark: Uh, wait, what? You do know that Rolfs was already built before they decided, heck with it, let's make the student activities center the basketball practice facility. That took about 12 years to figure out before they settled on that route. Why not give the program more resources? You do know that this has been a common question for, oh, the last 30 years, right? There seems to be a clause in every men's basketball coach's contract of you will do more with way less and like it. Joking, but not really. Notre Dame basketball has always been asked/expected/demanded to punch far above its weight class. Even when it went to consecutive Elite Eights, it wasn't like the program went out and built those win-now rosters overnight.

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