JotCast | ND Hoops summer chat 2025

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Tom Noie

11:56

Clint: Micah Shrewsberry is someone who is who he is when it comes to coaching. It's just the way he's wired.

Clint, Winnipeg

11:55

What are the chances that Coach Shrewsberry backs off somewhat on his in-game micro-management? You have spoken about this before -- that most of the coaching should be done in practices, not games -- and I have noticed it myself.

Tom Noie

11:54

Mike: Not likely. Midnight Madness at Notre Dame? Select dozens would go. And those open practices fell victim to lack of usher staffing at Purcell Pavilion on home weekends. Don't think those are coming back anytime, either.

Mike C, Oak Lawn

11:53

Tom - any chance of them resurrecting any kind of Midnight Madness or the open practices they used to have on home football weekends?

Tom Noie

11:51

Clint: None of the four (Matt Allocco, Burke Chebuhar, Nikita Konstantynovskyi, Julian Roper) have been added to Eurobasket database for 2025-26 season. Stay tuned. If they're playing somewhere next season, we'll find them...

Clint, Winnipeg

11:46

Any update on where, if anywhere, the graduating seniors might have landed for basketball (presumably overseas), if anywhere?

Tom Noie

11:46

Dave: Fair question, complex answer. The staff may have missed the first two years believing they could just go to the transfer portal for a serviceable big. Admissions may have said, yeah, that's not how we're going to operate. Then it was back to recruiting, where it takes two to tango (that's what they say). Notre Dame came up empty its first two recruiting cycles, then signed Tommy Anheman. Not saying he's the second coming of (insert elite big) but you have to start somewhere. In some ways, in a lot of ways, this staff is still figuring out what works and what doesn't at Notre Dame in terms of recruiting.

Dave from DC

11:43

Why has Shrews had such a difficult time finding reliable big men? We haven't had players who could score in the post since Paul Atkinson. Never mind rim protection, offensive rebounding, lob threats, etc.

Tom Noie

11:43

Chris: Great question with (almost) no wrong answer. I'd go with John Paxson, Chris Thomas and Pat Garrity. Still too soon for Mike Brey. He'd probably agree. Let's wait until the program is good again before we roll out the former guy and celebrate all that he did.

Chris

11:42

If they asked you to pick the next 3 people to go into the Ring of Honor who would you take??
id go Brey, Chris Thomas, and Pat Garrity

Tom Noie

Probably a different level of disdain if his name was Nick Smith.

11:36

Mike: Blank slate, mainly because he's not been available on just about everything. No idea what his thoughts on anything men's basketball. If you see him, ask him for me.

Mike C, Oak Lawn

11:35

What's your impression of Pete Bevacqua so far, at least from a hoops perspective? Good, bad, too soon to tell.....?

Tom Noie

11:35

Mike: Having Jon Sanderson devoted solely to men's basketball should help, but we might want to pump the brakes on that one. Greg Miskinis, the previous strength and conditioning coach for men's basketball, followed Micah Shrewsberry from Penn State. He was going to be men's basketball and men's basketball only at Notre Dame and was for much of his first year, until he had other sports/duties tossed atop his desk. By early last year, he was like, yeah, this isn't what I signed up for. Enter Sanderson. If he's men's basketball and only men's basketball in two, three years, then we'll assess.

Mike C, Oak Lawn

11:32

Speaking of weight training, I'm guessing the team's access to their own S&C coach has paid some dividends

Tom Noie

11:28

Clint: Tae Davis had an offer he couldn't refuse. It's the way of the college basketball world today.

Clint, Winnipeg

11:27

Was Tae Davis transferring simply about NIL money that ND didn't have or wouldn't give him?

Tom Noie

11:27

Mike: Hate it. If you're going to allow 76, why not allow all 352. Everybody plays! That's really what's driving this - coaches insist that it's too hard to get access to it, which leads to them being fired. So the fix is ....everybody in the pool. Hate it.

Mike C, Oak Lawn

11:26

Tom -- also, what are your thoughts on the pending changes in the NCAA tourney to 70+ teams. Is the NIT dead (or at least more dead than it already was)? I think they're diluting the product in the name of content.

Tom Noie

11:25

Paul: Word is that we won't recognize Garrett Sundra now compared to the end of last season. Let's see.

Paul from SB southside

11:24

I agree Kebba has to improve and I don't mean suddenly stepping out and knocking down 7 threes a game, just finish consistently around the basket! Any idea how much Sundra committed to offseason weight training?

Tom Noie

11:24

Dave: College teams can go on a foreign tour during summer once every four years. Notre Dame went to Spain last season, a trip that should have helped but really didn't, so it has to wait three more years after this one before it can go again.

Dave from DC

11:23

Any idea whether AD Pete Bevoqua and Coach Shrews are considering a foreign tour for the team in the near future?

Tom Noie

11:22

Mike: Amen. A winning program would work wonders, to the point where all that nonsense isn't necessary. When the question comes up as it invariably does about what's wrong with the fan experience of Purcell Pavilion, it's not just one area. It's everything. Going to a Notre Dame men's basketball game is like having not showered for a week and just spraying some deodorant over your stink and saying, all right, let's go. The whole atmosphere needs a cleanse, something that winning will certainly help.

Mike C, Oak Lawn

11:20

Tom, speaking of turning Purcell into a home court advantage, is there any chance the powers that be will take a look at the game experience? None of the usual halftime performers have been in evidence; I can't remember the last Red Panda appearance. The focus on the screen and the constant DJ din can be a real turn-off. I know I sound like an old man yelling at a cloud, but I think if they want to get the crowds back in the arena, in addition to winning basketball, they need to think about stuff like that.

Tom Noie

11:19

Clint: The staff's been intact for three years. That tells you all you need to know.

Clint, Winnipeg

11:19

Have any of the assistant coaches been rumored to be going elsewhere, or are they all pretty tied to Shrewsberry?

Tom Noie

11:02

Se above. Sir Mohammed doesn't necessarily need to improve as much as he needs to stay healthy. Kebba Njie? Improve. Big leap from the big man.

Illinois Fool

11:01

Hey Tom, which player do you think will need to improve the most for the Irish to be successful?. My thought is SIr Mohammed

Tom Noie

11:01

Chris: We've talked a lot already (and it's not even 11 a.m.) about Garrett Sundra and Sir Mohammed and Jalen Haralson, but the most obvious answer is Kebba Njie. Notre Dame hasn't been taken all that seriously the last two years because Njie doesn't do enough for other teams to be concerned about what he does do. If he can catch and finish with absolute regularity, it can open so many other options. Njie is on the floor for his defensive presence and ability to communicate/help teammates, but it's time for him to do more. Third year at Notre Dame. Fourth year in college, a guy who toyed with turning pro. It's time to be the old, good (serviceable) guy, not just the old guy.

Chris

10:58

Who is the player on last years team that has to up his game for the team to be noticeably better? I’m not saying for them to be Sweet 16 good. But make that jump and it causes everyone to take the Irish a lot more seriously

Tom Noie

10:58

Paul: See above answers...

Paul from SB southside

10:58

With an upgrade in talent, any hope Shrews doesn't coach every pass, cut, shot, of every player every minute? Let the boys play!

Tom Noie

10:58

Mark: The best basketball is when sets AREN'T run. The game flows. The players know where the ball should go before they get it. They just play. Sets are fine in the halfcourt, but it's so much nicer to see five guy out there thinking and playing and operating as one. Not looking to the bench to hear what set the head coach wants to run. That's no indictment on any head coach. Still believe that the most important coaching a head coach does is from 3:30 to 5:30 every day on the practice court. Then, come game night, you let what you taught come through. Isolation ball can work if you have a counter or two or three off said Iso. If it's just, ah, just try to get to the basket, which is what we've too often seen, that's not going to work. Notre Dame can still run a high ball screen, but run it with the thought of, I can do this and this instead of just this.

Mark from Rochester, NY

10:55

I have mentioned this a lot in chats throughout the year but I just don’t understand the infatuation with iso ball for Burton or the departed Davis. Will we see more sets run? Or is the iso a product of his team not being very good?

Tom Noie

10:54

Bobby: Trust. In his guys. In his system. In the direction of the program. Trust that what he and his staff are teaching them during the week in Rolfs Hall will translate to the court on game nights, to the point where he doesn't have to coach every single second of every single possession. Trust that the five on the floor will figure it out. There's still so much there that we haven't seen. This is the year to start seeing it.

Bobby from Virginia

10:52

In what ways does Micah Shrewsberry need to grow as a coach and leader in year 3? Will Pat Garrity’s role help in relieving some off-the-court load that maybe spilled into on-the-court stress during year 2?

Tom Noie

10:51

Clint: Matthew MacLellan is a 6-foot-9, 215-power forward who played last season at Madonna (Mich.), an NAIA school. He averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 28.3 minutes. He played in 31 games and made 30 starts. He shot .573 percent from the field, .321 percent from 3 and .675 percent from the foul line. He was a second team All-Wolverine/Hoosier Athletic Conference pick...and he's now a scholarship member of the Notre Dame basketball team. Where does he fit? Back end of the rotation/insurance guy, someone the staff took a flyer on as a one-year guy. If he hits, it's a bonus. If he doesn't, it's OK, too,

Clint, Winnipeg

10:48

What do we know about this Matthew MacLellan that you mentioned as a transfer? Where does he fit, if he even does?

Tom Noie

10:38

Ryan: Let's list them in order of potential playing time. Let's go with Jalen Haralson, who will be a main guy right away, Then Ryder Frost for his ability to stretch the floor with his shooting. Maybe he becomes the express version of Cole Certa last year. Certa wasn't ready to help until late, and then he helped. Frost might help from the start. Brady Koehler may need a year in the weight room. He's just so ... skinny. It will be hard to get to Tommy Anheman with any regularity. Kebba Njie's going to play. Carson Towt's going to play. A third big isn't.

Connecting…