JotCast | Notre Dame basketball chat - March 2026

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Dylan from PA

10:42

Would you personally make a coaching change if you were AD?

Tom Noie

10:42

Chris: Frustration understood, but nobody at Notre Dame is dialing up the Tribune anytime soon to say, hey, what do you think about this idea moving forward?

Chris K

10:41

do you get any indignation from the university that they will raise the funds necessary to at least reach market value for the players or will they do nothing and watch ND hoops fall further into ACC basketball hell

Tom Noie

10:41

Eric: True on the other schools, but Notre Dame holds to the notion that college is about the student-athlete college experience. It doesn't want to be in the business of professional sports. It's a case where they rationalize it by saying, OK, we'll do as needed to be good at football because this is Notre Dame, but we're not going all in with the other sports. We're going to keep some dignity and do it this way. That way's not working.

Eric - Naperville, IL

10:40

The thing that confuses me the most is that academic schools that are similar to Notre Dame (Virginia, Duke, and Vanderbilt - to name three) have shown in recent years they are willing to spend on athletics across the board. How does Notre Dame not see that as a sign it should to?

Tom Noie

10:39

Pat: Do you have $40 million laying around? That's how much a reset will cost. Notre Dame isn't paying out $10 million for a roster. You think it's going to quadruple that to reset? Me neither.

Pat from Bordentown, NJ

10:38

To paraphrase Denzel Washington in Philadelphia; explain this to me like I’m a 6 year old. If Micah hasn’t shown any reason to believe he can coach, has embarrassed the University and now all of his guys are leaving him - why are we keeping him??? If the cupboard is completely bare, which it seems it will be (except his own kids) why not start completely from scratch with someone new??

Tom Noie

10:38

Steve: Fab Five at Notre Dame! Let's go!

Steve ‘77 from NJ

10:38

Tom, thank you for your coverage of ND. I’m actually glad to hear of the transfers from the program-maybe now the administration will awaken from their BBall slumber to “get with the program” and $ these guys. If so, they can be great in a few short years. Remember the Fab 5. If they open up their wallets, Oh boy!! I’m optimistic and think a new coach is also needed but let’s see how Shrew does with the greater university commitment- I don’t think they want to be a laughingstock, which we are on our way to being, and will pay up! Otherwise, better start recruiting the bookstore circuit…thank you!

Tom Noie

10:38

Jim: In the end, kids will be kids. They're on their own timetable, but each have had conversations with the staff about their intentions. Not sure it's curious or unjustified. They also may not be that aware that it matters.

Jim Tal, Valley Center CA,

10:36

Tom, please answer me this. If Certa, Haralson and Burton are gone as you suggest, then why in the heck don't they just announce that fact and be done with it instead of dragging things out. What could possibly be their rationale in withholding their intentions? Just come clean now and move on and stop playing games. This sort of delay comes across as nothing but bush league. Am I missing something here that could justify this rather curious and, to me, unjustified behavior?

Tom Noie

10:36

Dave: What Carson Towt did from a rebounding standpoint was more important than what he did from the free throw line. Jalen Haralson and Brady Koehler struggled from the foul line early, then were solid by season's end. Progress. Now Haralson will go be good for someone else. As for 3-point issues, Notre Dame finished sixth in the 18-team ACC in 3-point field goal percentage (.350) and seventh in 3-pointers made (9.00). Those numbers are solid. It circles back around to assists and assist/turnover ratio. Notre Dame was too loose with the ball and just gave it away at a rate you can't do to win. Get a true, nails tough point guard in there and see what happens.

Dave from West Covina, CALIFORNIA

10:32

Hi Tom and thank you for giving us Notre Dame basketball fans a forum: I have been with the Irish since the 1978 final four season. i have some things to say to improve the team for next season. It was great news to hear of Sundra and Sir leaving the team. When people don't want to stay it is good that they go. Sort of like in a relationship..... when the girl wants to leave why fight for her? Leave! I think the team needs players who are much better at the 3-point shot and the free throw line. How in the world can some of these players shoot around 50%? As much as I loved watching Towt rebound I could not believe what I was seeing at the free throw line. It was atrocious! How can a head coach allow players to shoot around 50%? That is the very first thing I would have my players be good at...... in baseball they should all know how to bunt first. In basketball the free throw line. These are called FUNDAMENTALS. Please let me know what you think and thank you again for everything you are doing

Tom Noie

10:32

Fresno Fan has spoken...

Fresno Fan

10:31

My fears from my earlier post seem to becoming a reality. I have been an Irish basketball fan since I stepped foot on campus in 1964. I have seen great teams and lousy ones but I always remained loyal. However I fear that is about to end. If Notre Dame doesn’t care about their men’s basketball program then why should I. I will keep following the women’s team but the men are dead to me unless ND makes an 180 degree turn fast. If the players are leaving solely because of money Bevacqua should match it. Otherwise they should drop out of the ACC and hope that the Horizon League might take them. I am sure there are many who agree with me.

Tom Noie

10:31

Pat: Hard to counter that. I care, though, whatever that means.

Pat from Bordentown, NJ

sorry, cut off. Now - my interest has drained to almost 0 the last several years. I have sen nothing to show me Micah can actually coach. The University doesn’t care. The players don’t care. The students don’t care. The community doesn’t care. Why should I? As another prominent voice in the industry frequently says “what are we even doing here?????”

10:29

Tom - I was a student in the Macleod years. Slept out for tickets Freshman year to get seats in the lower bowl. Never sat beyond the 2nd row from Sophomore through Senior Years. Disobeyed doctor’s orders to leave my bed with walking pneumonia to go to the game where the Fab Five started together for the first time.

Tom Noie

10:28

Paul: No idea, about any of it.

Paul R from Clifton park

10:28

Assuming the university actually steps up with NIL money, is Shrewsberry the right coach in this day and age? Or do we need someone who's less of a traditional recruiter and more able to strike in the portal? Would anyone who excels at that even consider ND?

Tom Noie

10:28

Paul: Not sure anyone's happy about where this program is, but not sure also that there's anything that can be done about it, outside of Notre Dame saying, that's it. We're going to become a player in this cesspool that is college basketball. That's not a jump that I see Pete Bevacqua willing to make. As long as he holds to the notion that college should be this wonderful four year student-athlete experience, the program's cooked.

Paul R from Clifton park

10:27

Given the exodus of players this year, it appears we are heading for a similar season (or worse) next year. Is this a case where admin is happy to let Shrewsberry continue on like for multiple years? Or does another year as an ACC doormat finally change things? Can ND change things given its academic tradition, even with more NIL money?

Tom Noie

10:27

Jim: Let me preface this by saying this isn't personal, but just business. Nothing against any of those three, but this chat is nothing if not honest, so here it goes - Sir Mohammed needed to go to rediscover his love for the game again. It wasn't going to happen here. Not sure what he did in high school to garner such a recruiting resume, but we NEVER saw it here. Garrett Sundra was too overmatched at the ACC level. Ryder Frost was allergic to defense who asked for a ridiculous amount of money after a season of ... nothing. Seriously, you would be shocked at what he believed was his fair market value. I'm still speechless.

JIm from Annandale, VA

10:24

Well Tom. The bad news is coming out of South Bend so fast that now both of my previously submitted questions have already been answered by you. Thank you for your on the spot and painfully (for the ND b-ball program leaders I hope) frank reporting on the truly sad state of Notre Dame basketball. Yet, I still have a question: Why aren't Sundra, Mohammed, and Frost sticking around? Or at least a couple of them. Playing time should not be a problem next year, with Burton, Haralson, and Certa out the door, and the ND administration unlikely to spend big on the portal. I could ask why would Brady Koehler stick around on college basketball's version of the Titanic, but I have a feeling you will report that Koehler is gone before I submit the question.

Tom Noie

10:23

Bobby: Thank you, thank you, thank you for getting us off this hamster wheel, if only for a few minutes. Great question. Not sure if I can go with only five. We need a horse, a sure-fire NBA guy who will get you go 20 and 10 every night. Come on down, Troy Murphy. We need the ultimate orchestrator who will just run everything. Hello, Jerian Grant. We need a guy who will strike fear in the other team's offensive guys. I see you Ryan Humphrey. We need a jack-of-all-trades winner. Let's go Pat Connaughton. And then we need someone who we're not going to run ANY plays for but will still be a machine. It's Bonzie Colson, ladies and gentlemen. My five is on the floor - Grant. Connaughton, Colson, Humphrey and Murphy. Of course, as quickly as we field that five, the question becomes, how in the @#$%^ can we afford them? That brings us back to reality and the reality is this - as magical as 2015 and 2016 was for Notre Dame, there's no way in #$%^@ that Notre Dame would field those teams today. Couldn't afford them.

Bobby from Virginia

10:19

If you had a blank slate and could pick 5 players from past ND rosters to rebuild this team, who would they be?

Tom Noie

10:13

Mark: It's trying to work magic when everyone can see you trying to work that magic. It's going to be really hard for Micah Shrewsberry, or anyone else, to do what everyone wants done with your NIL tied behind your back.

Mark from Rochester, NY

10:12

Tom, thanks for doing this as always. From reading your latest article, does it even matter about how shrews recruits or develops if the school won’t budge on NIL?

Chad from Toledo

10:12

Thanks Tom for chats! The time is NOW ND losing its players so what’s the reason to keep Coach? Go get Bobby H check on C Holtman get atleast established coaches that have learned valuable lessons! If ND loses Burton , Harelson n Certa next year is already over!!!So disappointing with this hire !

Tom Noie

10:11

Dan: Let our friend Andy Dufresne answer that one ... Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.

Irish Dan

10:10

Based on the reports of the NIL disparity… is there even reason to hope? If you’re not going to pay, how do you expect to compete? Good coaching alone won’t work at a P4 school when you can’t compete with conference foes and make the tournament. While I love Bevacqua’s commitment to football, it saddens me to see sports like basketball just get dumped. (Yes, I know football is the only money maker, but still…)

Tom Noie

10:09

Ben: Didn't know it was...

Ben - Ithaca, NY

10:09

Is it really on Micah Shrewsberry and Pat Garrity to fundraise for the program's NIL?

Tom Noie

10:09

Sean: It speaks to firing Micah Shrewsberry for the sake of firing him. Getting rid of the head coach isn't going to fix what ails the Irish. Not even close.

Sean - Niles, MI

10:08

Do you think Micah Shrewsberry is being given more time because Pete Bevacqua and the athletic department understand that no one worth anything would take the job as is?

Tom Noie

10:08

Aaron: What's happening with the Notre Dame basketball isn't just limited to the Notre dame basketball program. I get that it's the one program people here follow closest, but look around the country. There are 365 Division I college basketball programs. How many fan bases have issues with what their program is or isn't doing? I'd guess 360. Just look down the road here in Indiana at the flagship state school. Indiana once was a blueblood of the sport. It's not now. Sorry, Hoosiers fans, but it's not. Notre Dame basketball over the last 25 years has been better than Indiana. It's been better than Butler. It's been better than Georgetown. it's been better than a lot of programs. That Notre Dame basketball is stuck in this rut of mediocrity isn't unusual. Plenty of teams outside the true bluebloods roll through these cycles.

Aaron - Lake Zurich, IL

10:05

What will it take for there to be meaningful change within the program when it comes to resources and support? Are Bevacqua and company not embarrassed that the product has fallen to where it has? It just does not seem like there can be positive change until it is acknowledged that status quo and what the program is now and has been since the Texas Tech loss in 2022 is nowhere near acceptable.

Tom Noie

10:04

Scott: Never a dull moment.

Scott - Chicago, IL

10:03

Why should anyone even follow this program?

Tom Noie

10:03

and more

. What do they say, what's the answer to everything? Money.

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