JotCast | Notre Dame basketball - January 2026 chat

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Jim in Charlottesville VA

11:44

Hello Tom & All. Glad to converse at the Chat. Is Shrews’ Offense too choreographed? If so, yet are Haralson and Muhammad m

Tom Noie

11:44

Chad: Had Markus Burton been injured five or 10 years ago, heck, even four years ago, a medical redshirt wouldn't be all that appealing. Ah, but now, in the age when he can stay in college and make a high-six figure salary for being a college basketball player? Sitting out the rest of the season and retaining two full seasons of eligibility has to be a consideration for someone who can make more money that he'd ever had in his life. Magic 8 ball says....definitely a possibility.

Chad from Toledo

11:41

Hi Tom thanks for the chats!Whats your thoughts on Burton taking a medical redshirt? Either way does he come back next year(NBA)or could we get 2 more years of Markus??

Tom Noie

11:34

Dan: Honestly, and seriously, nothing. Not from a recruiting standpoint. Not from a recruit standpoint. Notre Dame is who it is when it comes to the kind of player it recruits/develops/etc. It's always going to work around the fringes of the elite college basketball player, as it has for decades, and then every once in a while have someone like Jalen Haralson say, you know what, I want to be different and be the guy who chooses Notre Dame instead of the guy who goes somewhere else. Notre Dame rarely will be in the business of the one-and-done recruit. It rarely will be in the business of adding excellence out of the portal. It has to recruit guys and develop guys. If it doesn't do that, it doesn't have much to fall back on. There's no Plan B.

Dan - Chicago

(accidentally hit enter), point being what is different and improved about the ND program now that Shrewsberry is in charge?

11:31

I think the most important thing in college basketball is recruiting. And from what I've seen so far from Shrewsberry is that he get pretty much the same players Brey got. I call them the 3.5 star recruits. The guys just barely inside the top 100 or just barely outside the top 100. The only difference has been Haralson and even with him I wasn't too exciting as I thought he'd be gone right away that's the until we found out the good news and bad news about Haralson, he can't hit an outside shot (good news cause he won't be going pro anytime soon, bad news, is well he can't make an outside shot. But my point being sans Haralson these are all the same type of players that Brey got. Some of them overachieved, think the two elite eight teams and some of them underachieved, and think of Brey's last year where the team went 11-20 despite having some very talented player (granted they all played the same position

Tom Noie

11:30

Right there with you, Billy. At least with the Brady Koehler part of your question. Jalen Haralson is an obvious talent, but the one player on the roster with the most upside/limitless ceiling is Brady Koehler. Said it earlier, keep the sunglasses handy for when the lightbulb comes on for Koehler and he puts it all together. As for Sundra, his situation was addressed earlier. No reason to rinse and repeat other than to say, a starter at this level needs to give more, be more. Do more.

Billy Mc

11:28

Tom, Am I the only one who sees Brady Koehler as a future NBA draft pick and Garrett Sundra as a future bench warmer in the Israeli league? Does Micah have his reasons for playing Sundra so much in spite of his mostly empty stat sheet?

Tom Noie

11:28

Mike: Send sunshine...no, wait, scrap that, it's 45 degrees and sunny today. Anyway, I've got you covered in today's Tribune. Here: https://tinyurl.com/4zmvwnbx

San Diego Mike

11:27

Any news on Burtons injury / progress?

Tom Noie

11:26

I'm not Micah Shrewsberry and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I'll fill my cup up with a Dr. Pepper fountain drink and answer in his sted...The positives that I will take away and that my team will take away from the end of the Cal game is I won't ever stop fighting for those guys, for that program, for that university. Did I make a mistake? Yes, a thousand times, it was wrong for me to do what I did, but I will be better for it. This team will be better for it to the point where we won't be in that situation again. We move forward.

Guest

Shouldn't have hit send! What positives do you and the team takeaway from your actions at the end of the Cal game?

11:23

Coach, I do appreciate the time and effort you spend doing whatever it takes to advance this team.

Tom Noie

11:23

Joe: Getting a quality big out of the transfer portal will be Job One (after roster retention) during the spring. That's easier said and harder done given the climate of the transfer portal/NIL budgets, etc. Are big men as talented as they need to be at Notre Dame really going to give Notre Dame a look when it can go elsewhere? It's going to be tricky to thread that big man transfer needle.

Guest

11:21

Tom, what do you think ND will do with the center position next year? They will have two very young centers. Will they hit the transfer portal? Joe from River Forest, IL.

Tom Noie

11:19

We've re-entered the silly question portion of the chat. Hey, Guest, do you know Mike from Milwaukee? You guys should meet for a couple cold ones. Are you really comparing Notre Dame basketball to Michigan basketball? Like, they play the same sport but one program is light years away from the other. Likely always will be. And I hate to be THAT guy, but it's always going to feel like Notre Dame has a roster of "try hard" guys who would make all-Bookstore leagues. That doesn't mean you can't succeed. You have to squeeze every ounce of ability and talent and try hard to get there, but Notre Dame can get there. Notre Dame will never be Michigan. It will never be Houston or Alabama or Arizona. But it doesn't have to be Boston College or Georgia Tech or Wake Forest, either. Right now, that's where Notre Dame is.

Guest

11:16

Tom- when does this get better? Why does it always feel like we always have a roster full of “try hard” bookstore basketball all stars? Michigan’s coach has been in Ann Arbor for 5 minutes and they win every game by 30, what gives?

Tom Noie

11:15

To be determined. We don't know if Micah Shrewsberry can sustain success at Notre Dame until he has success at Notre Dame. First two seasons was all about staying afloat and not drowning after the coaching change/shift. The season Notre Dame finishes with a winning Atlantic Coast Conference record or advances to postseason play (in whatever way, shape or form) is the year the clock officially starts on whether Shrewsberry can sustain that by following with another season or two or three of success. Too much is still unknown, and rightfully so. This was always going to take time and patience and be filled with potholes along the way. As for part two, who am I sending out to foul an opposing player? Someone I have the utmost trust in to make the right play at the right time. Micah Shrewsberry trusts nobody more than Logan Imes.

Guest

11:12

Tom- really enjoy your coverage of Irish hoops. I know you’ve been around ND and college hoops, what’s your gut say on Micah’s chances of sustained success at ND?
if you were going to send someone to foul in the final seconds of the Cal game wouldn’t you send a quick athletic player to do that?

Tom Noie

11:11

We interrupt our Notre Dame basketball chat for no real reason other than to offer up the latest NCAA NET rankings. Notre Dame (10-5 overall; 1-1 ACC) currently has a NET of 60. Last season, Notre Dame had a NET of 103. The year before that, it had a NET of 124. So there's that.

11:03

Another "guest" - look, I appreciate the questions and the comments and the interest, but it's not that hard to add your name and hometown. Helps limit the belief that you're somebody in your mom's basement. Not hard, right? Add a name. That said, don't hold out hope that the offense will find a flow when Markus Burton returns. That might not happen. And I'm good with it running through someone like Carson Towt. He's so limited offensively that he's never going to be a back-to-the-basket guy, so that limits what the Irish can do. It doesn't limit his passing ability. He's third on the team in assists. With everything said, this team should be able to move it and share it way better than it has in the last three years. Notre Dame finished with 27 assists at TCU. How about using that blueprint moving forward? The next time I watch an Irish game and don't say, "one more..." when it comes to moving the ball will be the first time during Shrewsberry's tenure. Want to keep the defense off balance? Move the ball.

Guest

11:00

Our offense frustrates me! It runs through the center, either ball screens, or passes followed by dribble handoffs using players who can’t shoot or handle the ball well. It seems to end predominantly in double teams or strong hedges that jams up the offense and wastes the shot clock. We’d do better spreading out, allowing space for Burton when back, and Haralson to drive, and have use Towt/Njie to set off ball screens to free 3 point shooters. What is your take?

Tom Noie

10:59

I do have to push back a bit on why Brady Koehler doesn't seem to put on weight. He arrived on campus in June at 180 pounds. He's up to 205, and maybe closer to 215. He's putting on weight. He's getting stronger. When the lightbulb goes on for him, better have the sunglasses at the ready.

10:58

Jack: Going glass half full, which will floor more than a few long-time readers/followers. Yes, Notre Dame would like to have the Purdue Fort Wayne and Cal games back, but even with the PFW no-show and Cal collapse, there's a good Notre Dame team in there. You might have to look long and look hard, but it's in there. It has its flaws, but guess what, EVERY team has its flaws. This is a Notre Dame team that went to TCU and beat the same TCU team that should have won at Allen Fieldhouse. That's not nothing. It just isn't. We've seen the bad, but we've seen a lot of good the first two months not to be optimistic that it will carry over. Notre Dame had no business - none - winning seven league games in Micah Shrewsberry's first season. It had only a little business winning eight league games last year. Why not win 10, 11 league games this year? Is this team from top to bottom not better than those first two?

Jack

Glass half empty: There are so many obvious flaws that either don’t improve or are getting worse: Haralson foul shooting makes his iso plays easier to defend— just hack him. Does he work on it? Going into season it was obvious he can’t shoot from 3 ( hopefully next year!) but no excuse from 15 feet. I love Brady Koehler and his potential, but with new strength and conditioning coach, can’t he put on weight— that might help him defensively stay out of foul trouble. And will Sir M ever stop “deer in headlights “ look and Garrett ever show progress. Just don’t see how they were 4 star rated

10:54

sorry. Glass half full: All the drama aside, it’s very realistic that we would be 12-3 without Burton injury. 12-3!!! After last 3 years that was unthinkable, and it’s certainly the progress we all hoped for. Yes there are 3 games of major frustration, but in past years there would be 7-8 frustrating games at this point. So, while we all agree it could be better, we should also agree we are headed in right direction. Are these thoughts too optimistic?

Tom Noie

10:47

Hard on Shrewsberry because, given his reputation, I want to see him scheme his way into a league win in a game Notre Dame has no business winning. Drive his team into a season nobody believes it can have. Overachieve in the ways so many undermanned Notre Dame teams overachieved. It can happen. It should happen. I've seen it happen in my 28 seasons on the beat. Why not happen again? And I cannot stop laughing hard enough every time somebody (you included) claims that that bum of a head coach (Mike Brey) "left the program in shambles." Explain, please, how "shambles" means he signed Markus Burton. Brey had his shortcomings, many of which he'll readily admit, but that 23-year run for Notre Dame basketball? Guess what? It might not get any better. It's great that Notre Dame is competitive under Micah Shrewsberry and that better days may indeed be ahead. As critical as I've been then and now of Shrewsberry, I'll be as complimentary. It's covering this program/head coach in a fair/balanced way. Even if it stings.

10:42

Guest (again, is that your real name?): Deep dive time once again. Plugging the nose and jumping into the deep end for this one....let's go. I'm hard on Micah Shrewsberry because I've seen what this program should be. Can be. I've been there for the winning records and the league road wins and figuring it out when it looked like there was no way out. Been there for the revelation developments of guys like Pat Connaughton and Bonzie Colson and Martinas Geben. Been there for the steadiness of a Martin Ingelsby and David Graves and Steve Vasturia. Been there for the toughness of a Troy Murphy or a Matt Farrell. Been there. Seen it. Done it. Saw Notre Dame not have as much talent as a Connecticut or a Duke or a Kentucky or a North Carolina but have the togetherness and the stones to go into the arenas of those programs and win for the first time. Written about so many, wait, how the #$%^& did they win that game?

Guest

10:37

Tom, why are you so hard on Coach S? Brey departed, and left the program in shambles. He was a lousy recruiter, never used his bench, couldn’t win a road game and was pretty uninspiring. Coach S has at least made this team competitive.

Tom Noie

10:31

JET: Not if said freshman recruit wants to play right away. That rotation, outside of who will step into the spots for Carson Towt and Kebba Njie, will be pretty much set when this season ends.

JET from EVANSVILLE

10:31

Is there any possibility of another Freshman recruit next year besides the current three? Thanks.

Tom Noie

10:31

JET: Good, not great. We discussed the three-player incoming class earlier in the chat. None are gotta-play-right-away guys, and that's OK given what returns in 2026-27. They don't have to be.

JET from EVANSVILLE

10:30

How are next years three recruits doing?

Tom Noie

10:29

Bob: Good question, fair question, but one that has no answer because nobody gets to see what the Irish do in practice. Just the way it is. My belief is what happened at the end of the North Carolina (last year) and Cal (this year) games stem more from Micah Shrewsberry's preference to coach/instruct during every single second of every single game. It may reach a point where players get so accustom to hearing the head coach yell out what to do and how to do it that they become desensitized to actually going out there and not thinking but playing. Something gets lost in translation for it to happen twice within a year. Drill your guys until they drop during practice, then be confident that they can make the right decision at the right time. Trust your guys.

Fan

10:25

Brey always talked a lot about “Game Situations”. And in his recent post on fouling up 3, he said they repped it every practice. Which made me wonder….Ignoring the strategic element of whether to foul or not, and ignoring the behavioral side, do you have any insight into how much practice time Shrews spends on game situations? More than normal? Less than normal? The team has executed pretty poorly in game situations across the last 3 seasons, so I wonder if practice structure/focus could be an issue.

Tom Noie

10:25

Paul: Bryan Kersey is the men's basketball supervisor of officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference. He likely operates the same way the director of officials for the NBA operates. Speaks with his guys about what calls they got right and what calls they missed. Probably a grading system where the highest-graded refs will get the most chances to work future ACC games. Adam Flore is not a name I'd seen/heard in the past, maybe one we won't hear much in the future. Not sure if anyone from Notre Dame told the officials, hey, we're fouling so and so. Logan Imes' two "fouls" on Ames up the floor were as minimal as the one actually called. It was just the perfect storm of bad all around. From the "foul" to the whistle to Micah Shrewsberry's reaction.

Paul

10:20

With all the focus on Shrewsberry for his Cal outburst, a couple comments/questions. Who holds the officials to account for completely botching the sequence? For the previous 60-second period, any touch was called a foul and the usual parade to the foul line. All of a sudden Flore swallows his whistle and calls a shooting foul on a touch that was no worse than the other two he ignored coming up the floor. In essence, he didn't ref the game, he decided it. I too would have gone ballistic considering an outside influence deciding the game. My final question, did anybody inform the officials of our desire to foul on the way up the floor? If not, maybe that is the ultimate lesson to take away from this.

Tom Noie

10:20

Dan: As important as it is for Saint Joseph County to collect my mountain of leaves on the curb outside my home on this sunny, 45-degree day in Northern Indiana. Needed? Absolutely, but doesn't mean it's going to happen. Skilled bigs will cost something that Notre Dame basketball is in short supply of -

Dan - Chicago

10:18

How important is getting a skilled big in this year's upcoming portal portal for ND? Is it a must?

Tom Noie

10:15

As for the women's program, arrow definitely pointing down and pointing down at a rather rapid rate. Notre Dame has lost two straight with the next three coming against North Carolina, Louisville and Connecticut. Woof. Five losses in a row? As bad as it gets, and it might get bad, it's the program's own doing. Asleep at the transfer portal/recruiting switch last year means a very trying year.

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