JotCast | Notre Dame men's basketball 2024-25 season wrap chat

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Tom Noie

12:10

Tim: Story time - last summer, I was told by someone who should know that Matt Allocco would be the greatest one-year addition in Notre Dame men's basketball program history. That included Atkinson, who was honorable mention all-league. My antennae was raised when I heard that. Then ... the season happened. Let's just say Matt Allocco did next to nothing to warrant that kind of hype. Give the kid all the credit in the world (and more) for basically playing through a fractured wrist late in the year, but he didn't come close to what he was said to be. A year of what could have been, but wasn't for the Irish. And for Allocco.

Tim from Chicago

12:07

How would you rank Matt Allocco as a transfer in the history of ND transfers since you've been covering the program? I thought he was solid at times, and probably even won the team a few games, but obviously he wasn't Ryan Humphrey or Atkinson and I don't feel like we saw the best version of him consistently. Curious to hear your take on him.

Tom Noie

12:07

Stae school, state school, schools in the SEC that have more money thanks to football than it knows what to do with it all. Same sport, different stratosphere.

Bruce

12:06

Tom: other football power schools, like Alabama, Florida,high performing MBB?

Tom Noie

12:06

IF: You mean, like, offense? This team was offensive on offense during Shrewsberry's first season. They couldn't score. They couldn't shoot. They couldn't get to 70. So, last summer it was all offense all the time because Shrewsberry believed his team was more talented, more experienced, more everything to the point where they could concentrate more on offense and still carry over the defensive identity it had last season. When that didn't happen, when they couldn't win close games, couldn't execute AND couldn't defend, they were done. It goes back to the identity of this program - what exactly is it? Evergreen answer coming - I don't know.

Illinois Fool

12:04

In his first year, Shrewsberry went all in on defense but last year the D was often absent. Were there that many other phases of the game that needed work that they had to neglect it?

Tom Noie

12:04

Tim: Honestly, it makes me laugh. It does, because I've been through this cycle so many times in my 27 seasons covering Notre Dame men's basketball. There's a section of the fan base that gets frustrated with the players and then the coach and then the AD and then college basketball. When the frustration remains, the next one they zero in on is ... the beat writer/columnist. It has to be somebody's fault, so let's blame the writer. He's too negative. He's too positive. He's too this, too that. I get it. People always need someone to blame. Especially on social media, where anonymity reigns. Know how many people are reaching out through email to voice the kind of opinions they have on X? Not a single one. Such is life.

Tim from Chicago

12:00

Tom, thanks again for another great season of covering the team, your reporting and perspective on the program enhances the experience 100x for the fans. I follow you on twitter/x, and have noticed people get grumpy with you at times thinking you are too negative on the team and coach, going as far as to suggest you step aside and let someone else cover the program. You may not read the comments and replies to your posts, but I'm wondering if that bothers you? My take is that the truth hurts for certain fans when you call out shortcomings of the program, and you are just speaking the truth.

Tom Noie

11:55

Chris: It's harder to cover Notre Dame basketball now than whatever year because the product is not a good product. On the floor. On the sideline. The care factor from the outside has waned. Will it ever return? If the team you cover is winning 25-plus games and playing for conference championships and is a lock to see its name on Selection Sunday, who cares what the roster looks like? It's all about the ride, and the ride for the last few years has been awful.

Chris K

11:54

Is it harder to cover the sport now due to NIL, transfer portal etc? I’d say as a fan it’s harder cause we’re so used to guys staying 4-5 years. Matt Carroll, Chris Quinn, Connaughton, Bonzie etc. now it seems harder for fans is it harder for you and others in your profession?

Tom Noie

11:54

Bruce: That would be one way to guarantee the 2025-26 season goes decidedly sideways. This is what you promise Markus Burton - we'll put you in the best possible position to be successful with what we do and who we do it with. That's it.

Bruce

11:52

Tom, we are all encouraged to hear Markus Burton will be returning next season. Do you believe that one reason Burton decided to return was a promise to play him primarily at point guard to help him improve his NBA draft potential?

Tom Noie

11:52

Bill: Michigan? State school. Florida? State school. Notre Dame? Private school that still holds to the ideal that you can be a student and an athlete. Those days are gone. Notre Dame will commit to football, but prefers to stay within reason for other sports. Could Notre Dame be like Michigan and Florida and Auburn and (pick any school) for men's basketball? Yes. That it isn't is by choice. We're going to do it this way because we believe this way can work. Until it doesn't.

Bill

11:50

You have mentioned coaching at Notre Dame is not easy a few times. Why is that? Football seems to get top talent. Is ND just allocating the money just to football. Michigan is good at both sports. Florida has won national championships at both sports. I think you are right when you say we need to get the right type of kids. Notre Dame is not finding the basketball talent at the moment or not coaching them up enough. You watch these mid major programs on TV during the year. You see there is more talent than what ND currently has. I will use Drake this year as an example.

Tom Noie

11:50

John: Yes. How's that for elaborating. Tae Davis was going to cost more had he stayed. He didn't want to stay. Let him go and allocate those funds elsewhere.

John

11:49

You implied that Tae’s deciding to leave wasn’t a surprise. Could you elaborate on that? Was it all NIL related?

Tom Noie

11:49

Nick: Yes and no. Yes for Burton and Hidalgo. Miles and Watson? No. If you're Olivia Miles, and you just spent an entire season sharing the ball with Hannah Hidalgo, why would you want to do that again. You want to run your own team, play your own game, not be part of a pick-your-poison tag team. Not sure if anyone is opening the purse strings for Kylee Watson. It's not about having plenty of NIL $$$, it's about allocating those funds to maximize your roster. It's difficult, but doable, even at Notre Dame.

Nick L

11:47

Any insight into how NIL funds are divided between the men's and women's programs? Trying not to speculate, but one would presume Miles & Watson will make more money elsewhere than they would've had they stayed at ND. Did ND need to drop a bag on retaining Burton & Hidalgo, therefore not leaving much left?

Tom Noie

11:46

Bill: I said it when there was a coaching vacancy in 2023. If Notre Dame is serious about basketball, it had to hire Rick Pitino. Pat Kelsey also was on that original short list. And Mark Byington. And Dusty May. It's not time to flush Micah Shrewsberry, but the clock is ticking. Loudly.

Bill

11:44

Put you on the spot Tom. If you had to get one coach who would it be that could get this program back to a national status like 40 years ago. Fill the arena and be in the NCAA tournament every year. We need to find a young Tom Izzo or a young Matt Painter for Notre Dame. Drake university seems to find these coaches.

Tom Noie

11:44

Mike: Replay is the like the relative you invite to the party and won't leave. College basketball opened that can of worms and now the worms are everywhere. Replay should be saved for the last two minutes of any game (one for each team). Human error is part of the game. We did pretty well without it for decades. Now, it takes decades...

Mike from Rochester, NY

11:42

Is there any momentum for the coaches to consider reducing the number of replays or timeouts (no chance, I'm sure) at the end of games? The current system is the worst in sports and frequently ruins what should be the most exciting part of the game. I now pause the games with 2 minutes left, do something else for 10 minutes, then watch the end by fast forwarding through reviews.

Tom Noie

11:42

Bill: Fair question and I hate to sound like the proverbial broken record for yet another chat topic, but I don't know. I don't know if they know.

Bill

11:41

I am questioning if the staff can find talent. Look at the original freshmen class with Imes, Shrewsberry and Booth.

Tom Noie

11:41

Mike: None that were on the docket before Pat Rogers left his director of basketball operations role for a different role with the athletic department. Rogers handled scheduling. There were rumblings of a home and home here and a one-off game there, but none that really make sense given where the program currently resides. Play in the Vegas tournament, play a home game in the ACC/SEC Challenge and rack up as many non-league home game wins as you can. That's where they are now.

San Diego Mike

11:39

Do we have any out of conference games setup next year outside of Players Era and SEC Challenge? Any home and homes starting next year?

Tom Noie

11:39

Jeff: Absolutely fair to ask - as long as there's someone there to answer. Pete Bevacqua has taken more of a there's-nothing-to-see-here approach to his tenure. It's funny that he made his name in media (NBC Sports) because he wants little do with the media as the athletic director. As a result, it's all a pipe dream...

Jeff

11:37

Is it fair to ask what the administration's goals/expectations are for men's basketball? From the outside, it seems like ND of course would like to win, but isn't willing to do so at all costs (e.g., outspending everyone in the portal). The university can of course prioritize however it wishes to, but it's frustrating as a fan to see other programs engineer quick one-year turnarounds (Michigan, Louisville, Vanderbilt, etc.), while ND is going into Year 3 of Shrewsberry with NCAA Tournament expectations seemingly a pipe dream.

Tom Noie

11:37

Louisville, St. John's, Notre Dame. One of those schools is not like the other. Louisville operates like an NBA franchise. Basketball is the only sport at St. John's. Notre Dame isn't in the same stratosphere. Never will be.

Bill

11:36

Louisville turned their program around quickly. St. John’s turned it around quickly under Pitino.

Tom Noie

11:36

Mike: College basketball teams are limited to a foreign tour once every four years. This team went to Spain last season so we're three offseasons away from that happening again. Thought that trip to Spain would pay off more than it did.

Mike from Rochester, NY

11:35

Is there any plan to take the team on an overseas trip or something similar in the summer? I cannot recall whether there were rules limiting the number of those trips on a year-to-year basis.

Tom Noie

11:35

Greg: Let's go with Markus Burton at point guard, Braeden Shrewsberry at shooting guard, Jalen Haralson at wing guard, Kebba Njie at power forward and a transfer to be determined at small forward.

Greg

11:34

what is your projected starting lineup for next season?

Tom Noie

11:34

"Major" might be too major a word. How about a rotation guy? Either way, it's hard to say until you see them on campus and playing against other college guys. Haralson's the easy choice, while there's a chance for Ryder Frost, Brady Koehler and Tommy Ahneman IF the situation is right. All four aren't going to be rotation guys.

Mike, New Jersey

11:32

Thanks as always for doing this Tom, who is a freshman outside of Haralson that we can expect to be a major contributor next year?

Tom Noie

11:32

Andrew: Polishing the resume as we speak...

Pat Rogers had served as DOBO for seven seasons before choosing a different path this winter when he was hired as the school's director of student-athlete management.

Andrew, Plymouth

11:29

Will you be applying for the open MBB Director of Operations role? I'm sure Micah would love to get your input on what the program needs.

Do we know what happened with why this job came open?

Tom Noie

11:22

Jeff: Because this isn't college basketball anymore. This is professional sports, where some teams like Notre Dame have to operate with some semblance of a salary cap. Notre Dame could've paid Tae Davis more than he'll make at Oklahoma, but at what cost? Paying Markus Burton more? Paying Jalen Haralson more? You pay more to keep one guy, you have to pay to keep three more. Better to be smart with that money. Like, OK, this is the money they set aside for Davis. He's gone. Let's take those funds and find a solid big. It's a constant juggling act. Roster juggling. Portal juggling. Budget juggling. If Notre Dame wanted, it could compete with any program in the country for NIL. It doesn't believe it should play that game - outside of football, of course. In football, when it comes to NIL, it's whatever it takes at Notre Dame. Not for hoops.

Jeff

11:18

If ND wasn't able/willing to pony up the dollars necessary to retain Tae Davis, why should we expect they'll be able to land someone comparable (or, really, better) in the portal?

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