JotCast | Notre Dame men's basketball preseason chat

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Mark from Rochester, NY

9:51

Tom, great to be back for another season. In what you have seen from the exhibitions, is there an expectation that ND will run actual offense this year instead of iso ball?

Tom Noie

9:51

Alex: I like the way this team opened in both exhibitions - PG Markus Burton; SG Cole Certa; WG Jalen Haralson; SF Garrett Sundra; PF Kebba Njie. We need to see a lot more from Sundra than what he showed in the exhibitions. He was a no-show against Butler and just kind of there against DePaul. That leads to a darkhorse contributor/starter: Brady Koehler. He's an XL Swiss Army knife with a crazy wingspan/ceiling.

Alex

9:48

Hey Tom, what would you guess is the rotation as of today? And if you had to give a dark horse contributor this year who would it be? Thanks

Tom Noie

9:40

Mike: It was interesting to hear Micah Shrewsberry unsolicited say how more guys on the roster are beyond the 200-pound threshold. Cole Certa is bigger. Logan Imes is bigger. Brady Koehler is bigger. Braeden Shrewsberry is as well, while Sir Mohammed is at 215 after playing last year close to ... 240. Oooof. So there's that. Just the fact that there is a strength and conditioning coach (Jon Sanderson) after this program went nearly the entire season without one (philosophical differences) is a step. Sanderson, by all accounts, has a high bar of demands. He played at Ohio State, so he gets it. That's half the battle.

Mike from Rochester, NY

9:36

Early returns on the strength and conditioning coach?

Tom Noie

9:36

Mike: Trick question. It is every year. It's too early to tell, and even hard to tell when the season starts and there are matchup issues, effectiveness issues, injury issues. Notre Dame played 11 core guys in the two exhibitions, but there's no way 11 guys are in the rotation once this starts Monday against LIU Brooklyn. Given the previous two seasons of Micah Shrewsberry, let's set the rotation at a solid ... 8.5.

In his first season, nine guys averaged at least 11.2 mpg. Last year, eight averaged at least 11.6. What has to change from last year is the number of heavy-minute guys (four went at least 30.0). This team is deeper and more talented this season. Let's see it.

Mike from Rochester, NY

9:31

How deep will the rotation be and who will be in it?

Tom Noie

9:29

Wrong chat Guy....Notre Dame football is two doors down!

Guy Lakeside Park,Ky

9:29

Going into BC week,what is the state of the kicking game?The trickeration employed by Biagi has been effective but ND seems to struggle with kicking the ball!!Two kick offs out of bounds vs USC put the D in a bind.Now two years in a row with injured kickers.This could come back to haunt.What gives?

Tom Noie

9:29

Gary: Egos? What egos? This team is a combined 28-38 overall and 15-25 in the Atlantic Coast Conference in two years under Micah Shrewsberry. Hard to have an ego with records like that. Everyone on this roster should be like, whatever it takes for us to be good, I'm in. Coach me up. I want to be great.

Gary Rivers

9:26

We have 2 very good athletes this year that can create at crunch time, Marcus & Jalen , do you see Egos getting in the way , if not we may be in for an exciting season

Tom Noie

9:26

Gary: So...they're going to go the Gene Hackman route in Hoosiers and only play with four? (My team's on the floor). They've gone with the same starting five in both exhibitions - Markus Burton at point guard, Cole Certa at shooting guard, Jalen Haralson at wing guard, Garrett Sundra at forward and Kebba Njie at power foward. It's hard to wedge Sir Mohammed into that lineup without subtracting size (Sundra) talent (Haralson) or shooting (Certa). Mohammed has been the biggest surprise in the exhibitions. Here's a lineup I'd like to see for an extended stretch, even from the start: Markus Burton, Cole Certa, Jalen Haralson, Brady Koehler and Kebba Njie, maybe until Carson Towt gets up to ACC speed.

Gary Rivers

9:22

i think Coach will have a challenge in putting a starting 5 on the floor , do you think Sir Mohammed will be in the starting line up , he’s looked very good in the 2 exhibition games

Tom Noie

9:20

Harold: We're not even an hour in and our first "hot seat" question/concern

That seat's not all that hot as we sit here in late October, and maybe won't be as November becomes December and December becomes January and right on down the line. Maybe being the operative word. This program - really, Micah Shrewsberry - needs to show something this season that it hasn't. Progress. Establish a homecourt identity. Win a road game or two that you have no business winning. Run off four, five, six wins in a row, then do it again after a tough loss. Show us that the roster can indeed compete in the ACC. If that happens, the seat stays cool. If we see more of the Louisville/SMU efforts of last season, especially post-game, it's fair to wonder where all this is headed. They need to be beyond everything we saw of them the last two seasons.

Harold, Michigan

9:16

if this season goes the way I’m fearing it does, the same as the previous two, how hot is Micah’s seat? What does he need to do to avoid the hot seat? Thanks!

Tom Noie

9:16

JC: I'm not a doctor and did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I'd opine that yes, freshman center Tommy Ahneman will go the medical redshirt route after undergoing knee surgery "earlier this offseason." He's expected to be re-evaluated around January, but that's a long way away with a short turnaround time to be healthy enough to jump right into the low-post mix. He was going to be a fringe rotation guy even if healthy. Take this season to get the knee right, figure out where you fit in college basketball and be ready to be a rotation guy in 26-27.

JCOPLER

9:13

Is Tommy Ahneman redshirt this year due to surgery?

Tom Noie

9:13

Dennis: Coming clear of the win at Butler, the answer to this question would have been yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Notre Dame limited Butler to 16 points in the paint depsite being outrebounded by two (37-35). Then DePaul came to town and shredded Notre Dame's interior defense for 32 points in the paint, won the rebounding battle 45-35 and made a living throwing lob dunks. It was a tough watch, especially seeing Carson Towt foul out in ... 11 minutes. That interior defense needs to be way better, especially on those nights when Notre Dame cannot get to 70 points on the other end.

Dennis

9:10

Will Notre Dame be able to defend in the paint this season? Opposing players have scored way too easily near the rim in Shrewsberry's first two seasons.

Tom Noie

9:10

Ken: Let me swap out my writer's hat (one of those multi-colored jobs with the propeller on top) for my head coaching hat. The way Braeden Shrewsberry worked in both exhibitions is the better role for him. He was a starter his first two seasons and played 28.3 minutes as a freshman, 34.6 (way too many) as a sophomore. He's made 150 3-pointers his first two seasons. In the exhibitions, he played 17 minutes against Butler, 21 against DePaul. Both in a reserve role. It was good to see him drive it more against Butler before he hunted his 3-pointer (1-of-6) against DePaul. I'd keep him as a reserve behind sophomore Cole Certa. That role fits him, and maybe fits this team. Now watch, come Monday against LIU Brooklyn, Shrewsberry will be in the starting lineup and go for 30-plus minutes. That banging you hear will be my head against the table in the Purcell Pavilion press box.

Ken W

9:04

What do you think Braeden Shrewsberry's role will be this year? Has he lost his starting spot?

Tom Noie

9:00

Kevin: To be determined, right? We don't know what this more talented, more experienced roster will be. That said, the exhibition loss to DePaul was a big red flag when Shrewsberry said his old guys didn't play like old guys. Wait...what? For this team to make the progress that last year's team never did (stuck in neutral for myriad reasons all year), the old guys have to be old guys. Be better than what they were against a team picked near the bottom of the Big East. Markus Burton is 1-for-100 from the floor (seemed like it), find other ways to impact/swing games. The young guys have talent and potential, but there will be nights when they're young guys. The old guys have to play old every single night for this team to have a chance.

Kevin, Lemont

8:57

Your article got me thinking.. it seems there is more talent on the roster..so what are we NOT doing well/still bad at that slows our potential of making a jump this year & to get there who do you have more confidence in to step it up-the vets or frosh?

Tom Noie

8:57

Jim: Kebba Njie is in the rotation as a main guy for one reason - defense. He's the team's best defender, their best help defender and the one guy whose voice is a constant. Under Micah Shrewsberry, that's going to keep him on the floor and keep him in the rotation. Anything they were going to get from him offensively in the past was a bonus. This year, it can't be. Njie has worked to be more than serviceable in the post, but we didn't see it in the two exhibitions. He's got to give them SOMETHING from that spot. Transfer portal upgrades? Just look at the schools of the transfers that Notre Dame has added the last two years. That answers that question. This is Year Three under Micah Shrewsberry - it would be the first for a team with any identity. it was defense that first year, then offense the second. Maybe a combination of both this year?

Jim in Charlottesvillem

8:53

Hello Tom and All! Is Shrews likely to tolerate a third season of “general ineffectiveness from senior Kebba Njie”? Did he pursue upgrades in the Transport Portal? I hope the Coach crafts game plans without Nijie if he cannot play well in the ones with him. Also, shrews talks a lot about Game plan “Identity” without detailing what his—and so the Team’s as well—is. I cannot tell what his Teams have practiced from how they play in games. Thoughts?

Tom Noie

8:43

Michael: This has been the greatest concern of watching Micah Shrewsberry's teams the last two seasons. He coaches every single possession of every single game. In some ways, you could say, he overcoaches. It's who he is; it's all he knows. I'd prefer my head coach to be like that every single afternoon on the practice court of Rolfs Hall. Coach me hard. Yell. Scream. Micro-manage if that's what you have to do to make me better, but come game time, trust in your coaching, trust in your message, trust in your players and let them go play. Figure it out. Work through mistakes. There have been times when players are too busy looking toward what Shrewsberry is saying/pointing that the flow stagnates. I don't see this changing. That's how he's wired.

Michael Liscano

8:39

I really like coach Shrews. Watching him on the sideline directing traffic at times seems to distract the players. Maybe let them figure it out. I think back to John Wooden. Almost never coached along the sideline. He let his players play. Try not saying a word for one half and see how the team performs.

Tom Noie

8:39

Jet: That would be small forward Tae Davis, arguably Notre Dame's best all-around player last season and second-leading scorer (15.1 ppg.) and rebounder (5.3 rpg.) who bolted for the transfer portal and landed at Oklahoma for his final season. How much did he get paid by Oklahoma? Probably close to or just over seven figures - more than he was going to get at Notre Dame. This was strictly a get-paid/financial decision by Davis, who may find out that guys like him - athletic, straight-line drivers, suspect outside shot - are everywhere in the SEC. He wanted to go and get paid. He got paid at Oklahoma.

JET from EVANSVILLE

8:36

How much do you think Davis got at Oklahoma? How much do you think he would have gotten from ND?

Tom Noie

8:36

Pat: Let's go with the low end of your 7-10 window. Say Notre Dame goes 19-12 in the regular season (13 non-league games, 18 Atlantic Coast Conference games). That would require the Irish to go 9-4 (at worst) in non-league and 10-8 in the ACC. That should be doable, right? Especially for this team in that league. After winning seven ACC games in Micah Shrewsberry's first season, then eight in the second, the natural progression this year should be at least 10 league wins. This roster is better. They shouldn't let go of those close league games like last season. Baseline expectations should be 19-12.

Pat H. Springfield Ill

8:33

What are the chances this team can finish 7-10 games over .500, finish in the top six in the conference and get into the tournament- preferably with a seed in the top eight? Thanks for taking the time to do this

Tom Noie

8:18

What defines success this season for Notre Dame basketball?

A winning ACC record (23.1% | 6 votes)

Going close to undefeated at home (3.8% | 1 vote)

Progress, whatever that looks like (7.7% | 2 votes)

Having March matter (46.2% | 12 votes)

It's NCAA Tournament or bust with this outfit (19.2% | 5 votes)

Total Votes: 26

8:17

We're back. We're here. We made it through another spring and summer, another fall of football, another month of practice, practice and more practice. Thanks to the two exhibition games, we know a little more about Notre Dame basketball than usual. There was some good (Butler) and some bad (DePaul) and maybe the Irish are somewhere between. It's time to talk Notre Dame basketball. Be sure to include your name and hometown with your question or comment so without further ramblings, you know the rest. Let's light this chat candle for the 2025-26 season...

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