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CBB Rank 2024: No. 78, Notre Dame Basketball

Byarielputerman

Aug 19, 2024

Notre Dame basketball looks to rebound from a losing season in year 2 under Micah Shrewsbury.

The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Notre Dame basketball.

After longtime head coach Mike Brey announced he wasn’t returning to the program, the Irish shifted their focus to Shrewsberry, who was building an impressive resume at Penn State. Year 1 was expected to be shaky, as the talent on the roster didn’t-live up to most of the fellow ACC teams and that’s exactly what it is, going 13-20 overall and 7-13 in conference play.
However, all things considered, they overperformed their expectation, showing hope that with the proper talent, this program can have a promising future.
While they did bring in several impact transfers, they kept six of their seven leading scorers from last year, most notably Markus Burton. Burton was a star as a freshman, and he has serious potential to be the best player in the ACC this season. They also return Braeden Shrewberry, who exceeded expectations as a freshman and averaged 10 points a game.
The ACC is going to be tough at the top but with Shrewsberry coaching, this Notre Dame basketball team feels like they can go toe to toe with anyone on any given night.

Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.

Head coach: Micah Shrewsberry (2nd season at Notre Dame, 4th season overall)

2023-24 record: 13-20 (7-13)

2024 postseason finish: No postseason

Notable departures: 

  • Carey Booth (6.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 0.5 APG)

Notable non-conference games: 

  • at Georgia (Dec. 3)

Projected Rotation

PG: Markus Burton (5-11, 166, So.)

2023-24 stats: 17.5 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.3 RPG, 1.9 SPG

SG: Matt Allocco (6-4, 197, Gr.-Sr.)

2023-24 stats: 12.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.3 APG, 50.8 FG%, 42.7 3P%, 90.9 FT% (Princeton)

SF: Braeden Shrewberry (6-3, 189, So.)

2023-24 stats: 10.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 0.9 APG, 82.4 FT%

PF: Tae Davis (6-9, 208, Jr.)

2023-24 stats: 9.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 48.4 FG%

C: Kebba Nije (6-10, 254, Jr.)

2023-24 stats: 4.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 0.7 APG

6: JR Konieczny (6-7, 204, Sr.)

2023-24 stats: 7.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 0.6 APG, 83.7 FT%

7: Julian Roper (6-4, 210, Sr.)

2023-24 stats: 5.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.6 APG

8: N. Konstantynovskyi (6-10, 245, Gr.-Sr.)

2023-24 stats: 9.3 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 0.9 APG, 52.6 FG% (Monmouth)

9: Sir Mohammed (6-6, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #47 ranked recruit

10: Burke Chebuhar (6-8, 230, Gr.-Sr.)

2023-24 stats: 7.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.0 APG, 46.2 FG% (Lehigh)

Notre Dame Basketball team MVP: Markus Burton

Burton was nothing short of special during his freshman year. Despite being ranked as the 179th recruit by 247Sports, he played like a 5-star, ranking third amongst all freshmen in points per game. This earned him ACC Freshman of the Year honors and third-team all-ACC.

Not only is he talented offensively, but he defensively he was terrific as well, averaging 1.9 steals a game. At 5-11, he doesn’t let his size impact him, and that’s what makes him such a pesky defender. Remember, he was doing all of this as a freshman.

Now, he’s got a year of college ball under his belt and the keys to the team. He’ll need his efficiency to improve, as he shot just 40% from the field and 30% from deep. If he can raise that by 5% each, there’s a serious chance he can be a Top 15 player in the country next season.

Notre Dame Basketball make-or-break player: Matt Allocco

When discussing the best shooters from last season, Allocco doesn’t usually get brought up, but he absolutely should. Allocco was part of the 50-40-90 club last season, and really turned it up at the end of last season, shooting 14-27 from deep in the final five regular season games.

If he can be this efficient once again, Notre Dame’s backcourt can be extremely difficult to contain. Notre Dame shot 31.8% from deep last year, 286th in the country, so adding that threat elevates this team to the next level.

Key analytic: Tempo

One thing about Micah Shrewberry is he’s never in a rush on the court. Last year, his Fighting Irish finished 336th in the country in tempo per KenPom. The previous year, Shrewberry’s Penn State team finished 320th, and in his first year with the program they ranked 354th. This isn’t anything new for Notre Dame basketball fans, as this team finished in the bottom half of the country in tempo pretty much every season with Mike Brey.

This means we most likely won’t see too many fastbreak points from this team. Last year, they ranked 339th in the country with just over 5 fastbreak points a game. So, it will really come down to the ability to create offense in the halfcourt. Last year, they were unable to do so, finishing 352nd in the country in points per game, but with the year of experience for Burton and Shrewsberry, plus the addition of Allocco, this team should improve.

Notre Dame Basketball 2024-25 projections

Projected conference finish: 11th in the ACC

Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Appearance

By arielputerman