CBB Rank 2025: No. 61, Notre Dame Basketball

Markus Burton is back for his junior year at Notre Dame basketball, hoping this time he can lead his squad to March Madness.

The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Notre Dame basketball.

Sometimes the best ‘transfer’ pickup is in your own program. That is exactly the case with Notre Dame and third-year star Markus Burton. He’s one of, if not the most lethal scorer in college basketball and instead of transferring out, he decided to stick with it for his junior year with the Fighting Irish.

But after a 15-18 season that was ruined by countless injuries, the question leading into 2025-26 will be about health – and reinforcements.

Burton has some good – but not great help in the starting lineup. Braeden Shrewsberry (Micah’s son) is a capable shooting guard to help run the backcourt, but the other forward spots will be sophomore Sir Mohammed and star freshman Jalan Haralson. Having one unproven player in the starting five wouldn’t be a huge issue, but having two raises some level of concern. Finally, at big man is Kebba Njie, who won’t score 15 points per game, but will do his job within the system.

Off the bench, Northern Arizona transfer Carson Towt was an incredible pickup. He averaged a double-double while leading the NCAA in rebounds. That’s a great guy to have coming off the bench, although I’d assume he’ll share the floor with Njie at times. You just can’t limit minutes of a guy that talented and that capable of creating extra possessions.

After that is where the questions arise. Where will the backup guard play come from? Logan Imes was decent last year, but the junior might be called upon for a much bigger role. After him is Cole Certa, who shot just 30% from the field a year ago. They don’t give much confidence to give great minutes in the backcourt off the bench.

There is a little bit more to like elsewhere. Ryder Frost is one of the best three-point shooting freshmen, and Garrett Sundra should do well in his role off the bench. Below them are some other end-of-the-bench options who could see minutes, but I wouldn’t count on it.

When it comes down to it, any roster that features Markus Burton will have a chance, but I don’t know if Shrewsberry did enough to replace Tae Davis and even Matt Allocco. Sure, he got a lot of the roster to stay, which is encouraging, but it looks like a similar talent level to last year, which, after a losing season, doesn’t speak to much improvement happening in the basketball program.

Head coach: Micah Shrewsberry (3rd season at Notre Dame, 5th season overall)

2024-25 record: 15-18 (8-12)

2025 postseason finish: No postseason

Notable departures: 

• Tae Davis (15.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.8 APG)
• Matt Allocco (9.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 46.5 3P%)
• J.R. Konieczny (4.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.8 APG)
• Nikita Konstantynovskyi (2.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.2 APG, 72.2 FG%)
• Julian Roper II (2.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.7 APG, 1.1 SPG)

Notable non-conference games: 

• at Ohio State (N0v. 16)
• vs. Kansas (Nov. 24) – Players Era Championship
• vs. Rutgers (Nov. 25) – Players Era Championship
• TBD (Nov. 26-27) – Players Era Championship
• vs. Missouri (Dec. 2)
• at TCU (Dec. 5)

Projected Rotation

PG: Markus Burton (6-0, 190, Jr.) 

2024-25 stats: 21.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.7 SPG, 37.5 3P%

SG: Braeden Shrewsberry (6-4, 205, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 14.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 1.6 APG, 36.9 3P%

SF: Sir Mohammed (6-6, 215, So.)

2024-25 stats: 3.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.0 APG, 38.2 FG%

PF: Jalen Haralson (6-7, 220, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #17 ranked recruit

C: Kebba Njie (6-10, 255, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 6.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 0.5 APG, 55.5 FG%

6: Carson Towt (6-8, 250, Gr.-Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 13.3 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.1 SPG, 56.9 FG% (Northern Arizona)

7: Logan Imes (6-4, 205, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 1.9 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 0.6 APG, 37.8 FG%

8: Garrett Sundra (6-11, 230, So.)

2024-25 stats: 2.3 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.3 APG, 51.6 FG%

9: Ryder Frost (6-7, 215, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #85 ranked recruit

10: Matthew MacLellan (6-9, 240, Gr.-Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 14.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.8 APG (Madonna University – NAIA)

11: Cole Certa (6-5, 205, So.)

2024-25 stats: 2.5 PPG, 0.3 APG, 0.2 RPG, 30.0 FG%, 8.1 MPG

12: Brady Koehler (6-10, 205, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #91 ranked recruit

13: Tommy Ahneman (6-10, 250, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #181 ranked recruit

Notre Dame Basketball team MVP: Markus Burton

This might be the easiest team MVP decision in our entire CBB Rank. Few teams in the country have a scorer as elite as Markus Burton, who is returning to his school, and also doesn’t really have anyone to rival him for most of his points.

When it comes down to it, Burton is in for another 20 PPG season, and it’s for a good reason. Sure, he takes a lot of shots and probably takes a few shots per game that most coaches would rather see turn up. But when you’ve got his combined confidence, skill, and, quite honestly, few teammates who could do much better, it’s the perfect blend for putting up the numbers he does.

I will be intrigued to see if it’s a little bit less of a one-man show, given his style of play hasn’t turned into a lot of wins for the Fighting Irish. But it’s tough to limit shots from a player who can do it at such a high level – and where efficiency isn’t really a huge problem.

Notre Dame Basketball make-or-break player: Logan Imes

Look, a lot of players are going to need to step up for the Irish this season, but Imes, who will be counted on for important minutes off the bench, is going to need to step up in more ways than one.

First, Notre Dame will need some sort of bench production. Other than Towt, Imes seems like the next best option, but only put up about two points per game last season. I doubt he becomes a major impact scorer off the bench in one offseason, but Imes will likely need to play between 10-15 minutes per game running the offesne and making sure there isn’t a steep drop off in production in the backcourt.

It’ll be a tough test given how little Imes has done in two years of college basketball, but it’s one Notre Dame needs to see passed.

Key analytic: NPAR (Near-proximity FG attempts per 100 trips vs. average opponent)

It may seem confusing, but all this stat does is measure how many times a team takes a lay-up, dunk, or tip-in compared to the average opponent.

And for Notre Dame’s case, it was not a good effort last season.

The Fighting Irish scored a 29.98, which was far below average, and in terms of power conference teams, it was near the bottom of the pack.

Of course, not every team needs to win this way. Purdue was even worse off than Notre Dame and they had another great year. But in Notre Dame’s case, with a free spirit guard in Burton, it’s probably a good idea to have a big man, or driving guards, to offset some of his crazy shots.

The additions of Towt and Haralson could be efforts to improve this stat and give the Irish some more opportunities for easy buckets. After all, as much as three-point shots are the way a lot of teams win in 2025, nothing can ever beat a shot attempt within arms reach of the bucket.

Notre Dame Basketball 2025-26 projections

Projected conference finish: 10th in the ACC

Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit