SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame men’s basketball opens a new season aiming to end a drought: the Fighting Irish have not played in the NCAA Tournament since 2022.
Coach Micah Shrewsberry’s program is coming off three losing seasons in a row. Last winter brought only four ACC victories, and the Irish missed the conference tournament entirely.
The rebuild leans heavily on newcomers. Shrewsberry added 10 players, six transfers and four freshmen, including three who have won major conference honors: Logan Duncomb was named the top player in the Big South in 2026, Braeden Smith earned the Patriot League’s top player award in 2024, and Ethan Roberts was that league’s top rookie in 2023. Smith has played in the NCAA Tournament in each of his three college seasons.
Two starters return in Braeden Shrewsberry, who passed 1,000 career points at the end of last season, and Brady Koehler. The Irish lost key contributors Jalen Haralson and Carson Towt.
The first preseason look was mixed. Notre Dame fell 75-65 at Dayton in an exhibition before about 13,000 fans, though it won the battle of the boards 40-31 and got 35 bench points. The Irish hit just 6 of 26 tries from three-point range.
Roberts, a fifth-year guard from Penn, was the only Irish player in double figures that night with 11 points. Shrewsberry, meanwhile, is fully cleared after an Achilles injury but still rebuilding strength in his calf.
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