During Notre Dame's 15-point loss against Louisville this past Sunday, head coach Micah Shrewsberry noticed something that led to a fiery post-game press conference.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
“I sat there and watched more Louisville fans in here than Notre Dame people. And that’s embarrassing." said Shrewsberry. "That’s embarrassing for me because I’m the head coach here. And yes, I got us in this predicament.”
Notre Dame basketball has hit a wall. It has moved to 11-14 on the year and 5-9 in conference play which slates them in 13th place. Still, this past Sunday’s 15-point loss to Louisville was the Fighting Irish’s first double-digit loss since Dec. 31, when they lost on the road against Georgia Tech.
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At the same time, only two losses since that game against the Yellow Jackets have felt like the Irish were truly outmatched on the court. Those two games were on the road against number four Duke, where the Irish suffered a hard-fought eight-point loss, and this past Sunday at home against Louisville. It was that loss to the Cardinals that sparked a fiery press conference from head coach Micah Shrewsberry.
“I don’t care about anyone’s opinion,” said Shrewsberry. “I know who I am, I know I can coach basketball, and I know I’m turning this program around”
The results on the court say that Shrewsberry increased the Notre Dame win total from 11 in former head coach Mike Brey’s final year, to 13 a season ago. Then freshman phenom, now sophomore point guard Markus Burton won ACC Freshman of the Year, and the Irish were returning all but 9.6 points of scoring a game.
However, after starting 4-0 with a 21-point win over Georgetown, the Irish would lose at home to Elon on Nov. 22 by seven points. Then, on the trip to Las Vegas, Burton would go down with an injury in the opening matchup of the Players Era Festival against Rutgers on Nov. 26. It sparked a five-game losing streak that put the Irish under .500 before hitting ACC play.
Most of those losses can be pinned on poor coaching, especially late in games.
Against North Carolina on Jan. 4, the Irish were up three points with four seconds remaining in the game which led to a one-point loss. In the loss to North Carolina State just a few days later on Jan. 8, the Irish took a seven-point lead into the half and were up 65-61 with 2:06 remaining in the ball game. Notre Dame would not score for the rest of the game and lose by one. Syracuse, which is now the 14th-best team in the ACC, was down 17 points in the first half on their home court before storming back and outscoring the Irish by 17 in the second half to win by eight. Like that game, Notre Dame, with a chance to get above .500 on Feb. 1 against then 4-17 Miami, got outscored by the Hurricanes by 17 in the second half and lost by six. A week later on Feb. 8, the Irish would blow a 14-point lead to Virginia Tech and be outscored by nine in the second half to lose by two in Purcell Pavilion.
That is five games that could have gone in the Irish’s favor, they’d be sitting at 16-9 and 10-3 in ACC play, placing them in fifth.
The question is, if the issue is coaching, why should Notre Dame let Shrewsberry continue to be the head coach? While that is a valid question at this point, it’s important to understand that this is the middle of a complete and total teardown of a program. A program that won just two of their final 15 games in 2023 in Brey’s final year to finish 11-21.
Notre Dame would return one player, Matt Zona, a forward who averaged 1.7 points per game in his junior season.
The talent is simply not there yet. And the talent that is there is doing everything they’re supposed to be doing. Markus Burton is averaging 21.3 PPG and has raised his three-point percentage by 8.9%. Junior Tae Davis has raised his points per game by 6.5 and is scoring 15.7 PPG. He’s also scored in double figures in all but one game since losing to Rutgers. Despite his three-point percentage seeing a slight dip, sophomore Braden Shrewsberry has seen a 5.5 rise in his PPG to 13.7 due to his improvements inside the arc.
There is proof that Shrewsberry is developing his talent at a high level, there just isn’t enough talent there yet. But it’s coming.
Since taking over as head coach on Mar. 4, 2023, Shrewsberry has locked up four of Notre Dame’s top 15 recruits in school history, including its second-best of all time in four-star Jalen Haralson. He’s a part of the 2025 class that ranks 4th in the nation according to 247 Sports that includes three other four-star players. Ryder Frost, the number four player in the state of New Hampshire, Tommy Ahneman, the number one player in the state of Minnesota, and Brady Koehler, the number six player in the state of Indiana.
Not only are those four players going to be contributors to the team next season, but the Irish still have two four-stars in the 2024 class in Sir Mohammad and Cole Certa. On top of the young talent returning, the Irish can also return what would be veterans in Burton, Shrewsberry, and Davis. Burton is certainly a question mark, but both Shrewsberry and Davis seem likely to return.
Bringing talent in isn’t going to be a problem for Shrewsberry, it’s proving that he can win games late. Even though there is a talent disparity, it’s hard to ignore five losses that were close to going in Notre Dame’s favor.
“If you’re not with us because we’re losing and you don’t want to come watch us, fine,” said Shrewsberry. “Do it because of me then, but not these kids. They don’t deserve that.”
The press conference after the game should not be frowned upon by Irish fans. Instead, they should feel inspired that Notre Dame’s head coach is confident in not only himself as a coach, but the program. That he is willing to turn the blame on himself to fire his guys up in the locker room. That in all scenarios, he is going to stick up for his players.
In just a year and a half, there has been a quick shift of some Notre Dame fans that have gone from excited about the program, to wanting to fire Shrewsberry on the spot. Remember, this is not a quick rebuild.
Looking down the stretch, the Fighting Irish’s schedule is in the middle. One inspiring point is four of the final six games will be played in South Bend, and all four are winnable games. On the road, however, they will face two tough teams that will be in the tournament in number 18 Clemson and Wake Forest. Let’s say the Irish go 4-2 in those games, which would put them at 15-16 on the year. If they win a conference tournament game they get back to .500 which is where the target line was for this season anyways. Is it going to be slightly underwhelming? Sure. But it’s year two, not four or five.
For the fans that have "given up" on the Shrewsberry tenure, however, he did have a message at the end of his presser:
“But don’t come back when we’re winning, because we’re turning this around man. You better believe that” said Shrewsberry. “Everybody that gave up on me, believe it. Write this date down and believe it because we’re going to get this thing rolling. I don’t care if you gave up on me or not.”
There are far better days ahead for the Notre Dame basketball program. The number four recruiting class is coming, and they will join other talented players that Shrewsberry should retain. Not to mention, the Irish will also pick up a transfer or two that will play meaningful minutes. The rebuild was always going to be rough, but it’s important to give it time.
The Irish will take on SMU in Purcell Pavilion this Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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