Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE M icah Shrewsberry is many things. He's a caring mentor who treats each of his players like his own son, in- cluding his own son. He's a hard-nosed motivator who spits fire on the sideline and will tell his guys to take a seat if he feels that their effort isn't up to par. Maybe more than anything, though, Shrewsberry is a basketball junkie. He spends a not-insignificant amount of time on KenPom, perusing advanced stats from around college hoops. Two metrics stand out about his Irish. "I see No. 361 in the country in roster continuity. No. 357 in the country in ex- perience," Shrewsberry said after Notre Dame's 72-59 loss to Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament March 13. That's been the theme all season long, particularly in the past month as the Irish settled on a starting lineup of three freshmen and two sophomores. It put Notre Dame at an inherent disadvan- tage against almost anyone it played, from the second game against Western Carolina on Nov. 11 to the season finale with the Demon Deacons. The Irish were always going to go through valleys in Shrewsberry's first season, given the roster construction. Blowout losses to Auburn and Mar- quette were easy to see coming. Falling to The Citadel by 20 points was not. A seven-game losing streak with four double-digit losses tested the patience of everyone involved. A 33-point loss to North Carolina served as a sobering reminder of just how far the Irish have to go to get to that level. After all that, though, this program is better off for it. The individual player growth is easy to spot. Freshman guard Markus Burton scored 20 or more points in six of his last seven games, adjusting to nearly everything ACC defenses threw at him as he sat atop every scouting report. The offensive operation, with the Mishawaka native as the primary (of- ten only) facilitator, improved leaps and bounds from the beginning of the sea- son to the end. Burton's backcourt mate, freshman guard Braeden Shrewsberry, shot 26.0 percent from three-point range in No- vember and December. That improved to 43.6 percent from January through the season's end. Sophomore forward Tae Davis also became a consistent offensive fixture in the season's final month, and he an- chored the nation's 49th-best scoring defense. This group of two freshmen and one sophomore had to take everything into their own hands this season for Notre Dame. Need a basket in crunch time? Burton had the ball. Need a quick run? All eyes turned to Shrewsberry. Need a big stop? Davis guarded the opponent's best player. They often failed, but they gained experience at the ACC level in- stead of watching it from the bench or the opposite wing. The Irish showed growth earlier than many expected, too. They earned sev- eral wins late in the season — Wake For- est (70-65 Feb. 27) and Clemson (69-62 March 2) in the regular season, and Georgia Tech (84-80 March 12) in the ACC Tournament, for example — that the January edition of the Irish wouldn't have sealed. The final record is 13-20. The prog- ress Notre Dame made on the way to that mark will lead to wins in the next two to three years. "It's motivation," Davis said. "It puts a fuel and a fire in you. Honestly, I think we took great steps this year." Now comes the difficult part of a multi-year building process: keeping the core together and augmenting it. Notre Dame's roster is still multiple pieces away from real NCAA Tourna- ment contention. Bringing in one guard and one forward would be ideal. Regarding the first step, Notre Dame suffered a setback April 1 when fresh- man forward Carey Booth entered the transfer portal — although he left the door open to return to South Bend. Senior forward Matt Zona and junior guard Alex Wade, a former walk-on, also entered the transfer portal. How- ever, Zona played only 11.3 minutes per game, while Wade is a former walk-on who was not part of the rotation. As long as Burton, Shrewsberry and Davis stay, though, the Irish have their foundation in place. "You look at some of these other pro- grams that are having success, conti- nuity is the key," the elder Shrewsberry said. "If we can keep this group together, keep adding key pieces that supplement this group, that make each other better, we can keep making jumps." If May 1 comes and goes without an unexpected departure, the young tal- ent in place has this program pointed toward a winning path. The trials, hardships and eventual successes Notre Dame basketball endured during the 2023-24 season will only help it going forward. "I think it's a big step for us, knowing that we're all new, we're all new to this, and we're all young, too," Burton said. "We did what we were supposed to. We fought all season long. And just know, we'll be back." ✦ The Irish finished 13-20 in Shrewsberry's debut campaign, but the y made steady progress throughout the season with a young lineup that showed promise for the future. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MEN'S BASKETBALL Micah Shrewsberry's First Season Put The Irish On A Winning Path