Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539020
46 SEPT. 13, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE B uilding a program, Notre Dame head men's basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry explained in August, is like baking a cake. Patience is paramount. "Because you're so hungry and the cake starts smelling good, you take it out of the oven 25 minutes too early and it tastes like sh--," Shrewsberry said in a one-on-one interview with Blue & Gold Illustrated. "Wait 'til it's done, and then you might have something pretty good." Shrewsberry hates losing, more than most coaches. By his own admission, patience is not his strength. But he also believes — just as much now, after two sub-.500 seasons in South Bend, as when he took the job — that building a roster the old-fashioned way is the only way to do it at Notre Dame. That means recruiting the high school ranks well, which he has done. It means retaining the players Notre Dame brings in at a young age, which he has also done, with two exceptions. And it means de- veloping high school talent instead of stacking the roster with proven veterans. The jury is still out on that front. But the only person whose opinion on the matter is relevant, Notre Dame athlet- ics director Pete Bevacqua, is standing behind Shrewsberry's plan. "I think Micah is doing an unbeliev- able job now as he enters into his third year of bringing the talent we need to turn the corner," Bevacqua told a small group of local reporters in August. "We're getting stronger and stronger with the types of student-athletes that are coming here to play basketball. "It's been a few tough years, not for a lack of effort, but he needs the time to build the program." Support from his boss — particularly one who did not hire him — gives Shrews- berry confidence as his rebuild moves into Year 3. It also helps him resist the tempta- tion to take the cake out too early. Progress is necessary, but this is not a "win or else" year for Notre Dame men's basketball. Putting that type of pres- sure on the 2025-26 team would, from Shrewsberry and Bevacqua's perspec- tive, stunt the long-term plan. That's not something either are ready to do at this time. "I want to win yesterday," Shrews- berry said. "But [Bevacqua] has a way of talking to me about the big picture as well, and not forgetting what our goals are and how we're building this program and how we've done it. "See it out. See it out the right way." SHREWSBERRY, NOTRE DAME REMAIN COMMITTED TO HIGH SCHOOL RECRUITING Notre Dame doesn't have to look far to find teams that completed overnight turnarounds through the transfer portal. Last season, first-year Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey transformed the Cardi- nals from a walking joke into a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. And in March, North Carolina State hired Will Wade, who proceeded to sign eight transfers. The Wolfpack finished 16th in the ACC a year ago; they're now among the favor- ites to challenge Duke for the league title. That approach was, is and will con- tinue to be great for some schools. But Shrewsberry reiterated in August that Notre Dame is not one of them. Some of that comes from the traditional reasons: stringent academic standards and ad- missions requirements. But money, the third-year head coach explained, can often be prohibitive. He came prepared with a specific example, too: Nick Davidson, Notre Dame's top portal target in the 2025 cycle. The former Nevada big man grew up a Fighting Irish fan and shares a high school alma mater with Rex Pflueger, who aided in his recruitment. He would have been a perfect fit, too, as a true post player who can shoot threes. It wasn't enough. Davidson signed with Clemson, and Notre Dame pivoted to Northern Arizona transfer Carson Towt. "If you heard some of the numbers for Nick Davidson, who we tried to get, we would have had to get rid of prob- ably eight people on our team to make up that," Shrewsberry said. "You can't play a game with only three people on your roster. There's also some factors like that, that come into play." With that being the case, Shrews- berry understands that retention is just as important as recruiting. Other schools can replace their portal losses with equal or greater talent year to year. Notre Dame cannot, at least not at the scale of its peers. Of the non-seniors on the 2024-25 roster, only forward Tae Davis left. Star point guard Markus Burton stayed. So did all three rising sophomores, forward Garrett Sundra and guards Sir Moham- med and Cole Certa. Their development could make or break Notre Dame's bid for a bounce-back season. It's a credit, Shrewsberry believes, to recruiting players the Irish deem likely to stay for the long haul. That's a trait they have to continue targeting if Shrewsberry's plan is to succeed. "We talk about what Notre Dame can do for them," Shrewsberry said. "We talk about the alumni network. We talk about the experience that they have on campus. When you finally get the right group that came here for the right rea- sons, there's a lot more to it than just basketball and just wins and losses. "They have a huge say in our wins and losses, and I don't think they were satis- fied either. So, they all came back to keep bettering themselves as players, keep bettering themselves as people and keep trying to make our program better." ✦ Micah Shrewsberry Doubles Down On His Long-Term Plan MEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Shrewsberry, who posted a 28-38 record in his first two seasons in South Bend, signed the No. 10 recruiting class in the 2025 Rivals Team Industry Ranking. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER