Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 18, 2025 47 BY TYLER JAMES D espite an underwhelming 2024-25 season, Notre Dame men's bas- ketball managed to bring back seven scholarship players during the offsea- son. That's a number head coach Micah Shrewsberry takes pride in. "Continuity is the name of the game for us this season," Shrewsberry said Oct. 8 at ACC Tipoff in Charlotte, N.C. "Having Markus [Burton] and Braeden [Shrewsberry] here with us down here in Charlotte today, two guards that av- erage 35 points combined. Last year they only got to play 18 games together out of our 33, so having these guys together on the floor is really important for us. "Having these guys, along with we had seven total returnees and added a top-10 recruiting class in the country. [We] also added the nation's leading re- bounder in Carson Towt from Northern Arizona. So, we've put together a group that is ready to compete, ready to really help our league take the next step." The step between Shrewsberry's first two seasons as Notre Dame's head coach was minimal. The Irish struggled in 2023-24 to a 13-20 overall mark and a 7-13 ACC record. Despite returning seven scholarship players to last sea- son's roster, the Irish improved only to 15-18 overall and 8-12 in the ACC. That's why the Irish can't pin their hopes on continuity alone. Certainly, the inability to have Bur- ton and Braeden Shrewsberry healthy together as starting guards for much of the season limited Notre Dame's ability to improve a year ago. Now both need to elevate their games as juniors to make their teammates better and for the Irish to be taken seriously in the ACC this season. The 6-foot, 190-pound Burton fin- ished fifth in Division I in points per game last season with 21.3 on 44.2 per- cent shooting from the field. He took 16.8 shots per game and averaged 3.0 assists last season. That marked a drop of nearly 1.3 assists per game from his freshman season. Burton, a second- team All-ACC selection who led the conference in scoring in ACC play (23.5 points per game), couldn't rely on his teammates to score consistently enough after returning from a knee injury that kept him sidelined for seven games in November and December. Burton could have been lured else- where in the offseason, but he stayed at Notre Dame just like he stuck with his commitment to the Irish as a senior at Penn High School in nearby Misha- waka, Ind., during the transition from former head coach Mike Brey to Micah Shrewsberry. "I can't thank Coach enough," Burton told reporters at the ACC Tipoff. "He easily could have told me when he came in, he didn't need me to be here. He could have asked me to go somewhere else, but he trusted in me. "He put in his time and effort to make me a better basketball player, and he encouraged me a lot to become a better basketball player. Also, he just trusts me every single day to go out and show people what I'm capable of doing and just leading the team." Braeden Shrewsberry, the eldest son of the Irish head coach, missed the final seven games of last season with a lower abdomen injury. The 6-4, 205-pound guard improved his scoring from 10.2 points per game as a freshman to 14.0 last season. Though Braeden Shrews- berry's field goal percentage improved to 41.3 as a sophomore, his three-point percentage remained roughly the same: 37.1 in 2023-24 and 36.9 in 2024-25. Braeden Shrewsberry estimated he has gained 10 pounds since the spring while working with Jon Sanderson, the new director of men's basketball strength and conditioning. "Jon Sanderson has been good with our whole team putting on weight, put- ting on muscle," Shrewsberry said. "I think that will help me defensively a lot. I struggled my first two years guarding the ball. I feel like I've gotten a lot better at that. Then just really being a veteran now, just understanding how the game goes in those late-game situations be- ing able to get one stop or just get one bucket at the end of the game." Notre Dame needs improved defense across the board, especially given the transfer portal departure of wing Tae Davis, who landed at Oklahoma after two seasons with the Irish. Davis was Notre Dame's best defender in most circumstances. The Irish still allowed 72.5 points per game last season, which ranked No. 193 in the country. How Notre Dame's new pieces — Towt and touted freshmen Jalen Ha- ralson, Brady Koehler, Ryder Frost and Tommy Ahneman — fit with the return- ing players will shape the kind of bas- ketball the Irish are able to play this sea- son. That style needs to start producing more wins, too. "We put a plan together for guys in player development, and I think you've seen guys make steps," Micah Shrewsberry said. "I think you've seen these two guys really grow as players, and I think you'll see another crop of guys that nobody is really talking about that played for us last year make a huge step in their game." ✦ Continuity Will Only Get Notre Dame So Far MEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Notre Dame point guard Markus Burton can elevate his game as a junior by making his team- mates better. PHOTO COURTESY ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE