Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 22, 2025 47 BY TYLER JAMES W hen Notre Dame men's basketball lost star guard Markus Burton for seven games last season with a knee injury, Braeden Shrewsberry tried to step up and replace the scoring of his fellow sophomore guard at the time. Burton was sidelined early in an 85-84 loss to Rutgers, prompting Shrewsberry to at- tempt a career-high 20 shots from the field. S h re ws b e r r y p l a ye d l i k e someone trying to prove he could handle a starring role. He averaged 17.1 points per game with Burton sidelined, but he may have been pressing too much to be a primary scorer. "I feel like last year I kind of got caught up in that a little bit," Shrewsberry said. "Especially when Markus got hurt. I feel like I was trying too hard to try to fill his scoring and fill his role. "That was hard. But now I'm understanding a lot just being an older guy, and I feel like that's going to help me." Shrewsberry might have over- corrected in Notre Dame's 89- 67 win over Long Island Univer- sity Nov. 3. He attempted just 4 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, in a 2-point performance. Shrewsberry played a much bigger role in wins over Detroit Mercy (19 points) and Eastern Illinois (18) while shooting efficiently from the floor. Efficiency was an offseason priority for Shrewsberry heading into his junior season. He didn't see much improvement in his field goal percentage (39.8 to 41.3) or three-point percentage (37.1 to 36.9) between his freshman and sophomore seasons. The early returns in a small sample size for Shrewsberry this season have been great. He made 57.1 percent of his shots from the field (12 of 21) and 61.1 percent from three-point range (11 of 18) in the first three games. "This team this year will help me with not as much attention being on me," Shrewsberry said. "Being able to get better shots. We've got a lot of dudes who can pass. Logan [Imes], Markus, Sir [Mohammed], Jalen [Haralson], they can all pass. That helps guys like me and Cole [Certa] get open shots." Certa, a sophomore guard, and maybe even freshman forward Ryder Frost can continue to provide three-point shoot- ing off the bench for the Irish. Certa went 8 of 19 (42.1 percent) from behind the arc in the first three games. Frost made 6 of his 11 three-point attempts (54.5 percent). In addition to Burton, who scored a team-high 19.3 points per game in the first three games, Certa and Frost should continue to help take pressure off Shrews- berry from being the lone long-range spe- cialist. Shrewsberry can be more selective with his shots, too. "We talk about if you don't have a great shot, pass it because somebody else is go- ing to get a good shot," Shrewsberry said. "Or you're going to get it back. So, there's no reason to force. It's not like I've got to make something happen. I can get off the ball and just take good shots." ✦ Braeden Shrewsberry Finds Efficient Shooting Stroke MEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Shrewsberry, a junior guard, made 61.1 percent of his three- point attempts in Notre Dame's first three games. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS 2025-26 NOTRE DAME NOVEMBER/DECEMBER SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET)/Result Nov. 3 LIU Brooklyn W, 89-67 Nov. 7 Detroit Mercy W, 102-70 Nov. 11 Eastern Illinois W, 78-58 Nov. 16 at Ohio State (FS1) 12:30 p.m. Nov. 19 Bellarmine (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Nov. 24 vs. Kansas+ (TNT) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 25 vs. Rutgers+ (TNT) 1 p.m. Nov. 26/27 vs. TBD+ TBA Dec. 2 Missouri^ (ESPNU) 9 p.m. Dec. 5 at TCU (ESPN+) 8 p.m. Dec. 10 Idaho (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Dec. 13 Evansville (ACCNX) 2 p.m. Dec. 21 Purdue Fort Wayne (ACCNX) 12 p.m. Dec. 30 at Stanford* (ESPN2) 9 p.m. + Players Era Championship in Las Vegas (other teams involved are Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, Houston, Iowa State, Mary- land, Michigan, Oregon, San Diego State, St. John's, Syracuse, Tennessee and UNLV); ^ ACC/ SEC Challenge; * ACC Game NOTRE DAME SIGNS THREE RECRUITS IN 2026 CLASS Notre Dame men's basketball signed its three verbal commitments during the early signing period Nov. 12. The Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings slated the three-man class at No. 47 in the coun- try, which is the lowest ranking of head coach Micah Shrewsberry's Notre Dame tenure. The class consisted of four-star center Gan-Erdene Solongo, four-star guard Jonathan Sanderson and three-star guard Nick Shrewsberry. Rivals ranks Solongo as the No. 12 center and No. 93 overall player in the 2026 class, Sanderson as the No. 11 point guard and No. 96 overall player and Nick Shrewsberry as the No. 68 shooting guard. — Tyler James