Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 17, 2026 47 BY JACK SOBLE I t's fitting that a team set to open its season about 13 kilometers from Vati- can City is leaning on belief. Standing at the ACC Tipoff lectern in Charlotte, N.C., Notre Dame head men's basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry ac- knowledged the change that occurred within his program since the Irish missed out on a spot in the league's tournament. Gone are Markus Burton, Cole Certa and Jalen Haralson, among others. Replacing them are Braeden Smith, Ethan Roberts and Logan Duncomb, among others. He also seemed to tacitly acknowl- edge that reasons to believe in Notre Dame men's basketball, at least for those outside the program, are in short supply these days. Since the final year of the Mike Brey era, the Irish are 52-77 (22-56 ACC). And teams tend not to get better when most of their premium tal- ent walks out the door. Shrewsberry knows the outside world doesn't expect much from Notre Dame as the 2026-27 season draws near. His confidence stems from those in the building who do. "The theme that we've talked about as a team is we want to be built by be- lievers," Shrewsberry said. "I think that starts with our coaching staff and the guys that stuck around that believe in something and believe in what we can do as a group at Notre Dame and what we can do in this conference. "But the guys that joined us, too, have that same belief, and they saw some- thing in us at Notre Dame that said, 'I want to be a part of that.' If we have suc- cess this season, it will be because of the guys that believed in us." It might seem easy for someone like Roberts to believe, given that he grew up a Notre Dame fan. But given the current tenor of the fan base, that would be a bold assumption. Roberts, despite spending the past four years at Army, Drake and Penn, closely followed the Irish when he could and was well aware of the state of the program when he committed. Roberts has made it clear multiple times since he transferred from Penn that he believes, and he reiterated that feeling at ACC Tipoff. "Why Notre Dame?" Roberts said. "To me it's why not? This is my dream school. I love Coach Shrewsberry. I love this school, just being a student there, and I can't wait to compete with Notre Dame on my chest with my teammates." 'JOLT OF LIGHTNING' Obviously, belief will not be enough to produce Notre Dame's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022 and second since 2017. Tangible changes must be made, too. "Especially after last year, there was a lot of really self-evaluation, starting with myself and how I could be better to help our team, how I could grow to help our program," Shrewsberry said. "But also the guys that stayed, the guys that have been with me for a few years that we've worked together for a long time." The personnel changes are obvious, and Shrewsberry has discussed the benefits of an older group of players at length. He's also shared the benefits of new assistant coach Tony Rack and player development and recruiting co- ordinator Isaiah Thompson. Rack, in particular, is here to add consistent en- ergy to a program that needed it. "Having them, having new players, there's a freshness, there's a newness to what we're doing," Shrewsberry said. "Like I said, it started with me and doing some evaluation of how I could help our group be better, but bringing in some guys outside to give us some fresh ideas, but add a little jolt of lightning to us." Notre Dame's additions also include two players, Roberts and Smith, whose teams made the tournament last season. Perhaps not coincidentally, that's who Shrews- berry brought with him to ACC Tipoff. The hope in South Bend is that the players who came from winning pro- grams — Penn and Gonzaga, respectively — can help turn Notre Dame into one. "I would say just the standard of ex- cellence," Smith said when asked what he can take from his experience with the Bulldogs. "Obviously, Gonzaga is a well-known basketball university with great tradition, and just their urgency to get better every day and to have that excellent standard is something that I'm trying to carry over here." ✦ Irish 'Built By Believers' Entering 2026-27 Season MEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Entering his fourth season at Notre Dame, head coach Micah Shrewsberry is counting on an experienced group of newcomers to help turn belief into wins. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER