Notre Dame basketball hired Micah Shrewsberry as its 18th men’s head basketball coach in March. Here’s info on the new coach and prospects on the team.
It’s not an understatement to say that Mike Brey became an institution for Notre Dame basketball. The former Delaware head coach spent 24 seasons as the Notre Dame men’s basketball head coach. Brey won 483 games in South Bend, the most all-time. Notre Dame made the NCAA tournament thirteen times under Brey.
Brey led the Irish to a Sweet Sixteen berth in 2002-03 and an Elite Eight in 2015-16. Notre Dame basketball were the Big East regular season champions in Brey’s first season and were ACC Tournament Champions in 2014-15. Brey was a three-time Big East Coach of the Year (2007, 2008, 2011) and National Coach of the Year in 2011.
There was no shortage of great players during the Brey era, either. Notre Dame boasted players like Troy Murphy, Matt Caroll, Pat Connaughton, Ryan Humphrey, and Jerian Grant.
One of the more special seasons came in 2014-15 when the Irish won 32 games, the most since 1908. They won the ACC Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight that year.
Recent years were not kind to Brey and the Irish. Notre Dame made the NCAA tournament once since 2018-19, with three losing seasons. Brey decided the 2022-23 season would be his last in South Bend.
In March 2023, the Irish hired former Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry. Here’s more about Notre Dame’s basketball’s new coach.
Notre Dame basketball looked in-state for its new coach.
Shrewsberry is as Indiana as they come. He grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, attending Cathedral High School. After his high school playing days, Shrewsberry went to Division III Hanover College in southeastern Indiana. He led the Heartland College Athletic Conference in free throw percentage and assists as a senior.
Shrewsberry began coaching as a graduate assistant at the University of Indianapolis in 1999. He would return to Division III with stops at DePauw University and Wabash College. Shrewsberry served as director of Basketball Operations at Marshall University for two years.
His first opportunity to run a basketball program came at Indiana University-South Bend, where he would coach from 2005-2007. While at IU-South Bend, he oversaw all aspects of the basketball program.
Before taking over the Notre Dame basketball program, Shrewsberry coached with former Butler head coach and Celtics executive Brad Stevens at Butler and with the Celtics. He spent six seasons in Boston, helping the Celtics reach two Eastern Conference Finals.
After two seasons at Penn State, where they made an NCAA Tournament appearance and were the Big Ten Tournament Runner-Up (2022), Shrewsberry was hired as the 18th head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team.
What Notre Dame basketball fans should expect of a Shrewsberry-coached team.
Don’t tell coach Shrewsberry that this is a transition year for the Irish after going 11-21 last season. “Just come and watch. Don’t come in with preconceived notions of what this team is, what this team may be, what people say this team is. Come make your own judgments about us,” Shrewsberry said after his first Notre Dame basketball media day.
Spending time with Brad Stevens means that this Irish team is going to defend. Though he spent one season with legendary Division III head coach Mac Petty at Wabash College, he learned about tough-minded defense. If coach Petty was known for anything, he preached defense. You didn’t spend much time on the floor in Crawfordsville without defending.
It stands to reason that there will be many rotational variations early in the Notre Dame basketball season as Shrewsberry tries to figure out what he has and who fits best on the floor together. The 2023-24 version of the Irish is young; they will likely play six combined freshmen and sophomores.
Another aspect of Stevens’ and Petty’s influence we should see is ball movement. Expect the Irish to be free to shoot the basketball, but look for quality shots. “I want them to have the freedom to take shots but also know that we’re looking for great shots, not average, not just okay, we are hunting for a great shot at every possession,” Shrewsberry added. “And I’ll show those guys clips, ‘hey, this is just an okay shot, right? You could probably make this, but let’s continue to move the basketball and hunt for great.’
Most importantly, coach Shrewsberry is confident his guys will put forth maximum effort. “I don’t coach effort, and I don’t have to. I don’t have to say a word about effort to these guys because they are playing extremely hard and compete,” Shrewsberry said.
Coach Shrewsberry understands how to rebuild a program. He led Penn State to its first NCAA appearance in over a decade and built IU-South Bend into a competent NAIA program. He also sat under some great basketball minds.
It’s hard to say how well the Irish will do this year, but they’ll leave everything on the floor every game. Coach Shrewsberry will make sure Notre Dame basketball players do.