Not wanting to be outdone by Marcus Freeman, Micah Shrewsberry is on his own recruiting heater for the Notre Dame basketball team. For the second straight day, the Fighting Irish hauled in a player among the top 100 prospects in the 2026 class according to On3. This time, the Blue and Gold have themselves a new big man in Gan-Erdene Solongo.
Solongo is also the second straight prospect that Notre Dame has hauled in who has ties to new strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson. On Sunday, Shrewsberry locked down the commitment of guard Jonathan Sanderson, the new coach’s son. Now they’ve locked in someone, the elder Sanderson was acting as a guardian of since Solongo came to the United States.
Gan-Erdene Solongo gives Notre Dame a four-star 7-footer to pair with Tommy Ahneman in 2026
Gan-Erdene Solongo is relatively new to basketball in the United States after moving here from Mongolia. He’s only rated by On3, which might have helped him run under the radar enough for Notre Dame basketball to snag him.
While he might still be a relative unknown to other recruiting services, he’s talented. On3 has him rated as the No. 14 center and No. 99 player in the 2026 class. The Irish were already rated as the No. 4 class in the country among some services after landing Sanderson and this snag has them strengthening their standing.
The Monday commitment means that Notre Dame has also landed a talented big man for the second straight year. In the 2025 class, they reeled in 4-star center Tommy Ahneman. The goal is to eventually have these two big men play together and make things very difficult for opposing teams in the paint.
Obviously, Solongo should have good chemistry with fellow 2026 commit Sanderson. He was essentially brothers and teammates with Sanders when the family lived in Tennessee, and he will also be teammates now that they’ve moved to Indiana at La Lumiere.
Last season, the newest Notre Dame basketball commit averaged 12.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. Gan-Erdene Solongo and Sanderson should make La Lumiere one of the top programs in the state for their senior season while putting up big numbers all on their own.