Things have been relatively quiet on the Notre Dame basketball front coming into the weekend, but head coach Micah Shrewsberry has himself one of the top prospects in the country as of Sunday morning. He scored that win when point guard Jonathan Sanderson officially announced he’d committed to the Fighting Irish.
Sanderson is a 4-star guard out of La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere who is the top-ranked player in the state according to On3’s Industry Rankings. He’s also the No. 8 point guard and No. 51 player overall in the 2026 class.
Jonathan Sanderson commitment gives Notre Dame a top-50 point guard to anchor the 2026 class
If that rating holds, he will be the second-highest signee of the Micah Shrewsberry era, behind only fellow La Lumiere star Jalen Haralson. Sanderson will play his senior season at La Lumiere after moving to Indiana from Tennessee, where he was named that state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2024.
The highly touted guard moved with his father, Jon Sanderson, who was named the Notre Dame basketball team’s Strength and Conditioning Coach earlier this spring. The Irish had been after the star point guard long before his father began working for the program, having offered him in September 2023. They battled for his commitment with Ohio State, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, and Illinois.
Last season, Sanderson averaged 24.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 steals for the Ensworth Tigers, who finished with a 20-11 record.
“Great staff, first and foremost,” Sanderson told On3’s Jamie Shaw in February. “I love the staff. I know a couple of the players. Really, I just had a fun time there. Seeing how he coaches, I mean, he just lets his guys go. He lets his guys take over the game. I went for the North Carolina game, and he really let Markus [Burton] go in his game back. You can just tell, that I want to play for a guy like that.”
Sanderson’s commitment is the only one for the Notre Dame basketball team at the moment, but he’s good enough that he’s already got the Fighting Irish at the No. 4 class in the 2026 cycle.