Credit to Notre Dame basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry for being honest. When he was asked whether he would be willing to use G-League signees or International Players on the Fighting Irish, he said he'd certainly be willing to explore the possibility.
The question arose when Shrewsberry was on a National Association of Basketball Coaches board call late last month. The conversation quickly turned to what is becoming an unfortunate trend. Many coaches have talked a big game about not wanting guys coming to college who have any pro experience.
However, when it comes to risking losses or signing guys like Virginia's Thijs De Ridder and Alabama's Charles Bediako, coaches tend to backtrack on their negative comments. The Notre Dame basketball coach is up front and honest. He cares about winning more than following NCAA rules that other schools are ignoring.
How pressure is shaping Micah Shrewsberry’s approach at Notre Dame
"That's probably a conversation for the offseason," Shrewsberry said during the call. "But I'm open to good players."
There's a degree of difficulty to Notre Dame signing a "non-traditional" player. While the Irish have been able to bring in a ton of talent to all their programs, things might get more difficult for players who left school early or didn't even go to college.
There's also the NIL cost of these players. They're leaving the professional ranks because they can get paid more in college while honing their games. Notre Dame has been a bigger player in the NIL market of late, but the basketball team is far from bottomless pockets.
Shrewsberry clearly knows that his seat is getting hotter with every Notre Dame loss. Things need to change if he's going to quiet murmurs that he might be on his way out the door. While he's not going to focus on the G-Leaguers or international players right now, this will definitely be something to watch over the offseason.