New Big man sees perfect fit with Notre Dame, bolsters Irish for next season

The Notre Dame basketball team has been relatively quiet on the transfer portal front, but that doesn't mean Micah Shrewsberry didn't have something up his sleeve. It turns out the thing he had up his sleeve was a shiny new bigman that will help negate the loss of Carey Booth.

Nikita Konstantynovskyi committed to the Fighting Irish earlier this week after a weekend visit that sold the Monmouth transfer that South Bend was the perfect fit. He opined on why he felt like Shrewsberry's program was where he needed to be in an interview with Irish Sports Daily.

“When I was talking to Coach Shrewsberry, he was honest and told me what he expects from my game,” Konstantynovskyi told the site. “He showed a lot of clips of how he saw me play on the basketball court and my job. Everything I heard from him met my expectations for my next spot and led me to Notre Dame instead of other schools.” 

Notre Dame basketball lands big man who can help on both ends of the court

While the Kyiv, Ukraine native wasn't a prolific scorer, he did show the ability to get on the board consistently. Konstantynovskyi averaged 9.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg last season for Monmouth. He did so while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 65.2 percent from the free throw line. 

The 6-foot-10, 245 pound forward scored more than 20 points twice in 2023-24 and had a total of six double-doubles. He also had at least 10 rebounds in eight games for the Hawks.

While Carey Booth will be hard to replace, it looks as though the Fighting Irish are at least making a go of it. 

Nikita Konstantynovskyi joins guard Matt Allocco as Notre Dame basketball additions through the transfer portal. 

Assuming star guard Markus Burton returns in 2024 as he's expected to, Shrewsberry's squad has an influx of talent.