Notre Dame Basketball predicted to go from losing 20 games to Top 25

The Notre Dame Basketball team is officially entering Year 2 of the Micah Shrewsberry era with a renewed sense of optimism. Despite finishing with a losing record, the Fighting Irish played very well down the stretch, even winning a conference tournament game.

While Notre Dame fans are no doubt anxious to see what Shrewsberry can do with this program in his second year at the helm, there may not be anyone more convinced of the imminent success than The Score’s Matthew Winick.

Winick doesn’t just believe that the Notre Dame Basketball program is continuing on an ascent back to respectability. He believes the Irish are about to take the bullet train. One also has to think he might know something no one else does on just how many transfer portal guys Shrewsberry is going to haul in this offseason considering he’s placed Notre Dame inside his way-too-early Top 25.

To be fair to Winick, even he seems to know that he’s going out on an extreme limb. While I was impressed with the way Shrewsberry’s crew fought all year long, I wasn’t nearly as impressed as he was. He has them at number 25 for now.

“Probably the hottest take on this list,” Winick wrote. “13-20 Notre Dame is set for a major retool next season under an excellent head coach in Micah Shrewsberry. Assuming point guard Markus Burton doesn't bolt to the NBA, his explosive skill set as a sophomore alongside sharpshooting backcourt mate (and the coach's son) Braeden Shrewsberry is a great nucleus. Add in solid returning rotation players, a highly touted recruiting class, and the expectation of a transfer or two, and the Fighting Irish may look unrecognizable next year.”

Notre Dame Basketball going from losing 20 games to Top 25?

One thing that Winick left out was that the Irish are also going to have to replace one of the more highly touted recruits of the last few years in Carey Booth. There’s also the fact that with two weeks until the transfer portal closes, Notre Dame Basketball has not added a body yet.

While I’d love to see the Irish in the Top 25 at any point next season, it seems more than a little far fetched.