ACC Preview #7 - Notre Dame

It sure looks like Micah Shrewsberry is building a monster in South Bend.

• ACC Preview #1 - UNC
• ACC Preview #2 - NC State
• ACC Preview #3 - Wake Forest
• ACC Preview #4 - Virginia
• ACC Preview #5 - Clemson
• ACC Preview #6 - Georgia Tech

We saw enough of Micah Shrewsberry’s Notre Dame team last season to buy in: the guy is an outstanding coach. Remember the fit he threw after the Irish lost to The Citadel? Things got real very quickly after he said anyone who didn’t play hard would rot on the bench and he’d help them transfer after the season.

Notre Dame went from a dreadful team to one you simply could not ignore or take lightly.

Shrewsberry is the third ACC coach to have worked for Brad Stevens, along with Georgia Tech’s Damon Stoudamire and Duke women’s coach Kara Lawson, and Shrewsberry appears to have applied many of the lessons well, starting with defense. Notre Dame was a limited team last season, but as the season developed, we saw a very tough D emerge. If you remember how hard it was to get daylight against Steven’s Butler teams, it was kind of like that. You have to like where things are heading for Notre Dame.

The Irish lose Carey Booth to Illinois, meaning Duke will see him in February, and Matt Zona will spend his final season at Fordham.

Booth could have become a very useful player but Zona is no big loss.

This year’s team will build around the backcourt.

Markus Burton (5-11) was a terrific freshman who won ACC Rookie of the Year. There were times when he carried the Irish offensively and it’s going to be fun to see how far he advances this year. At times he was a really dominant player and could bend the game to his will.

You know that thing where the coach’s son plays for his team and is marginal? Like Hubert Davis’s kid at UNC? Or Kevin Keatts’s kid at NC State?

That’s so not the case for 6-3 sophomore Braeden Shrewsberry. He’s really promising, and particularly as a shooter. Overall, he shot just 37.1 percent but from behind the line he hit nearly 40 percent and that is going to improve. He’s a very dangerous three point shooter. This will be one of the best backcourts in the ACC and could emerge as the finest.

They’ll likely be backed up by J.R. Konieczny, Logan Imes and Julian Roper.

Konieczny is a senior and he had some moments last year. He’s not a great player by any means but he’s certainly competent. We could see him starting at forward.

Imes had some really nice moments too and he should continue to develop. At 6-4 he’s a better shooter than we saw last season and should develop into a pain in the butt defender. As a combo guard, he gives the Irish a great backup.

So does Julian Roper. The Northwestern transfer, a 6-4 senior, was a part-time starter. He plays with a lot of energy as we recall and you have to love that.

Tae Davis, a 6-9 junior who transferred from Seton Hall, was effective. He averaged 9.2 ppg and 5.1 boards in 26 mpg and started every game but one.

Kebba Njie, who followed Shrewsberry to South Bend from Penn State, is a big guy at 6-9 and 254. He’s a junior now and while his offense was limited, he will help defensively. He’s got three years under Shrewsberry and that’s a big positive.

JT Kelly (6-2 junior), Thomas Hattan (6-2 junior) and Thomas Crowe (6-7 senior) are all back but minimal contributors on game day.

Shrewsberry brings in three transfers:

• Burke Chebuhar - a 6-8 grad student from Lehigh
• Matt Allocco - a 6-4 grad student from Princeton
• Nikita Konstantynovskyi - a 6-10 grad student from Monmouth

Chebuhar was lightly regarded at Lehigh but turned himself into a pretty desirable player. He put up 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds last season and in one game hit 16-19 from the line. He’s a worker and he’s experienced so he should be able to help Shrewsbery build the culture he’s after.

Alloco is a shooter. At Princeton he averaged 12.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game last season and shot 50.8 percent from the field, 42.7% from behind the line and 90.9% for free throws. He’s certainly going to help offensively.

Konstantynovskyi comes over from Monmouth where he played for former UNC point guard King Rice. Like a lot of guys who move up, it’s hard to know how good he will be, but at a minimum, he provides depth and experience.

Here’s Shrewsberry’s second freshman class at Notre Dame

• Cole Certa - 6-5 guard
• Sir Mohammed - 6-6 guard
• Garrett Sundra - 6-11 forward
• Brady Stevens - 6-4 guard

Mohammed is a Top 50 recruit and most likely to be a major factor. He should bring versatility and athleticism to South Bend. His dad, by the way, is former Kentucky star Nazr Mohammed. He might really help on defense but we’re not close enough to know.

Certa is a talented shooter which should help augment Shrewsberry’s three point attack. He’s not a guy you want to lose track of.

Stevens is a walk-on but notable: his father is Brad Stevens, for whom Shrewsberry worked at both Butler and with the Boston Celtics. He’s probably not going to have a major impact, but kind of cool to know. Looks like his dad too.

Finally, there is Garett Sundra. He was a high school teammate of both Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba at Paul VI. At this point, he’s probably too thin to have a major impact but when he gets up to 230 or 240, he’s going to be a problem. He’s versatile, defends well and can shoot all over the court. He’s said to have good court awareness too.

When you put it all together, the Irish should be improved. Last year, Notre Dame finished 13-20 with losses to the likes of Western Carolina and The Citadel before a shocking blow out of Virginia in late December suggested there might be more to that team than most people thought.

They lost a lot in the ACC, but after Shrewsberry’s big blowup following the loss to The Citadel, Notre Dame just got better. All that separated them from a solid season was talent and experience.

This year they have more of both. The backcourt should be elite, the frontcourt should be much better and so should the defense and three point shooting. Mohammed adds a major dose of athleticism and the new players, generally speaking, add to the versatility of the roster and, of course, the depth.

We’re not sure yet just how good the Irish will be but given what we saw at Butler, where Stevens and Shrewsberry maximized modest talent to get to two consecutive national championship games, and given the heart we ultimately saw from Notre Dame last season, the future is bright.

And keep this in mind too.

At times last season, Burton was just great. He’s the kind of guy who can take over a game. That’s one thing when you have minimal help. When you have lots more?

You’re much more dangerous. The three point shooting that Shrewsberry can place around him makes Burton much more dangerous and he more options when he drives. Mohammed may have a lot of skills, but with Burton and three point shooting demanding attention, Mohammed also has a ton of opportunity as a slasher.

Lots of questions still, but a lot of potential answers as well. If we were Notre Dame fans, we’d be excited.