Roster turnover for Notre Dame basketball may finally open some eyes

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) and forward Darrion Williams (1) goe for a rebound against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Logan Imes (2) shoots over NC State Wolfpack guard Paul McNeil Jr. (2) during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Braeden Shrewsberry (11) drives as NC State Wolfpack forward Darrion Williams (1) defends during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Braeden Shrewsberry (11) loses possession as NC State Wolfpack guard Tre Holloman (5) and forward Darrion Williams (1) defend him during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (5) drives against NC State Wolfpack guard Tre Holloman (5) during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack forward Darrion Williams (1) works against Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Brady Koehler (6) during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Carson Towt (33) works against NC State Wolfpack guard Paul McNeil Jr. (2) during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Logan Imes (2) shoots as NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) defends during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Jalen Haralson (10) shoots during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Sir Mohammed (13) drives past NC State Wolfpack guard Paul McNeil Jr. (2) during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Braeden Shrewsberry (11) drives as NC State Wolfpack forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) defends during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Braeden Shrewsberry (11) lines up a shot against the NC State Wolfpack during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Brady Koehler (6) and NC State Wolfpack forward Darrion Williams (1) fight for a reboundduring the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Logan Imes (2) shoots as NC State Wolfpack guard Matt Able (3) defends during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade claps against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Carson Towt (33) dunks against the NC State Wolfpack during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Carson Towt (33) gets called for a foul on NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Ryder Frost (7) shoots against the NC State Wolfpack during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Jalen Haralson (10) drives as NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) defends during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) and NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) celebrate during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Sir Mohammed (13) dives for a loose ball against the NC State Wolfpack during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry shouts a play from a stool with wheels, due to a leg injury, against the NC State Wolfpack during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Jalen Haralson (10), guard Cole Certa (5) and guard Logan Imes (2) celebrate at the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Terrance Arceneaux (21) and forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) defend Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Braeden Shrewsberry (11) during overtime at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Jalen Haralson (10) drives to the basket as NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) defends during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) celebrates against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Terrance Arceneaux (21) blocks Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Jalen Haralson (10) during overtime at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (5) celebrates making a 3-point shot during overtime at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC NC State Wolfpack forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) dunks against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Tre Holloman (5) loses possession as Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (5) defends during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (5) drives to the basket against the NC State Wolfpack during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame men’s basketball welcomes NC State for ACC game. See the photos!

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (5) celebrates with guard Braeden Shrewsberry (11) after beating the NC State Wolfpack at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

SOUTH BEND ― In case the Notre Dame administration decided it best to hit the snooze button after that February wake-up call about its basketball program, the alarm clock is chirping again.

If it wasn’t enough that Notre Dame basketball lost to top-ranked Duke last month at home by 44 points, the largest margin of victory in Purcell Pavilion history, this week happened. Is happening.

Does anyone across campus care?

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In just over a recent 24-hour stretch, Notre Dame saw three players enter the transfer portal, the same number it lost in two previous seasons combined under head coach Micah Shrewsberry. Three transfers down, at least three transfers to go. Maybe tomorrow or the next day or early next month, but there will be more. Bad news is on the doorstep.

This round is just the start. This next round will cut the program to its core. It will set it back seasons. Hopefully, it will open some eyes.

Losing at least six players in one transfer cycle should be enough for athletic director Pete Bevacqua and general manager (and former Irish All-American) Pat Garrity to see that whatever they’ve done financially to date for the basketball program, whatever they plan to do moving forward, is not enough. Not good enough. Not close enough.

Forget the basketball adage about being two years away from two years away. Notre Dame basketball is light years away from the lights of another NCAA Tournament. March Madness? Not around here. Not anytime soon.

The game has changed; Notre Dame hasn’t. If it cared about Notre Dame basketball, if it wants Notre Dame basketball to survive, if it hopes for Notre Dame basketball to thrive again, a greater financial commitment is paramount. Not tomorrow. Today.

Whatever millions of dollars set aside for 2026-27 are not enough. Find more dollars to make this crazy sport make sense.

When sophomores Sir Mohammed and Garrett Sundra and freshman Ryder Frost announced plans to enter the transfer portal, which opens April 7, it had little to do with a chance to make more money elsewhere as it did the chance to play more minutes elsewhere. Somewhere. Anywhere but here.

The three, for myriad reasons, never became key rotation players in Shrewsberry’s system. Each leave for more opportunity on the basketball court. The next three expected to exit ― Markus Burton (a Michiana native), Cole Certa (Shrewsberry’s first recruit to Notre Dame) and Jalen Haralson (the highest-rated recruit in program history) ― will depart, in large part, to deepen their bank accounts.

Each could make close to or beyond seven figures as college basketball players. They’re less interested in earning a Notre Dame degree and more interested in earning money. More money than they ever dreamed of playing this game. That matters.

That is college basketball today. This four for 40 stuff that Notre Dame so trumpets was nice while it lasted, but it ran its course even before former head coach Mike Brey decided that it was time to get out after 23 seasons and 483 wins.

A Notre Dame degree? Nobody cares. Pay me.

The game, the entire college basketball world, changed almost from the minute Shrewsberry strode down the tunnel from the Irish locker room and onto the Purcell Pavilion floor to the sounds of the Notre Dame Victory March for his introductory press conference on March 30, 2023.

College basketball has become an even bigger business. A pay for play business. Professional sport in every sense. It’s less about what a school can do for you over the next 40 years and more about what you can do in four, or however long it takes to get your game NBA-ready.

It has been three long seasons of frustration and failure under Shrewsberry. If Irish fans knew then what they know now about the Irish head coach …

Fair, but that ball bounces both ways. If Shrewsberry knew then what he knows now about college basketball and about how Notre Dame would struggle to keep up, he doesn’t leave Penn State.

Shrewsberry must coach better. He must teach better. Recruit better. Develop better. A lot of this is on the head coach. But his employer also must do better. It must care more than it has cared. This is one of the top 10 (eighth) winningest programs in the sport’s history. Treat it like one.

All those years of Brey often doing more with less lulled the administration into a false sense of success. When it came time to commit, the university looked the other way. It was slow to renovate the arena. It was slow to build a practice facility. It’s slow to admit where the sport is today, and what it takes to get there.

It’s time to pick up the pace and stop pretending it can be done another way.

A competent, capable basketball roster that competes in March likely starts with a $10 million price tag. No discounts. No shortcuts. Notre Dame doesn’t spend half of that. Maybe not even a third of that. Do this sport on the cheap, and you’re left with the Duke game. You’re left with players running to the portal. You’re left with little hope and a lot of heartache.

There are plenty of college programs that deal with this every single season ― the losing record, the roster turnover, the frustration of not being better, the inability to build a roster than can beat ranked teams, the lack of funds. They’re called mid-majors.

Notre Dame runs like a mid-major. That hurts.

Mohammed and Sundra and Frost are gone. Burton and Certa and Haralson are going. Where this basketball program goes from here remains to be determined. Think of the 2026-27 season as the start of a new era of Notre Dame basketball. An awakening.

Will the administration act, or hit the snooze and go back to sleep?

Again.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame basketball is headed toward a competitive crossroads

Roster turnover for Notre Dame basketball may finally open some eyes

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