SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Basketball season is finally back! The second year of the Micah Shrewsberry era begins on Wednesday, November 6th when Notre Dame hosts Stonehill College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET at Purcell Pavilion and the program looks forward to welcoming fans back. The Notre Dame Fan Experience group will distribute rally towels to the first 3,000 fans. The first 1,000 students to arrive will receive a special student section t-shirt.

NOTRE DAME-STONEHILL

Notre Dame will open the 2024-25 season with its sister school, Stonehill, both sponsored by the Congregation of the Holy Cross, which values ​​integrity and places as much emphasis on education as it does on cultivating compassionate leaders and global thinkers. A popular 3+2 program offers a handful of Stonehill students the opportunity to earn two degrees in five years and transfer to Notre Dame for the final two years.

It has been 42 years since Notre Dame and Stonehill competed on the floor. On November 26, 1982, the Irish defeated the Skyhawks 74-60.

Passed the preseason test

At the preseason fundraiser, the Irish galvanized their fan base with a commanding 91-54 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne's team, which was picked to finish first in the Horizon League.

Notre Dame scored 51 points in the second half while shooting an impressive 70.4 percent from the field. There was one point in the second half where ND went 8-for-11 from distance and finished 9-for-15. In total, eight Irish made three-pointers in the game and shot 14 of 28 from long range.

Eight Irish finished with six or more points, three of whom finished in double figures. As a team, Notre Dame shot 56.9 percent from the field. Preseason All-ACC First Team selection Markus Burton scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half.

Braeden Shrewsberry shot 4 of 7 from deep and 7 of 12 overall to match Burton's game-high 18 points. JR Konieczny came off the bench and hit three treys, finishing with 11 points.

Notre Dame beat Purdue Fort Wayne 39-22 and forced 14 turnovers. They limited an experienced Mastodons squad to a shooting percentage of 34.6 percent.

PRE-SEASON AWARDS FOR BURTON

Point guard Markus Burton looks to continue his rise in college basketball in his second season. When he won Mr. Indiana Basketball as a high school senior, he stepped onto his home court at Purcell Pavilion and made an immediate impression on the Irish. He won the 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year Award (the first ND player to do so) and also took home Third Team All-ACC honors.

Before the 2024-25 season officially began, Burton continued to rack up awards/recognition. First, he was named to the ACC's Preseason First Team selection. Burton's 17.5 ppg is the third-highest returning scoring average in the ACC behind North Carolina's RJ Davis (21.2) and Wake Forest's Hunter Sallis (18.0 ppg).

Next up was the Naismith Starting 5 – Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List. This prestigious award honors the best point guards in men's college basketball and is presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Burton is the first Irish point guard to be named to Bob Cousy's Top 20 Preseason Watch List since Matt Farrell (2017-18 Watch List).

Shortly thereafter, ESPN.com announced its top 100 players for the 2024-25 season. Burton ranked No. 40. They explained, “The 5-11 guard averaged 17.5 PPG as a freshman and finished with 20 or more points in 11 games. If he can become a consistent threat from the 3-point line (30%), the third-team All-ACC pick could develop into one of the expanded conference's best players.”

Finally, the Naismith Trophy added Burton to their College Player of the Year watch list. A total of 50 players were added to the preseason list.

Celebrities at the start of the season

Historically, the Irish are 100-21 (.827) in season openers. Additionally, the program is 110-11 (.909) in home openers.

The last time Notre Dame missed a season opener at home, you'd have to go back to the 1998-99 season when the Irish lost 76-65 to Miami (Ohio).

A year ago today, Irish fans saw Markus Burton step onto the pitch for the first time and break Laphonso Ellis' scoring record as a freshman. Burton scored 29 points in the win against Niagara.

FROM LEAST TO MOST

Notre Dame scored just 35 points at this point last year, a rate of 1.6%. That number was among the bottom five of Division I schools. This year, however, is a much different story. The Irish score the most points in the ACC by a landslide. With a solid young core of seven returning players (Markus Burton, Braeden Shrewsberry, Tae Davis, Julian Roper II, JR Konieczny, Kebba Njie, Logan Imes), Notre Dame is scoring 85.6 percent of its points. The second highest value is Wake Forest at 59.8 percent.

In addition, the Irish record the third-highest percentage of minutes in the country at 83.9 percent. Navy (91.3) and Wofford (84.3) take the top two spots.

The Irish are trying to defy expectations again

Last year, Notre Dame was expected to finish last in the conference. The team led by Coach Shrewsberry came together and ultimately doubled their ACC win total from the previous year by finishing league play at 7-13 and earning the 12th seed in the conference tournament. Coach Shrewsberry received multiple votes for ACC Coach of the Year.

This year, the Irish are picked to finish 10th in the ACC and once again exceed expectations.

Notre Dame was the biggest mover in the Power Five conferences from February 1st to March 1st last season. They finished the year in 118th place. The Irish start this season in 69th place.

COACH SHREWS WANTS TO RESTORE THE MAGIC OF THE SECOND YEAR

The rebuild at Notre Dame is obviously different than the one at Penn State, but let's take a look at the improvements Coach Shrews made in his first and second years in Happy Valley.

After a 14-17 first season, Shrewsberry posted a 23-14 record in the 2022-23 season, just the 12th 20-win season in the 127-year history of Penn State basketball. The Nittany Lions then appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.

Statistically, the 2022-23 squad set the B1G and Penn State single-season team records with 385. The Nittany Lions have compiled a total of five top-15 stat rankings nationally.

GREEN JERSEY SERIES

If you play more than 30 games in a season you are allowed to wear the Irish greens more than once. As announced via the @NDMBB social media account, the program has selected four ACC games to wear the Greens at home:

– Dec. 7 vs. Syracuse – ACC opener

– Jan. 4 vs. UNC – Irish Wear Green

– February 8 vs. Virginia Tech – 574th day

– Feb. 22 vs. Pitt – Fan Appreciation

BEST YOUNG BACKCOURT IN THE ACC

Freshman guards Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry showed no fear in their first year in the ACC. Burton averaged 17.5 points in both season and league play, while Shrewsberry was the only other Irish to finish in double figures, averaging 10.2 points on the year and 11.3 points in ACC play.

Still, Burton and Shrewsberry became the ninth ACC freshman duo in league history to finish 1st and 2nd in scoring for their team, proving the future is bright in South Bend.

There is only one scoring duo in the ACC that combined for a higher total than Burton and Shrewsberry's 27.7 ppg, and that is Wake Forest's Hunter Sallis and Cameron HIldreth. This duo combines for 31.8 ppg.

Sniper shrews

Speaking of Braeden Shrewsberry, he joined Burton in the Notre Dame record book after going up from three in ACC play last year.

Shrewsberry hit 55 three-pointers in league play, breaking the Notre Dame ACC record. The previous record was 51, held by Prentiss Hubb, Matt Farrell and VJ Beachem. Those 55 three-pointers in ACC play are also the fourth-most among league players in the 2023-24 season.

Shrewsberry ultimately converted 78 made three-pointers that year, which was the second-most by a freshman in the nation. His 2.4 made threes/game also ranked 2nd nationally for a freshman.

— ND —