ACC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

There are several different ways to look at Notre Dame’s roster. They return a whopping five seniors; with four of them in their 5th year. They’re one of the oldest teams in the country for the 2022-23 campaign. They also lost arguably their two best players in Blake Wesley and Paul Atkinson Jr. Wesley, in particular, was a tough blow because the team largely took a big leap because of his play.

Still, the Irish have plenty of talent on the roster. Dane Goodwin becomes the new lead guard, coming off of averaging 13.6 ppg on 46% shooting from three-point range. Veterans Trey Wertz and Cormac Ryan also are back, along with incoming Niagara transfer, Marcus Hammond. The 6’2 super senior produced 18.1 ppg on 37% shooting from deep, including a pair of 28-point games.

With Hammond and top-30 incoming freshman JJ Starling also joining the fold, the Irish will have some of the best backcourt depth in the ACC. But without Prentiss Hubb around anymore, they’ll need Starling to become the new distributor. If he can’t do that, things could fall apart offensively.

The frontcourt has some questions about depth outside of returning forward Nate Laszewski. He only averaged 9.3 ppg and 6.5 rpg last season but was over 13 ppg in the year prior and with Atkinson gone, look for the veteran big to have a bigger scoring role.

If freshmen forwards Ven-Allen Lubin and Dominick Campbell can have an impact in the frontcourt, Notre Dame’s depth concerns won’t be a major factor. The pros and cons of this roster warrant a middle position in the ACC but this team can move up or down several spots depending on how the PG position works out.