4. Micah Shrewsberry (Notre Dame)
While life has generally been good for Notre Dame basketball, it was time for a change after Mike Brey led this program for 23 seasons. The Fighting Irish have had their moments of wild success but have also had seasons where they’ve been down since joining the ACC. Last year was one of those down seasons, but they’re bringing in a successful head coach with recent breakthroughs.
Shrewsberry grew up in Indianapolis and has spent most of his playing and coaching career in the state of Indiana. He was head coach at IU South Bend over a decade ago and had stints on staff for both Butler and Purdue, including during the Bulldogs’ two runs to the national title game. He followed Brad Stevens to the Boston Celtics a decade ago but really rose to prominence last season, leading Penn State to the second round of the NCAA Tournament; their first trip in 12 years.
What Shrewsberry did with the Nittany Lions last season was fantastic, bringing Jalen Pickett into the program and doing significant work against a tough Big Ten. Things will certainly be different for Shrewsberry moving forward, but he’s back in familiar ground in the Hoosier State. He did those fantastic things in just two years at a football school, but Notre Dame puts a bit more into their basketball program. Don’t be shocked to see Notre Dame as one of the more prominent ACC programs again in the years to come.