Busting Brackets
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ACC Basketball: Analyzing each team’s returning impact players for 2023-24

By Cade Haak

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 11: Head coach Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils hoist the trophy after a win against the Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC Basketball Tournament Championship game at Greensboro Coliseum on March 11, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Duke won 59-49. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 11: Head coach Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils hoist the trophy after a win against the Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC Basketball Tournament Championship game at Greensboro Coliseum on March 11, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Duke won 59-49. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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ACC Basketball Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Matt Zona Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
ACC Basketball Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Matt Zona Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

Notre Dame

It should come as a surprise to no one to see Notre Dame sitting at the bottom of this list. Coach Mike Brey left the program after sitting in the Head Coach position for 23 years, and with his departure nine of Notre Dame’s players followed suit. Their top seven leading scorers were part of the nine exiting players. After the losses new coach Micah Shrewsberry has been left with just three returning players, Matt Zona, Tony Sanders Jr., and JR Konieczny.

Out of the three players, it wasn’t exactly hard to decide which to pick for this list as Matt Zona was the only of the three returners to average more than a single point in the past season and Konieczny was redshirted for the entire last season under Coach Brey.

As a Junior last season Zona saw the court in just 20 games where he averaged 1.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in just 7 minutes played. With a nearly brand new team surrounding him in the upcoming season Zona (the lone returning forward on the team) should be able to expect much more consistent playing time than he has seen in the years prior. But outside of Zona most of the minutes given to players will be fresh faces for the Fighting Irish.