ACC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2024-25 season

13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

No ACC Basketball team has done better this offseason than the Irish, who currently has the No. 1 recruiting class for 2025. But the on-the-court results may have them coming back down to earth. They overachieved in Coach Micah Shrewsberry’s first year, but will there be an improvement?

Notre Dame brings back its top three scorers, led by Markus Burton (17.5 ppg and 4.3 apg), who’ll be one of the top players in the league this season. Braeden Shrewsberry had a big second half when inserted into the starting lineup and will be a breakout candidate. 

The question is whether the frontcourt has improved from being a clear weak point. Princeton transfer Matt Allocco gives them a veteran floor spacer, and Tae Davis returns after averaging nearly double figures. However, unless transfers between Burke Chubuhar and Nikita Konstatynovskyi can have an impact, that 5-spot is a big concern.

Notre Dame’s offense should be very good, but the defense/frontcourt are major questions on paper. The program will be in great shape a year from now, but this year may be about seeing which pieces are the rightful building blocks.